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May 1-4, 2009 Crowne Plaza - Baltimore North Timonium, MD Yesod and I were excited to learn that Costume-Con was coming back to the East coast and we were excited to finally be able to attend. It had been hosted in the Midwest and West coasts the last several years. We arrived not knowing what to expect. Ok, so you'll have to take this report as a noob attending something for the first time, because that's what it is. Anime/Sci-fi cons, yup, been to those before, but not one devoted to only costuming. Once we picked up our registration a large packet of information was given. The usual, schedule, program book, but also a Future Fashion Folio. From what I learned, there is a specific competition where during the year leading up to the convention, applicants design futuristic fashions and then submit them, where the best are chosen and the designs are compiled into a folio which is sent out to members who then chose designs to actually create. At con, there is a fashion show showing off the designs. Looking through the folio, people are so creative. I think I might want to give this a try in the future. We did enter into one contest this year since we figured we should dive in a bit. And that was the Single Pattern Contest. This is where a pattern is chosen, one for men and one for women, and you can create anything you want as long as the base pattern is recognizable. I decided to take the gown and do a Moon and Star theme. Yesod went with a Sun theme for the male duster pattern. The designs that people came up with were so varied and beautifully made. A theme is chosen for each Costume-Con, this year it happened to be "Vampires, Villains, and Vixens". You can create costumes within this theme, but you are free to create and wear whatever you like. As a bonus to some of the contests, if your costume fit the theme, you may receive an additional award. I believe they were awarding individuals with vampire mugs. lol. And I was also sure to bring my Seth Nightlord cosplay along too, because she is a "vampire". There was also a lot of different panels to attend. Did you ever want to learn more about beading, hairpieces, or historical clothing construction? They've got it covered. How about making tassels and trims? Special make-up affects and makeup application? Making wings? Dying feathers? You can learn about all that and much more. Yesod and I also had our own panel, "Anime vs. Science Fiction and Fantasy Costuming". Between attending the different types of conventions, we had an open discussion about the noticably different atmosphere regarding what is appropriate to wear, the different events and how they are run at the different types of conventions. It was well attended and it's nice to know what goes on in all the different costuming communities. Thanks to everyone who attended and shared their experiences! The highlight of the weekend was the Science Fiction and Fantasy Masquerade. Simply amazing. This is somewhat different than the masquerades that you'll see at anime cons. More or less you have a minute to present your costumes, either by telling a story, or performing. The costumes created for this event, OMG! I wish I had an idea of how to make some of those things. Steampunk was definately a strong influence on this year's costumes. And who would of ever thought to have a wet bar in a train trolly? That Future Fashion Folio I was talking about earlier, well, they have a whole fashion show dedicated to it. WOW! And following that, a representative of Simplicity patterns had models debuting new patterns that were to be released in the near future. I'm really excited for that pattern that resembles a certain dress from the movie Legend... Besides the shows, there was a good portion of cosplayers from all around. And although I recognized some only by their screen names online, I got to meet and talk to them in person and get to know them a lot better, and met a ton of other people who were more than interested in talking about costume construction and asking how things were made and sharing their experiences. It was such a friendly convention. Dealers rooms: now just remove the majority of "stuff" and replace it with sewing notions, clothing, fabric, special affects make-up, millinery booths, patterns, jewels, and beads, etc. Costumer's paradise! Suffice it to say, there was more going on until Monday, but we had to leave sunday afternoon. I really want to keep attending future Costume-Cons! Next year, Costume-Con 28, will take place in Milwaukee, WI, so I won't be able to attend but in 2011, it will be in northern NJ, and in fact, that website is being worked on and the theme is "Give my Regards to Broadway", so stay tuned!
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