By
Dave
It takes many different elements to create the magic of
Dragon Con – fan Tracks, celebrity guests, apple pie – but in my opinion few
are as important as the costuming community.
To me, Dragon Con’s biggest virtue is that it gives me
the ability to immerse myself in an environment that is accepting, nurturing,
and fantastical. Where, for five(ish) days we can all be whoever we were mean
to be – our best selves. Whether you’re a wizard, a wrestler, a soldier from the
future, or a mad scientist, you get to be you. And more importantly, you’re
surrounded by fellow wizards, warriors, and Wonder Women.
Being able to look around the massive Dragon Con staging
area of the Hilton, the Marriot, the Hyatt, the Westin, the Sheraton, and
AmericasMart and see fantastical characters of every shape and size is an
unequaled experience. Without those cosplayers Dragon Con would still be fun,
but it would lose a massive portion of its magic.
Here’s the post where I display my incredibly shallow
knowledge of what’s actually going on in pop culture by attempting to pick the
biggest costuming trends this year. I’ll also throw in some personal favorites
that I’m hopeful for, just to try and distract you guys from the fact that I
think people are still playing Bomberman
64.
If you’ve got your own thoughts on the matter, you can
comment below or, even better, join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and
get in on the conversation! Let us know what you think!
Fortnite
If you want to know how out of touch I am, I almost
spelled that wrong. Or right, I suppose. If you know Fortnite, you know what I mean.
This is the one cosplay area I can comfortably predict
because Phantom, Jr. is obsessed with this game and apparently so is everyone
else under the age of 25. This is the rare instance where I will not only know
these costumes on sight, but I will also be able to identify the dances they
are doing.
OH YES, MY PHANTOMANIACS. You see, one of the components
of Fortnite that the kids absolutely
love is the dancing, which is a way of taunting. There are tons of dances in the game and my son knows them all. Which means I do, too. Or at least
well enough to recognize them. I expect to see basically nonstop Fortnite dancing at Dragon Con.
If you don’t know, Fortnite
draws from pretty much every corner of pop culture for inspiration. It’s a very
silly online multiplayer game where the characters can be anything from a dude
in a shark suit to a robotic female assassin. There’s an amazing variety of
weaponry and costumes, which makes it a very appealing environment in which to
play.
I have tried it, but I suck.
Gorgeous
Ladies Of Wrestling
I predicted this last year and didn’t see any. I know of one individual that’s
working on a Zoya costume as we speak, but I certainly hope that after the
spectacular second season of GLOW it
is now cemented in as a pop culture go-to. I fully expect to see many more
Gorgeous Ladies this year.
The
Incredibles
Regardless of my feelings about The Incredibles 2, it was a huge pop culture event with a wide
spectrum of fans. Family-inclusive costumes are somewhat rare, so I fully
expect to see plenty of groups of Pixar superheroes, especially Elastigirl.
I think it’s great, because it’s a wonderful universe
with a great selection of interesting characters.
Ready
Player One
By default seventy percent of the costumes at Dragon Con
can be tied to this movie. I do specifically expect to see the avatars from the
Oasis walking around, though. Maybe someone will be dressed as The Shining.
I DON’T KNOW HOW. Those cosplayers are clever, man.
Plenty
of Avengers
This is so obvious that I sort of felt bad including it,
but I can’t imagine a bigger year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The
costuming for these movies is so dynamic and visually appealing that I know a
number of the best cosplayers around thrive on trying to recreate practical,
con-friendly versions.
Additionally, it wouldn’t surprise me to see “dusting”
variations inspired by the end of Infinity
War.
As a matter of fact,
I’m going to go one further and say we’re likely to see “dusting” versions of
characters from across the whole spectrum of pop culture.
Animation
This is a sort of catch-all for Stephen Universe and all of the other modern cartoons that I can’t
keep track of. Costumes from that show are a pretty easy call because I’ve been
seeing them at cons for years, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say we
might even see Adora and Catra from the new Netflix She-Ra cartoon that looks very similar to Cartoon Network’s hit
show.
Here’s another possible longshot – I wouldn’t be too
terribly surprised to see DuckTales
represented. That show seems to have caught fire with fandom and even I have to
admit that the excellent voice cast and storytelling has overcome the
limitations of the animation style. Heck, even the animation seems to be a
little better than the first few episodes suggested.
Other
Video Games & Anime
I’m not going to recognize any of these. Unless it’s Mario or Battle Angel. Which, by the way, I do expect to see this year.
Years ago cosplayer Riki Lecotey was Alita and I don’t know that I’ve seen one
since. Let’s bring her back – there’s a movie coming out!
Westworld
I should’ve made this call last year after the success of
the show’s first season, but for some reason it didn’t occur to me. That’s
okay, though, because I don’t remember seeing any costumes that seemed to be
from the show.
This year I fully expect to see a lot of Western wear, which
is great because it’s an underrepresented look at Dragon Con. As a matter of
fact, I’d love to have a cowboy costume. I wonder if I could put a decent
Brisco County, Jr. together in a week and a half…
Final Thoughts
Obviously this list doesn’t acknowledge the overwhelming
number of constant cosplay fandoms – Stars Wars, Trek, and Crash, Game of
Thrones, Middle Earth, Harry Potter, Manimal – and I’m sure I’m missing some
new hotness that I’ll feel like an idiot for overlooking the minute Thursday
gets here. But my point is that costumes are critical.
Take a minute and thank some cosplayers for making Dragon
Con so magical.
Here’s my advice to you – wear a costume. Maybe you’re
already doing that. If so, good for you. But if you don’t think of yourself as
a costume person, do it anyway. Find something you’re comfortable with. Go buy
a mask or a cape or maybe even just find a character you like whose garb isn’t
terribly outlandish. But dress up in a way that is different from your normal
routine. Even if you just wear a suit and a funny hat – get away from yourself
for a night and have fun. You’ll be surprised at how freeing it can be just to
put on a different pair of pants. Or none at all. But save that for
after-hours.
If you’re here checking out Dragon Con stuff
and haven’t visited Needless Things before, thanks for coming by. There’s a new
episode of the Needless Things Podcast every week. And definitely come back in
October for our 31 Days of Halloween! It lasts all month long and everything on
the site is thoroughly Halloweeny!
