Cosplay Spotlight: The Howling Shoopuf

The Howling Shoopuf, this is your week in our COSPLAY SPOTLIGHT!!

Why do you cosplay?

Well, I’m a theatre student so cosplay just kind of came naturally I guess. I cosplay because it’s super fun and I get pick which characters I want to be and bring them life in my own way. Unlike the normal acting world I don’t have to audition for a character that I feel suits me I get to pick one right away and that’s such an awesome and liberating feeling. I also need some kind of outlet to channel my energy and sewing and crafting is a great way to do that.

What was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay ever would be Doctor Jackal from get backers. I did that for an anime picnic in 2007, but I wasn’t really identifying “as a cosplayer” back then I just needed to throw something on. In 2012 I really got serious with cosplay and cosplayed May-rin from Black Butler. I think of her as my first REAL cosplay because of how much work I put in and the actual dedication I had.

Do you make your own cosplay costumes, if so, which ones, and how long does an average costume take to make?

Usually I make mine own! I have purchased a few because of timing or complexity but only three come to mind that I bought. Now a days I can only see myself buying school uniforms and characters I’m not really super super passionate about because I HATE making school uniforms and I’d rather focus my time on characters I really am in love with.

Who is your favorite character to cosplay?

MOMOKA! She’s the fakku Mascot and a total babe, and I love being her. Her original design is simple but there’s tons of fanart I can use for future costumes and really love the fakku community. They’re hilarious and pervy and some of the nicest people I have ever met. Jacob who runs the site is also super welcoming to new people on the forums and talkative and friendly at conventions so for me Momoka isn’t just visually stunning but she represents the biggest things I love, like artistic freedom and community.

Amongst animation, comics, movies, or video games, what is your biggest inspiration for cosplay?

I think I’m fairly evenly divided between anime and video games. I don’t really cosplay from western comics or movies (not that I haven’t or won’t). I think I like having more lee-way fabric wise too, and with live-action movies I would really be stuck with what they used only, and I probably wouldn’t have the budget for it. I also gravitate towards fan-art a lot! I think fan-art is really cool to cosplay from because you’re interpreting an artist’s interpretation of a character and that extra layer is always exciting to work with.

Have you ever made any mistakes that you’d warn a first timer about?

Well you’ll make poor sewing, fabric and crafting choices everyday when you are cosplaying but you need to make those mistakes to learn from it. I know when I was a kid, kinda looking on the outskirts at cosplay I thought it was this crazy competitive elitist society and I would complain about things I knew nothing about to friends about people’s costumes I saw on the internet, but as I got into con-going and cosplaying that attitude went away and now I can’t even comprehend hating on someone’s work, so I guess the only thing I would say to first timers is to be careful of that attitude, there are a lot of critics, but you don’t have to be one. Go into this hobby humble and stay humble or it won’t be as rewarding.

Are there certain characters that are easier to cosplay as than others?

I’m not sure how to answer that because yeah obviously there are but simpler costume dosen’t always make it easy. I do a lot of cosplay from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and some of those designs are really easy to make, like Daiya, but when it comes to posing it’s pretty freakin’ difficult.