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Cosplayers are strutting their stuff at MegaCon in London’s ExCel exhibition center. The outlandish costumes pay tribute to favorite characters from movies, television and video games.
Cosplayers in London say that although it can be an expensive hobby, it is well worth the effort. The Legends of Zelda video game franchise is a popular source of inspiration for cosplayers.
Cosplay is the art of dressing up as a character from a specific subculture – typically from science fiction, video games or anime. Typically, it involves making large parts of an outfit with homemade crafting, sewing and modeling.
Like many hobbies, cosplay can be an expensive pastime which can require buying large amounts of expensive fabric, sewing machines and even 3D printers. The cost of living crisis is affecting every aspect of modern living in many parts of the world, and the UK is no exception.
Cosplayers at MegaCon are reporting the difficulties they are facing from rising costs. In particular, food and energy prices have risen steeply throughout 2023 – partly in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, but is compounded by global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing military action in Gaza, which is threatening shipping routes.
Cosplayer Jess Stiff is at MegaCon in London dressed as Widowmaker from the video game Overwatch. She works nights at a supermarket and says cosplaying is her main social outlet. She admits cosplay can be done cheaply, but if you want the best outfits then it can quickly get expensive.
She says: “It’s only expensive if you make it expensive, you can keep things very low budget. You can keep things very, very cheap. You don’t have to make things expensive. I sometimes do, but that’s because I’m OCD and I like the highest of details.”
Closet cosplaying is when you create the bulk of an outfit from clothes already in your wardrobe. Typically, closet cosplaying is more comfortable for long days at a convention center and often only requires the individual to buy a single prop or a wig to make their character identifiable.
MegaCon ran from 13-14 January at London’s ExCel exhibition center.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.