Come to think of it, I honestly don’t know what the difference is between “cosplaying kids” and kids wearing costumes especially during Halloween season. It doesn’t seem out of the norm for a kid to do to me. I guess what matters is if whether or not they’re at some sort of convention or other. But when I asked a nephew what the difference is and he nearly bit my head off! He said,” It’s a whole world of a difference, Auntie!” Geesh…

According to my nephew and nieces (yes, they do cosplay and participate in conventions here and in the U.S. I even have my brother’s whole family in the U.S. doing it!), sure, you can just toss on a costume you can get an any Halloween outlet or discount store and feel like you belong with the group of people who are just goofing around in clothes that let them live a little fantasy.

But "cosplay" is more than just a representational knock-off piece(s) of clothing, whether generic or specific, or of a thing or person or character.

It seems to have evolved to mean "how clever can you be to as accurately as possible reproduce the look from a movie, or adapt from a cartoon, etc." And the more cleverness and work you put into your costume, the more respect you will garner from other cosplayers.

Cosplay is the Japanese-esque contraction for "Costume Play" and can include performance, behaviour, etc. It's become a full-time hobby for some Hutties, and for others we have met, it's become a full-time career, whether they are actors or creators of costumes. When talking to folks who indulge in this and after checking out various websites, I saw cosplay was much more than just putting on the Darth Vader facemask with the elastic band in the back and a black sheet for a cape!

In my quest to know more about cosplayers (my Keoni is one, I think based on his Ultraman, Storm trooper and Naruto outfits that he interchanges using at parties from time to time), and because some of us are simply perfectionists and want to be the best at whatever we do, or at least garner enough respect to be acceptable and say I know what it’s about, I discovered some things about constructing a costume and wearing it that we thought would be good to share.

Choosing a costume seems to be an easy thing. You pick what looks or seems cool and make the thing and wear it, right? Keep in mind that most movie/TV costumes are not designed for constant and continued wear. Even Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz had something like a dozen gingham dresses because they simply got damaged.

Also, many costumes are not designed for comfort; the actors in them are being paid to endure it, so your mobility, body temp, etc. might be seriously compromised by your choice. My U.S-based bro Joe used to make his and the kids’ costumes. At the time, he made use of whatever available material from Japanese paper to cheesecloth. I tell yah, my bro was cosplaying and knew Anime even before they made it big!

And if you choose an anime character, you have the additional potential problem of a completely unrealistic set of clothing or garb. Okay, let's say you want to cosplay Major Kusanagi from the first season of Stand Alone Complex.

She wears a corset-teddy thing that includes a thong (thus no underpants to be worn under this ...), thigh high wool hose that fold on top, combat boots, a leather jacket that pushes up on the sleeves, shin guards. But have you ever considered how that costume might stay ON her body? Double-sided tape and hot-glue only go so far, and staple guns are very limiting. And then there is the almost hacked-up looking but sexy blue hairdo and the purple eyes, the gun.

And if you choose a character from a comic book or graphic novel or video game or RPG, be aware that different artists may depict that character's clothing and weapons differently. Heck, we've even noticed the SAME artist changing things in the same story! And some things look very cool when the character is standing still, but if you think carefully, there is no way that they could raise their arms or kick out the way they are illustrated if the armor or cape really looked like that. It's called "artistic license" and you will need to make some decisions on what YOUR look will be and how you want to move or not move.

And even if you choose a character depicted by a real and human actor, you still have to decide which version of a costume you are going to cosplay. For instance, Frodo Baggins changes look and clothing through the three Lord of the Rings movies (more worn, loses the protective shirt, etc.), but Samwise Gamgee only changes at the end when all the hobbits become really, really grimy (makeup consideration!) and he dumps his pots and stuff. (J. Bautista)