I am a big proponent of women owning their own power and Dessi Desu’s designs really encapsulate that idea. I loved that she captured the power of Wonder Woman without yielding any femininity; too often I think our culture conceives of strength in terms of strictly masculine aesthetics, but her artwork spoke to the truth that you don’t have to choose between being strong and being feminine – you can be both!
I also really love original interpretations of characters. It is taking the familiar and subverting expectations to evolve into something new and wondrous. That is the true gift of artists to look at what is and see beyond to what can be.
I am a sucker for wings!!!! When I saw the trailer for WW:1984 I was so excited at the prospect of tackling the Golden Eagle Armor as a cosplay. However, my initial excitement lagged as I lost interest in that version/aspect of the character. When I saw Dessi Desu’s artwork it raised this question of whether wings could be integrated into other versions of Wonder Woman and decided to just go for it!
📸 @g28646
The response was exuberantly welcoming!!! Before I debuted the costume, I was actually very fearful that people wouldn’t “get” it because I had taken the character to such a non-obvious place, but my fears were quickly laid to rest. I got so much praise for my work, it was extremely gratifying. Best of all, it opened the door for conversations with other cosplayers about creativity and process and there is nothing better than geeking out about making stuff with other creatives.
My favorite part was encountering a family that was dressed as the Justice League; their youngest daughter (maybe 4 years old) was dressed as Wonder Woman and we got a picture together. She was the absolute cutest and took our roles as Amazons VERY seriously – I love to be a part of helping kids both discover cosplay and embrace their imaginations! It was a great moment and the whole family was so sweet.
This costume taught me two major things. The first is to trust the process. There were so many times I looked at what I was doing and thought it was just hideous. But I kept moving forward and didn’t agonize if something didn’t turn out perfectly. While there are still things I would like to improve, overall I’m very excited about the end result!
The second is to focus on details. I’ve always been a big picture kind of cosplayer, so I purposefully knew that this design would be a challenge for me to tackle because of the amount of detail it had. I still have a lot to learn, both about designing with details and bringing them to life, but overall making this cosplay helped me grow into being a more nuanced maker.
Cosplay is the practice of joy in my life. Everything I make is a part of me that I am sharing with the world, my way of telling people who I am. When I cosplay I hope to inspire, delight, enchant, and engage with people and it helps me feel connected with something larger than myself. I truthfully hope I can continue growing and, by refining my skills, bring joy to the people I meet.
https://www.instagram.com/giggle_maker_cosplay/
Posted on: 30 September 2021