when a store has a costume party your suppose to dress up!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

That's what is awesome about about being/hanging out with SCA people. We do love to dress weird, and will seldom pass up an opportunity to do so.

[Jester]

As I have said many times before, I have never read the HP books or seen the HP movies. I did have RW buy me a copy of the new book, because 1. I wanted to give my youngest niece an early birthday present surprised (she freaked!), and 2. I had to work so couldn't do it myself, as I had originally planned to do. (And 3. RW is cool like that.)

Not being a fan, I STILL planned to dress up in costume had I been able to go, though admittedly it would not have been so much an HP costume as a generic type of costume (all in black with a black hooded cape).

That being said, I see no problem with people not dressing up for what is essentially just a trip to the store to buy a book. Yes, it is kind of a bummer for the staff that spent such an effort, but I am sure that many of the people there, in or out of costume, still appreciated the staff's efforts.

Also, if they are giving out prizes for costumes and you are wearing a costume, other people NOT being in costume is good for you, as it increases your odds of winning something. Don't ya think?

It's like Halloween. Kids come to your door in cute costumes and receive treats for their effort. Then you have some twit in ordinary everyday clothes, claiming he's a "street person" or "undercover cop" or "a homicidal maniac, they look just like everyone else". They put no effort or thought into their attire, yet expect to be rewarded like the kids who do. It spoils the fun.

I agree that that is lame. "I'm going as myself." Yeah, real creative there pal. Halloween being one of my favorite holidays, I always dress up. Heck, in my 37 years there was one Halloween I didn't wear a costume for, when I was about 13 and sick. Every year I dress up for it. Actually, in Key West it is actually more of a Fantasy Fest thing than a Halloween thing, as FF occurs right about the same time as Halloween and severely overshadows the actual holiday down here. It's the same idea though....lots of people get in the spirit and dress up, lots don't. (This last Fantasy Fest I shattered my old record: eight day, ten different costumes. )

Whether its a Ren Faire or Halloween or some special event, there are always going to be those who dress up, and those who don't. For those of us that do, it kind of makes the whole thing all that much cooler, don't you think?

[Tigress]

I feel this way about Hero's Con, a comic book convention in Charlotte. It's basically just a a huge dealer's room, with a few panels thrown in as an afterthought. There are only a handful of people that wear costumes. And I always wonder why.

This year, I went as Belldandy and I got glomped. People manning the booths worshipped the concrete I walked on (with bare feet). Little kids came up and hugged me and wanted pictures. I made new friends with fellow cosplayers. One guy manning the Klingon booth that was taking donations for hospice nearly broke own his leg in his hurry to give me a hug.

Why don't more people want to get in on this?!

[queenbb]

cause they dont realize how fun it is.

that must have been an interesting experience, belldandy is cool.

heres my belldandy avatar, i made it from the 2nd season opener, i use it on the goddess project boards (yikes i havent been in there for a while)

[air914]

good for you for dressing up and having fun! I would dress up if I had a costume, but I don't really want to spend a lot of time making one... I might have gone in my old Catholic school uniform if I could find it.... but I have a friend that goes to conventions and really spends time on her costume and everything and if she lived near me, i'd probably do it too. If I dressed up though, I'd be all alone and I'd feel really weird if no one else was dressed up.

BTW - who/what is your friend supposed to be??

[queenbb]

just a wizard who is ready for a battle royal.

he made the armor him self, he likes to wear it when ever he can lol. he does sca as well, so normally he would be wearing it with his kilt.

unfortunatly my boyfriend who was takeing the pics did not think to take a full length shot of us. i do have an older pic of my dress in full length. i do have one of him sitting on the ground talking to his girlfriend on the phone.

[Andara Bledin]

I went, but I didn't dress.

When you work a full day, then bus home, then have to bus to the store, dressing up just isn't high on your list of things you want to do.

It got cold enough, however, that I wished I had grabbed my cloak on the way out the door. It's dark grey wool with a deep burgundy lining that I had custom made years ago.

^-.-^

[Jester]

This year, I went as Belldandy and I got glomped. People manning the booths worshipped the concrete I walked on (with bare feet). Little kids came up and hugged me and wanted pictures. I made new friends with fellow cosplayers. One guy manning the Klingon booth that was taking donations for hospice nearly broke own his leg in his hurry to give me a hug.

Why don't more people want to get in on this?!

Sometimes costumes can really catch people's attention, and make you a huge hit.

I have had a few good costumes people like (my court jester's costume is always getting comments), but I doubt I will ever doubt my best costume ever, or the reactions I got to it.

Keep in mind, during Fantasy Fest here in Key West, of the 75,000-100,000 people that attend, there are a lot wearing costumes, many of them, how shall we say, rather skimpy, so to catch people's eye with a non-skimpy one is pretty good. To be mobbed is phenomenal.

On the Thursday of Fantasy Fest 2001, six weeks after 9/11, I went dressed as Osama bin Laden.

With a U.S. cruise missile going through me.

I shit you not, I could not go five feet without someone stopping to shake my hand, give me a high five, give me praise, or want a picture with me. In all, I think about 12 people were offended. I think about 2-3 THOUSAND wanted photos.

Now let me make something clear. To avoid the appearance of a racist costume that targeted Arabs, Middle Easterners, or Muslims as a whole, I clearly dressed as much like bin Laden as I could, including the beard and the turban, put BIN LADEN in big football jersey typ letters across the top of my back, and had a name tag that read "Hello! My name is Osama!" So why those 12 people were offended, I have no idea. Hell, as I recall, all of them were very Caucasian.