HUZZAH! (Days 404 & 405)

I got my dress form today! It arrived at JoAnn's a couple of days ago, but we finally picked it up today. I don't know if I'm allowed to use it yet though, since it's technically my Christmas present. Of course, my dress form needs a name, and she is female. I'm tempted to name her Rikku, for no real reason whatsoever, other than maybe the fact that Sheik-chan is working on a Rikku cosplay, so I keep seeing the name pop up every now and then. I haven't played Final Fantasy, but I do like the name. =]

In other news, I've been talking to my friend Kris about lolita, and about me possibly getting into lolita. I love the style, even if I haven't fully grasped it yet, it's just intimidating because of the elitists (and the price). She's really helped me out a lot and answered all of my little newbie questions. She really put me at ease about the whole thing and sort of simplified it somehow. She directed me to this site: LolitaFashion.org, which I've found before but didn't know how much to rely on. It lists a bunch of different types of lolita and explains the style. I'm still looking into which style(s) suit me, and which I'm more interested in, but currently I most like sweet, country, sailor, and wa lolita. I'll admit, I like the ones that look more costume-y, which probably comes from my love of cosplay, but I know that lolita is completely separate from cosplay, and I intend to do it right. If I do get really into lolita, I'll start a separate blog for it so that the two don't get confused.

Also, I came up with a two-month plan to gain weight. Yup, gain. I'm about 20lbs underweight, and quite frankly, I'm tired of being made fun of for it. I'm not going to lie, I like being skinny. So gaining weight is going to be hard, not just physically, but emotionally. I've been small for as long as I can remember, so this is a big change. An extra 20lbs will still have me on the thin side, but I'll be a healthy BMI. I'm working toward a BMI of 18.9, which is on the low side still. I'm tracking my weight in pounds as well, but this is more about the BMI.

What I don't understand is that even though a ton of people have made fun of my for being skinny, when I announced on facebook that I was going to gain weight, a lot of the same people asked "why?" and made me feel like they were putting me down for doing it. I know that the media praises being skinny, but when people make fun of me for being skinny, and then discourage me from losing weight, it makes me feel like they want me to stay this way so that they can continue to make fun of me.Anyway, anyone who makes fun of me after I gain weight, is nothing but a jealous fatty. =P

So my weight gain plan is based on what my diet is lacking, hydration, and exercise. I wont' get into it, because this isn't that kind of blog, but I'm fairly confident that this will work, despite having next to no experience in nutrition, and not having a doctor look over it. Doctor's always told me "eat more" which doesn't do anything except give me a stomach ache. Anyway, this weight-gain process is going to span over two months, the last day is January 30th, and it's just maintaining it from there. You can be sure that I'll blog about this again, especially since I'll probably be 20lbs heavier by AOD! Here's hoping!

As for real cosplay progress: there was none. I bought more fleece for an 8-hat order I've got. I'm supposed to have them all done by Saturday. AHAHA! Yeah, not going to happen at this rate. But we'll see. =]

READ MORE - HUZZAH! (Days 404 & 405)

Cosplay, Race, & BodyType

Today's topic: Cosplay, race, and body type
(I'll try my best not to offend, but I think I'm too blunt for my own good sometimes.)

I'm going to start out by outright saying, I do not discriminate against anybody. I honestly believe that any race or body type can cosplay anything or anybody they want.

HOWEVER! I do not enjoy seeing extremely overweight people half-naked. I won't make rude comments or gestures at them or behind their back, but it's not enjoyable to see, and I definitely won't ask for a picture. On the other side of the spectrum, skinny people don't look good as overweight characters, and it even makes them hard for me to recognize sometimes.
I also greatly admire people who use cosplay to motivate themselves to work out and lose weight. I'm thin, but even I've worked out to make a cosplay more accurate (getting abs for crossplay).

I know that race can be a tender subject, but here goes. I'm less likely to ask for a picture of a cosplay if the person is not the "correct" race. There are exceptions though, if the cosplay is just spectacularly made or I get to know them and they're just an awesome person that I want to remember. Also, I once saw a really dark African-American Link (The Legend of Zelda) cosplayer with a blue tunic, instead of the main green one, that complimented his skin tone so well, I would have died to get his picture. In any case, I am no less likely to compliment their costume or talk to them. I also don't particularly like when people use makeup to change their skin tone. It has to be really well-done and really convincing.
That being said, as with cosplayers who aren't the "correct" weight, I still do not make rude gestures or comments.

As for body type and skin color affecting my cosplay choices, it honestly does. I' a people-pleaser and a perfectionist, a terrible combination for a cosplayer.

I could never bring myself to cosplay a heavier character because I'm so ridiculously tiny and I'd be afraid I'd offend someone. (The words "but there are so many skinny anime characters" come to mind...) I get grief about my weight as it is, whether I'm cosplaying a character just as skinny as myself, or even if I'm not cosplaying at all. People seems offended by my size, as if I'm purposely perpetuating the stereotype that only skinny girls are pretty, Yes, I'm skinny. Yes, people say I'm pretty. Yeah, there might be some correlation, but, really, I wish I weighed more. It affects my health and I'd really like to get people the F off of my back. But that's my problem, not the cosplay world's.

I'm less particular about race though, probably because I've never had real problems with race. I've been toying with the idea of cosplaying a darker-skinned girl with the same body type as myself, but my skin is so light, camera flash reflects off of it, and on top of that, it's a fairly revealing cosplay. I'd have to get a tan, which is near impossible, though I'm not entirely against fake tans, good ones, I mean, but that's money. Anyway, it is mostly the skin that's holding me back, not how revealing it is. I'm not against altering the costume to make it less revealing, even if that really did hold me back. It's easier remedied than skin color.

So, does skin color matter in cosplay? Yeah. Do weight and body type matter? Yeah. Should you let that stop you? No. Does that give people the right to be rude to people whose bodies or skin doesn't match? No.

After all, if a boy can be a girl, and a girl can be a boy (crossplaying), why can't a skinny person be an overweight person, or a white person be an Asian person?

READ MORE - Cosplay, Race, & BodyType