Costume-Con is a travelling convention that focuses on all aspects of costuming. Science Fiction, fantasy, fursuits, cosplay, and original creations, by professionals and hobbyists alike, are all welcome. Each year a different group heads the convention and it moves from city to city around the globe. Because of this, the convention changes a bit each year. Themes are the norm, and tend to reflect the city/area where the convention is being held. The groups that head the convention are the various chapters of the International Costumer's Guild. More than anything, for a costumer, Costume-Con is a source of infinite costuming knowledge. The panels are almost all educational. From feather dying, wig styling, fabric coloring, how to choose an embroider machine...you can learn about it here. And it is completely fine to go up to someone and ask how they "did that"! Members are more than willing to discuss techniques and what they did, what fabrics and notions they used. In fact, you may spend a good couple hours discussing it.

I attended some "cosplay" workshops where one of the most obvious points of contention was what we all believed cosplay to be - long story to be told another time. Learned some beading techniques - now I know that I shouldn't be using normal everyday thread. Attended a judging panel and others. And had my own panel "Anime Cons vs Sci-fi and Costuming Cons" where I was going to discuss the major differences between the competitions and costuming of each. However, to my surprise, four other panelists were assigned to my panel. Had I known I would be having other panelists, I would have made an effort to collaborate with them. However, one panelist was quite outspoken about what beliefs she had of the anime con community, which were very VERY misinformed. And my agenda was shot for the panel. So I'm sorry to the few I knew who were attending and got something other than what they were expecting. I personally don't think that I will volunteer a panel at costume-con again if this is the case. This is the same panel I hosted at Costume-Con 27 and was so much better organized.

Unlike other conventions that run panels and workshops late into the night, or even non-stop through the night, the programming ended at 5pm each day of the convention so that members could get dinner, change into their costumes for the masquerades or for the events in the evening. On friday evening was the "Friday Night Social". It is an evening of socializing with other attendees. There was a bar, and they held a raffle where I did win some books. :) Saturday evening was the Sci-Fi and fantasy Masquerade, where both fantasy recreation and original costumes are shown in all their glory. Some had short walk-ons, while others did small skits. Masquerades at Sci-Fi and Costuming cons differ from most anime-cons in that the performance is required to be under a minute or even less. So the performance is to highlight the costume, rather than the emphasis on straight performance. Also, you will almost never see any store-bought or commissioned costumes. Attendees take great pride in their ability to make their own outfits.

Sunday afternoon brought the Single Pattern Contest and the Future Fashion Folio show. The single pattern contest is where patterns are selected and members can create anything based on that pattern. As long as it is recognizable that the pattern was used in the creation of the outfit. Usually 2-3 patterns are chosen. This year, I heard alot of complaints because the patterns were chosen from private pattern sellers so the patterns weren't widely available and had to be special ordered. The Future Fashion Folio consists of Costume-Con members creating designs and submitting them for the "folio". Designs are chosen from the submissions and then the folio is released to the registered members from which they can choose a design, if it hasn't already been taken, and design that outfit. What was awkward this year, was that both competitions were scheduled for the same time which really interferred with entrants in both competitions. Since the walk-ons of the entrants occurred right after another, many were either forced to find a model for their outfits for one of the walk-ons, or they had to do an extremely fast costume change. I do believe they mentioned that they would go back to separating the competitions next year. Later on Sunday would be the Historical Masquerade where accurate recreations of historic outfits are mainstay. I can't speak much for the historical since I had left for home late afternoon on sunday shortly after the Single Pattern Contest/Future Fashion Folio masquerade. There are also panels on monday, and recaps of the past 30 years of costume-cons, but again, I left on Sunday so I missed those.

The hotel...my impressions of this hotel were very poor. Namely, for a convention that has a significant portion of it's membership taking public transportation to attend, there was little to none at this location unless a cab or a private shuttle was arranged especially from the airports. The hotel failed to inform the convention or update their website as to the their airport shuttle service being discontinued months before the actual convention. Also, I had read reviews of the hotel and all of them were quite bad. Upon checking in, I did get asked the norms for id and payment, and the clerk, never smiled, she just handed me a couple keys and walked away. No "enjoy your stay", no telling me what number my room was, no advising me where the elevators were. Obviously customer service was not her strong point. The room was bright and clean, however, housekeeping kept knocking assuming, I guess, that no one had checked in yet. I found the wash cloth with the "Use for Make-Up Only" quite entertaining. And why is there a phone right next to the toilet? Closet space was extremely small for a convention with the costumes that would need to be hung up, and had I known, would have brought my rolling rack. Room had no refrigerator or microwave unless you paid an extra fee. Views of New York City and Tetterboro Airport were quite nice from the room. Breakfast the next morning was also quite disappointing. The food wasn't bad at all, but the service was well, poor. Waiter didn't listen to what we ordered and just stood there. He also put the check down when he brought our food out. Giving us the impression that he was just ready for us to leave. And he got the orders wrong anyway. We didn't eat in the hotel restuarant again for the remainder of our stay. But if you didn't have a car, you really didn't have a choice as any local eateries were in driving distance, and there were not any sidewalks in the nearby area to walk to any food locations. Luckily, friends lived in the area and they knew where to go! <3

All in all, it was a con for learning, and there is always things to see and learn. Location was rather poor if you didn't have a car and if you expected some customer service from hotel staff. I'm still really confused as to why panelists were assigned to different panels which made many panels quite unstructured. Also I think there shouldn't be such a strong emphasis on "cosplay" panels. It's all costuming and even as "cosplayers" we are there to learn new techniques for making our costumes. I am looking forward to attending Costume-Con 30 next year in Arizona and I think we already have some plans in the works! XD Enjoy my photos below, most are from the Sci-Fi/Fantasy masquerade, Single Pattern Contest, and Future Fashion Folio Show.