Big Apple Con Costumes

When I shot at the NYComicCon in February, with the amazing DDB team(R.I.P.), I started working on a loose thesis about Cons and the costuming experience. In short, Cons, like the convention of Comics themselves, allow us to transfer our favorite parts of ourselves, whether they are prominent traits or not, into a character who is built broadly to represent the favorite parts of ourselves. When the tangible obstacles around you are suspended, in your ideal universe, are you strong? Are you sexy? Are you clever? Which superpower do you possess? How does your alter ego relate to the world around him? This, and not body type or day job is what puts us into the costume we wear. And it's effects are gigantic and little. There IS a difference between a character with long violet tendrils and one with short, spikey hair. Ask the artists who drew them. I went to the Big Apple Con with two agendas, and furthering my study of fans in costume was one of them. From seasoned vets (Superman has 12 different costumes he rotates) to noobs, you costume says something remarkable about you, and the Con is a safe environment to explore those expressions.