Cosplay Spotlight: Psypris

Psypris is this week’s awesome COSPLAY SPOTLIGHT!!!!!

Why do you cosplay?

While I love to create a character out of a pile of fabric, my true passion is acting & I consider cosplay to be a performance art. Bringing a character I love to life brings me joy and sharing that joy with others is truly a remarkable experience!

What was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay was actually Sailor Chibimoon (Sailormoon) in 1996; my sister and her high school friends were getting a group together & they needed someone small, so I joined in! We stayed in character and even had a photoshoot. It was a lot of fun and I attribute my cosplay-start to this experience.

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

make my own costumes; there are a few exceptions where I will go thrift-shopping and my sister has done all of my mascot heads for me, but I do all of my own sewing, painting & other crafting. I have purchased parts of for my outfits, like Rarity’s horn & ears (From Yaya Han) and the unitards for Dot and Raiden but I love to face the challenge of creating a costume on my own and I am slowly weening myself off of “outside-help”. The average time it takes to complete a costume is difficult to say; I usually only work on them during the weekend and it depends on what sort of costume I’m working on but on average most costumes are done within two to four days or 16 – 32hrs.

What is your favorite character to play?

This question is so difficult to answer because each character is unique and I love them all; I find myself more closely associating with Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII) and I really enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing the personality-difference of characters such as Sasuke (Naruto).

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

My biggest inspiration is nostalgia – anything that I loved as a child, I find it a personal accomplishment to cosplay as an adult. I try to stay very open and balanced, so I’ve cosplayed pretty evenly among video games, anime and American cartoons and movies. I’ve never been too into comics but I’d really love to start branching out!

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

I have made a mistake on EVERY costume! I suppose a few generic tips would be to know your own limitations but don’t let that stop you from doing something – fully research every option because cosplay is all about learning new techniques; trial and error definitely. You will also notice a difference if you take your time and do it right rather than rush through it. The Cosplay community is a wonderful group who are full of helpful information and inspiration, so don’t ever think you have to venture into something alone!

Are there certain characters that are easier to play than others?

I would say so. I’ve done a few costumes because my friends asked me but I wasn’t familiar with the series; I tried to research what my character was like but it’s always a struggle to cosplay a character that you don’t have a personal connection with. In my experience, I’ve found that the more a character means to you, the easier it is to cosplay them. However, if the personality of the character meshes well with your own, then it’s easier to just “be yourself”.