John Whittlesey/Observer
Established in fall 2013, Central’s Cosplay and Costuming Club (Cosplay Club for short) continues to bring together a range of creative and dedicated students to create costumes, showcase character designs, plan trips to conventions and promote their club to the cosplay community at Central.

A play on words, cosplay is a fusion of costume and play. Members dress up as a character from their favorite anime, television show or movie. Some even create their own characters.

Costume designs come from an array of different inspirations: fan fiction, individual characters, gender bends and even personal inspirations.

During the first meeting of the year, the Cosplay club got together to have a fashion show and take photos. The fashion show was a way for members to discuss their character depictions, costume and accessory choices.

There was also a cosplay and social media PowerPoint discussion led by the public relations officer Zach Mysliwiec, sophomore theatre arts major.

Before the session, Mysliwiec gave members a chance to submit photographs to put up on the club’s social media sites.

With most of cosplay being character based, many of Central’s cosplayers have character specific pages for their work and/or commissions.

Emily Shamrell, one of the founding club officers and a senior family consumer sciences major, describes commissioners as, “a cosplayer or cosplay company you’re paying to make a certain outfit.”

Commissioning isn’t always about pay; trades are sometimes acceptable.

Social media is very important for commissioners to build and create a portfolio for their items, which can be costumes, accessories or props.

Shamrell said having a cosplay page is “helpful for the process of progression.”

The cosplay community is known for being welcoming and helpful, especially when at conventions.

Conventions are national gatherings for cosplayers and pop culture enthusiasts to come together and participate in Q&A sessions and workshops, as well as visit vendors and commissioner booths.

Costumes still remain at the forefront of the community’s concerns. Both Shamrell and Makayla Sheperd junior studio arts major and cosplay club member, discussed how other members of the community make sure one another’s costumes are in place, especially wigs.

While Sheperd said wigs are an item that really add to the completeness of a costume, she was the first to proclaim that shoes could make or break the costume.

“Cosplay is about what makes you comfortable […] People overdo what they can’t do,” Sheperd said.

There are many elaborate pieces of a cosplay and figuring out shoes can be  intense, but a costume wouldn’t be complete without makeup.

Shamrell said makeup is important in order to prevent your face from being washed out in pictures. The club hopes to bring in a makeup artist from Bluestone Academy to show members how to contour.

Teaming up with other clubs and community members has been happening lately as well. The Cosplay club teamed up with members of Central’s 88.1 the ‘Burg on April 12 to take pictures as Disney Princesses at their Princess and Pastries event.