As the chilly Halloween season approaches, people flock to their nearest Walmart, Party City or Spirit Halloween to dress accordingly. But for junior Jane Wang, Halloween is her chance to reveal her creativity and determination through custom-made costumes and the art of cosplay.
Cosplay, derived from the words “costumed play,” describes the act of dressing in costumes inspired by characters from various movies, television shows and anime. For Wang, many of her costumed creations come from video games. Although she doesn’t play games herself, Wang is inspired by the intriguing details of game character designs she finds.
“For me, the biggest thing about cosplaying is coming up with a concept and acquiring materials, ultimately making something that you’re really proud of to showcase to other people in that community,” Wang said.
Wang’s motivation to cosplay mainly stems from her love for visual arts and performing. Competing in cosplay competitions at conventions seamlessly combines these two passions as some competitions allow cosplayers to showcase elaborately choreographed scenes like a mini theater play. Planning out these choreographed scenes with combat, music and lights is part of the fun for Wang, as she is able to foster her love for fine details during competitions.
Wang’s impressive talents finally paid off when she recently won best overall at the Long Beach Comic-Con in September, where she and her twin sister dressed as the war brothers Shao and Kotal Kahn from the video game “Mortal Kombat X.” Having the opportunity to be recognized for her talents and perform on stage with her sister was a fantastic moment for Wang, especially as this was the first time they competed together outside of the youth category. Through this, they were elated to find that their costumes were just as detailed as those of adults.
“Every single year, we will make the costumes separately, but we’ll pick something from the same video game or fandom,” Wang said. “The fact that both of us are able to enjoy this process together is very rewarding.”
Wang has also worn a plethora of other highly detailed custom costumes, including an original steampunk-inspired design complete with a decorative jetpack and retractable wings with a 6-foot wingspan. But such success in costume design only came after years of trial and error, beginning with her first custom costume of the Statue of Liberty in 2016.
“It was horrendous! I was in middle school at this time, and I pinned two green dresses together for my costume,” Wang said. “In retrospect, however embarrassing it might be now, I’m still glad that I did it because it led me down this path of improving every single year.”
Making a successful costume is easier said than done. Wang has to research character details, procure foam sheets in different thicknesses and more: a multi-step process that can take up to a year. She prepares her costumes in time for Halloween, then begins research at the start of November to begin the cycle all over again. While it’s a lot of work, she says that it’s something that anyone can and should do, especially because the feeling of accomplishment she gets when she interacts with other cosplayers is unlike anything else.
“Even though it might seem like a very daunting thing to start, the best part about cosplay is the community,” Jane said. “When you’re at these comic-cons and you see these people all around you who are also dressed up, that’s definitely the most rewarding part. I encourage anybody to get started.”
