I finished the skirt for my Halloween costume! YAY! It's not anything like my original design for it (aside from the pleats), but I love it just the same. =D
My next project, beside Mello's vest, which is at a dead standstill, is making a
green Luma (Super Mario Galaxy) plushie from my cousin. But it's a Christmas present, so in all actuality, I've got a LONG time to make it.
Now, for the past couple of days, I've mentioned ways to get your parents to accept cosplaying, but today I remembered that I had mentioned Crossplay vs. Genderbending. So off we go~!
Crossplay is when someone cosplays as the opposite gender (a girl cosplaying a boy, or a boy cosplaying a girl).
Genderbending is when someone takes a character of the opposite gender and
makes the character into their own gender. For example, a girl changing Mario from Super Mario Brothers into a girl, or a boy taking Princess Peach from Mario Bros. into a boy.
I personally have an immense amount of respect for either,
when they're done right! Crossplaying is much harder than regular cosplaying, no matter how you look at it. Not only do you still have to make the costume, but you have to temporarily switch genders, meaning more makeup for contouring and changing the look of your face, binding of girls, and, erm, tucking for boys. Now, as clarification, just
not doing these things, does
not mean the person is genderbending the character.
A character that has been genderbent
well will have any of the character's identifying pieces of clothing, Mario's red shirt and overalls, of Peach's pink outfit and blonde hair, but anything else that can be changed to the other gender should probably be changed. For example, I've seen Marios with overall skirts instead of pants.
I've genderbent Mario myself, and I actually kept the overalls as pants. I put knee-high boots over my overalls and wore long white gloves, much like Peach's, instead of his normal white gloves. I then accessorized with an invincibility star on a necklace. I'm rather proud of my genderbent Mario (or as I call her, Maria) as she was not only well-loved at the convention, but even won the costume contest.
However! Mario was a fairly easy character to genderbend and still be recognized as. Genderbending a girl into a boy is more of a challenge (especially if she wears all pink...).
In any case, there are plenty of reasons to genderbend instead of crossplay. For example, it's much harder for a boy to be accepted as a crossplayer than a girl. Also, some people just aren't as comfortable with themselves to take on such a feat as to dress as another gender.
I do not believe that genderbending is lazy or "an excuse not to bind."
