Guest Post: Cosplay Fashion Show!

If there's one thing I look forward to, it's tales of creative library programs.* This week, Teen Services Specialist Krista Briggs of the Canton Free Library talks about her recent Cosplay Fashion Show.

Tell us a little about the program. How did this event come about?

The teens in my current Anime Club love to dress up. Many of them went to Girl Scouts together and had built a cosplay club of their own. Occasionally they would come to Anime Club dressed up or talk about which characters from the anime we're watching they would like to cosplay. Most shows result in the assignment of characters to everyone in the group. Knowing that, an event dedicated to them cosplaying was kind of a no-brainer, and seemed like a great way to represent this year's CSLP theme.

The Anime Club of Canton Free Library.

(Which, for those of you following along at home, is Every Hero Has a Story.)

We hired a professional photographer (who happened to be an alumni of our Anime Club herself!), I made an anime karaoke playlist on YouTube, and the teens dressed up, in some cases bringing multiple costumes. They danced, and sang, and had a really great time!

Here's a link to the Facebook album of the pictures so far.

Here and here are links to the videos of them dancing. They have since added one or two new dances to their performance, but I don't have videos of that yet. Hopefully soon!

I know next to nothing about cosplay, but it looks like you've got some Doctor Who fans in Anime Club. Do you find a lot of crossover between fandoms?

There is a great deal of crossover. Often teens who think they have only anime in common are thrilled to learn they also share a love of Doctor Who, or Supernatural, or The Avengers, or (of course) Harry Potter. The Tardis you see in a couple of the photos was actually our photographer. Being an Anime Club alum, she came to the photo shoot appropriately dressed, much to the delight of the Eleventh Doctor!

We had two Steven Universe cosplayers as well, which is a world with which I was unfamiliar. One was a little boy who came with his teen sister because he wanted to show off the Steven Universe costume she made for him. He was very nervous at first until the teens absolutely geeked out over him. One of the girls played a YouTube video of her brother performing a cover of a song from the show and he felt much more comfortable showing off his costume. It was adorable!

The Cosplay Fashion Show was basically just an opportunity for them to express their fandoms and their creativity by dressing up. More than a few of the costumes were homemade. 

Well, it sounds like a great program. Any plans to repeat? Any advice for others? 

It was such a success, that I think it must repeat at least annually. My advice to others would be: have snacks and water, have air conditioning. Some of the costumes are many layers and the teens get hot, especially if they are changing costumes.

The photographer was a little pricey, but worth it. It gave them a purpose and made them feel special, which was the whole point, after all. I wasn't sure what to expect when putting this together. Frankly, I couldn't get my head around the utility of a fashion show, so I wasn't sure what they, or I for that matter, should do. I wondered if I should invite an audience, but worried that some of the less outgoing teens may not feel comfortable. In the end, I decided against an audience, though the library staff was invited to poke their heads in to admire the costumes. The teens even performed their dance routine for them (they're such rockstars!).

The audience dilemma may not play out the same way for everyone, but I'm glad I decided against it. An introverted teen, who I'd hoped would come but did not expect to dress up, came in costume and was very self-conscious. She eventually found comfort in the fact that there was no possible way to stand out in that room, but an audience may have ruined her good time.

Thanks again to Krista and her teens, who are always up to something interesting. (And in this case, glamorous!)

*Also, inclement weather. Also, seasonal fruit. Also, birthday mail. There's quite a lot in this world to look forward to, actually.