Cosplay Spotlight: Dante S.
All photos by KAGE Photography
The first time I ever cosplayed was when I was 15. The whole reason I got into it was because a couple of friends of mine and I were going to an anime convention for the first time, and we heard that people sometimes dressed up for them. We were all watching Soul Eater at the time, so we decided to all dress up from the show. I went as Medusa, and my two friends went as Stein and Blair! I worked on that costume for 2 painful months, of learning to sew, cutting and styling a wig (badly), and generally having no idea what I was doing. I loved it. And I loved it even more when people recognized the character, and I made new friends. I’ve been hooked ever since, and nowadays there are a ton of extremely talented cosplayers out there that I look up to.
2. What do you do when you aren’t cosplaying?
I currently work at a book store! I’m in charge of the crafts section (surprise, surprise), as well as a couple of other sections. Everyone else who works there is just as weird as me, so I fit right in! As for hobbies, I’m a really big reader, I’ve always got a book in my purse, if not two! I also love to bake, and some of the things I make can get really crazy! It’s so much fun to design a dessert, and decorate it to look just perfect.
3. What costumes have provided the biggest challenge and rewards so far and why?
Tiny Tina was by far the most difficult cosplay I have done to date. It had so many tiny details that I had to remember, and of course I decided to make a prop that was bigger than me, but still had to make it light enough to carry around the whole convention! And then after you’ve finished making something, you have to go back in and cel-shade the whole thing! I wound up working on it for about 6 months, buying supplies whenever I could afford to, and slowly giving each piece the attention it needed to make it perfect (at least to me). Plus, this is the first cosplay where I actually learned to style a wig! (Thanks Jenna, for teaching me how, you’re the best!) But the payoff is so worth it, because when I look back at the cosplay, I remember all of the things that I learned while I was making it, and I know that the knowledge will make the next big cosplay I do even better!
4. What is the best advice you would give someone new to cosplaying?
Just go for it! If there’s a character you really admire, and you want to do the costume, just do it! There are so many resources out there nowadays! There’s forums, and tutorial sites, and Youtube videos everywhere, not to mention all the other cosplayers out there who are more than happy to help you figure something out! So make full use of all the information that’s available to you! Definitely don’t be afraid to approach other local cosplayers. You’ll both probably learn something from the experience, and you may even wind up with a new cosplay buddy, who can basically live at your house the week before the convention when neither of you has finished your cosplays yet! (I’m looking at you, Nathan).
5. What is one thing the cosplaying community can do better when it comes to dealing with each other?
There are a ton of things we could be doing, but I think the most important is that we all have to be supportive of one another, and stop tearing each other down! Don’t pick on someone for cosplaying a character of another gender, race, body type, or anything for that matter! If someone is wearing the same character as you, but you think they did it better, compliment them, instead of getting upset, and ask them how they made it! Most cosplayers are super excited to talk about a cosplay they’ve poured their time into, and you could learn about the things you can do to improve your next project. We all have to support one another, because when it comes down to it, we’re a bunch of nerds in costumes, and nobody is better than anyone else. It’s all about having fun, in the end!
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