Emerald Cosplay, balancing life as a single mom with her cosplay passion, highlights the importance of planning and passion in managing her hobby. She aims for a blend of accuracy and personal flair in her costumes, notably in her self-made Yamato cosplay from One Piece, which pushed her creative limits. Despite time management struggles, she values audience engagement and is open to exploring crossplay. A memorable moment for her was overcoming anxiety to participate in a cosplay competition, which ended in winning an award. She advises budget-conscious cosplayers to utilize thrift shops and online tutorials, emphasizing the cosplay community’s supportive nature. Emerald sees cosplay as a transformative journey that has significantly boosted her confidence and social life, turning her into an extrovert at conventions and helping her find her “people.”
OG Nerd: What unique challenges have you faced in cosplay and how have you overcome them?
Emerald Cosplay: I’m not sure if this would pass as a unique challenge, but definitely a challenge for me. I’m a single mum of two, I work casually and for the last year and a half, I was also studying. So finding a balance for life in general was really challenging. Then adding in cosplaying and being able to travel to cons, It really felt like there was never enough time in the day! Though now I have finished studying, I found that I needed to dig deep into my passion and use that as a force for motivation. I found that finding small amounts of time here and there works most effectively for me, and having that passion as a motivator to get what I need to do to make my cosplay ideas a reality. As for getting to cons, planning ahead is a huge thing for me. I can never make a last-minute thing work, so I have to know when the event is and plan everything ahead of time to work out if I can attend, and then start carving out little bits of time to work on cosplays and start saving as well!
OG Nerd: How do you maintain the balance between originality and accuracy in your cosplays?
EC: This is a hard one, personally I do like to make my characters as similar and recognizable to the look I’m choosing to model after, but I do like adding my own flair or addition to the character in a small way. I have found ways to incorporate a little bit of myself into cosplays where I’m not making the most of it myself. If the cosplay is bought and I can’t create any parts of it, I will aim to make or customize something of my own to go along with it. With characters like Catwoman, where adjustments aren’t really easy to make, I rock the suit and bring my own flair in the form of a handmade little black cat bag to match.
OG Nerd: What inspired your most recent cosplay project, and what was the process behind it?
EC: My most recent cosplay project I count to be my big (and first totally self-made) cosplay build, Yamato. This is a character from One Piece if you aren’t familiar. I had been wanting to do a One Piece character, and when I was watching episodes of the arc she features in I absolutely fell in love. It was about four weeks out from Con and I decided then and there I was going to make it happen. It was going to be a first for me in many areas but I was using that love for the character and my passion to bring her to life, to really fuel my ability to just jump in and give it a go. Drafting patterns was super challenging for me so I started with the big ninja ribbon that features on her back. These are called Nio-Dasuki, made exaggerated and huge to give the means of a powerful presence. This took 15 meters of fabric, wire, and lots of stuffing! Twisting them around each other and figuring out how to ensure they stay in place with wire attachments.
Then I pushed myself to just go with it, and ended up making the pleated style skirt which I was very happy with, and the top which required designs to be hand drawn on. While doing bits and pieces of the clothing I started the approximately 1.6m baseball-style bat she carries around as a weapon. I was intimidated to try with foam so I went for a paper mache approach, and Styrofoam balls for details. Now none of this was perfect or to the level of quality that I wanted but I was super pleased with what I had created and seeing it all come together for the first time Con morning, brought so much pride, I was so happy that I pushed through the doubt and gave it a go anyway!
OG Nerd: How do you incorporate feedback from your audience into your cosplay designs and choices?
EC: I love to interact with my audience as regularly as I can to see how they are feeling and engage with my cosplays. As cosplay is an avenue I have for me to express myself and bring to life the characters I love, admire, look up to and can relate to, I tend to lead the charge on which direction I want to take my cosplay in. Though saying that, I love to see what people think, and what ideas people have for me. Regularly asking my supporters what they want to see, who they might want to see, or how they feel about my choice of cosplay allows me to see if the cosplays are going to be well received if I should be adding more characters I didn’t think about onto my future list and making me aware of different approaches and techniques I could be taking to achieve the desired cosplay. I definitely have cosplays that are more popular and better received than others, and that’s totally okay.
At the end of the day, I’m grateful for everyone’s support, and I’ll keep taking on board suggestions and feedback, making my way through the list of cosplays I have, and excitedly sharing them with anyone willing to see them.
OG Nerd: What has been your experience with crossplay (cosplaying as a character of a different gender)?
EC: I haven’t actually cosplayed any characters of a different gender yet, but they are definitely on my list! They are cosplays I’m very excited to do. Some more than others I’m going to put a feminine twist on, or just create in a manner that is more my style so I feel comfortable in the cosplay still, but this is something I am definitely pursuing to create and experience in the near future.
OG Nerd: Can you discuss a time when you had to improvise or adapt quickly during a cosplay event?
EC: Thankfully I have never had any major hiccups when it comes to being at cons like needing emergency repairs or having to adapt to changes in circumstances. The only time I can think of quickly having to think on my feet and adapt at an event was when I decided at last minute to enter the cosplay competition at Supanova in April last year. I didn’t expect to make it in, as adding my name to the list on the day didn’t guarantee me a spot. When I came back to check the list posted at midday and saw that I had made it through and would be featured in the comp, I started to freak out. It was my first competition, and while I was super proud of how my Yamato cosplay had turned out, I was hit with such nervousness and instant fear realizing I would be judged, what if my work wasn’t good enough, and oh no, I would have to speak in front of a crowd. Public speaking was never my thing! The anxiety definitely hit me.
While waiting in line to be prejudged I didn’t really know what to expect and thought I’d touch myself up after this, give myself a pep talk and it would be okay, only to realize we were all lined up and ready to go on stage immediately after prejudging was finished. So by that point, I was really freaking out. This is going to sound a bit weird, but what I did to stop the nerves while they called us out one by one, was just sing to myself, the same song in my head over and over again to stop my mind from running off with all those irrational fears and self-doubt. They called my name, and I blanked. I walked on stage trembling, I barely remember what I said but I did my best to appear confident and express how excited I was about my cosplay, which I truly was, but I didn’t expect to have to express that on a stage while rattled with nerves. I had so much I wanted to say, I totally forgot it all. Then just like that it was over.
The one thing that pushed me through all of it, no matter how scared I ended up being, was that I was allowed to be proud, and I knew if I let the fear get the better of me I would regret it so much. I wanted to be able to say I did it, I tried, and I conquered the fear. I wanted that new experience because growth doesn’t ever happen in your comfort zone. It was a wild ride, and then hearing my name being called for the most creative cosplay award, it took everything in me not to bawl my eyes out as I walked onto the stage to collect it. I’ll never forget that day or any of the many feelings I felt within it.
OG Nerd: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start cosplaying but has a limited budget?
EC: This is something I experienced myself when wanting to step into cosplaying. It can be a super expensive hobby, and that can be intimidating! I would just like to express to anyone who wants to give it a go, please do! Try learning a new skill or two for fun, to help lower the cost of purchasing clothes, accessories, or props. YouTube has many great free tutorials for sewing and prop making, or whatever you want to try. Op shops are the best. Try finding items you can repurpose or customize to what you need, as altering is much easier than creating from scratch when first starting out. Shein is actually a really great cheap website I get a lot of bits and pieces from, and edit or alter to add to my cosplays. Another thing is, If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to reach out. Most people in the cosplay community will be happy to talk to you or give you advice should you want it. We want to see people succeed and feel good about their cosplays!
Lastly, it’s totally okay If you just want to buy your cosplay. You don’t have to make anything, and you don’t have to start at the top of the line, you can buy what you can budget for, and work towards upgrading from there if you want. The cosplay community, I have found, is a super supportive place, so all you need to do is do your best, with what you can, what suits your lifestyle and budget, and then show up and have fun. We will be there to cheer you on!
OG Nerd: How do you see the future of cosplay evolving, and what role do you wish to play in it?
EC: This is an exciting question! I can’t wait to see how cosplay evolves myself. It’s much more known, understood, and accepted as part of society today. More people are aware of what it is and understand the passion and drive behind it. It falls into that nerd culture lifestyle that I am so happy to be a part of. I would like to see it become more appreciated for the talent that comes along with crafting and creating cosplays. I’d love more cons, more cosplay competitions, and more accessible information about them to inform and encourage people to come along, and give it a go!
It’s such an inspiring thing as a cosplayer to have little kids look up to you while cosplaying their beloved characters. I personally would really like to do more of that, using cosplay to brighten others’ day. More opportunities for events like that come to more rural areas as well, as opposed to being limited to the city. It would just make my day to make someone else’s day a little bit more magical.
OG Nerd: What’s the most unexpected skill you’ve had to learn for cosplay?
EC: Admittedly there are still many skills I am learning in my little cosplay journey, but over the last year I have tried many new things. The most unexpected skill I tried to learn was probably paper mache. I didn’t expect to be going back to my primary school roots and pulling out the glue and newspaper, but it served me well. I hadn’t done it in so long, and making a 1.6m bat, covering a balloon and the length of the bat in paper mache, trying to smooth the wrinkles out, which was impossible I might add, and adding layer after layer. Also trying to stick spherical shaped objects onto the bat using paper mache, well that was a test. I can’t say I mastered the skill, but when I decided to jump in and give cosplay a real go, I didn’t expect to be re-learning how to do paper mache.
OG Nerd: How has cosplay helped you in expressing your identity or exploring new aspects of yourself?
EC: Cosplay has helped me make big changes in my life. Cosplay was something I had always wanted to try but was intimidated to do so. Making that decision to just give it a go, and have fun with it back in 2022 has really helped me grow as a person. I had just gotten out of a bad situation that I had been stuck in for a long time. I struggled with a lack of confidence quite a lot. I didn’t think I could be as skilled as these people I had seen crafting cosplays and props themselves. I was also very much a heavy introvert who had only a couple of close friends, and not many avenues or any courage to make new ones. If only you could have seen me then, to see the changes in me now. I am so proud of myself. Cosplaying has helped me find that confidence in myself. I used to hate photos, but now I organize as many shoots as I can at a Con, and I get super excited for them.
I can enter the room, confident and proud of what I have created, or how I am embodying my character, and walk around feeling good and enjoying the whole experience. It’s funny, I kind of turn into the opposite of myself when I am at a Con. I become very much an extrovert now because I am so comfortable with myself and I know who I am. I have made so many new friends, and I have become part of such a supportive, amazing community. I will have a conversation with everyone, stranger or not. I will always compliment others on their cosplays because empowering people and seeing them smile makes me happy. I talk so much during cons, I surprise myself, and my social energy is like this supercharged battery that I never witness in my everyday life. Because of these things, I call the cosplay community and most con attendees, “my people.” Having found my people, and my community and in turn, having that safe space to express myself and be my dorkiest self, has changed my life for the better.
Who knew there was such an extrovert in me, just waiting to find her people and shine.
