I was first introduced to cosplay at the tender age of fourteen, when I
stumbled upon the ad for the Armageddon Cosplay Contest. I entered in a costume made mostly by my mum, didn't win anything, and the next year
came armed with several friends in several costumes, all made by me -
and the rest, as they say, is history.

Cosplay is a passion of mine - I love to create beautiful things, and to
see them shown off to their best advantage. I frequently choose costumes for myself with the express intention of taking photos of them
afterwards! I have been costuming myself and others for nearly eight years, winning numerous awards and honorable mentions along the way, and I hope to continue churning them out for many years to come.

I studied photographic design at Massey Wellington for four years, and
hold a Bachelor of Design with Honours. As part of my final research
assignment, I produced a book on kiwi cosplayers, travelling around the
country shooting with members of the cosplay community from Dunedin
through to Auckland. This book became a prototype for a larger body of
work I hope to have published and available for purchase mid-2010.

At present, cosplay has a huge stigma surrounding it, thanks largely in
part to its relative obscurity. Cosplayers are geeks - this much is
true. But it is a creative hobby closer to theatre or drama in nature
than many of the activities it is commonly associated with. Through the
SPCC, one of my hopes is that cosplayers will be recognised and
appreciated for the skills they have, and that cosplay will stop being a
"dirty" word, exclusively associated either with disturbing fetishism or
social ineptitude. Cosplay is an art, and I intend to present it as such.

Sylvie has photographed NZ cosplayers extensively. You can view her photos here : www.little-noise.com

Name:  Kylie Scollick
Alias:  Keysha-chan
Work:  Freelance Illustrator, Studying Captive Wild Animal management.
Website:  www.Keyshachan.deviantart.com

My name is Kylie, an artist, zookeeper-in-training, video gamer and also someone who loves the talent and fun that comes out of cosplaying!

I didn’t start cosplaying until 2003 – and my first time was rather terrifying for me.  I hand-made my cosplay of Yuna from Final Fantasy X with my mother’s supervision (I had only done some basic sewing in High School) and wore it to the Video Games convention in Hong Kong (where I lived at the time).  All the other cosplayers there had paid to have their costumes professionally made across the border in China and I felt so left-out amid the crowd (not to mention I was alone and friendless on the day!)

I had some photographers at the event as for photos and I had no idea how to pose for them, I had odd looks for having both a home-made costume (also perhaps because I was the only non-Chinese girl there!)  Needless to say, I didn’t spend very long at the convention, and had I not been determined to make costumes just as good as the girls who had paid for theirs, I might have fully given up on cosplay right then and there!

Thankfully, New Zealand’s cosplay scene is nothing like this!

Today we have many people of different ages and skills here and willing to help out others who are new to the scene or are working on a project they’re just not sure how to do on their own.  The community here is very warm and welcoming – and over the years the numbers have grown more and more!

Thanks to this thriving community of friendly and talented individuals, I’ve not only improved my own costumes over the years (and discovered a love for prop-making) but found that in my own growth and knowledge – I have been able to offer advice to those just starting out in cosplay.

That’s one of the reasons why I love the idea of the SPCC.  For one, it’s here to support anyone and everyone in need of assistance.  For another, the SPCC organizes events outside of the main conventions here in New Zealand – big in size but related to the cosplayers themselves – giving cosplayers more opportunities to meet up, interact with other members and to introduce new cosplayers to the scene in a more cosplay-central environment.

I’m proud to be part of the SPCC and am here to offer support to anyone who is in need, as well as to support the SPCC themselves.

Long live New Zealand Cosplay Culture! <3

I grew up in a craft obsessed family- My mother taught lacemaking and is an active member of the embroidery guild, my father makes jewellery and my sister is an illustrator. Like many daughters of sewing mamas I grew up with the mantra “don’t buy that- I can make it for you”.

I can’t imagine life without making stuff. It’s the most satisfying experience and you are no longer bound by what commerce offers you – only your skill and imagination.

I started sewing clothes in my second year of design school (I’m a graphic designer by trade) - because I saw my friends creating these amazing outfits out of $5 metre lycra – jealous! We lived in Wanganui where the clothing shops were limited to a few chain stores and being on limited student budgets combined with a library crammed with glossy fashion publications was a recipe for innovation!

After several years I found I started caring much less about fashion (– it all moves to quickly!) and more about costumes. I love the range of fabrics and techniques you can use and the challenge of developing a 2d drawing into a working garment.

I held off cosplaying for too long because I thought I would get made fun of for doing something so “geeky” (we’ve all seen the sitcom episodes where someone goes to a sci-fi convention…) but the opposite was true- my friends, family and co-workers have been super supportive! I also find that shop assistants are delighted to help you find obscure things if you tell them you are making a costume.  The recent explosion in popularity of the Sevens makes me happy – people who would normally never consider going to a con, enjoying dress ups!

Costumes are fun! Just do it

(photo by Sylvie)

Thespian, Quilter, Knitter, Cosplayer

I was introduced to the Cosplay community around 5 years ago when I first moved to Wellington. The group was a lot smaller then, but I reconnected with people I hadn’t seen for a long time and made some new friends doing simple cosplays like Yuffie from Final fantasy Advents children, and Ed from Cowboy Beebop.

I studied for two years at Toi Whakaari the New Zealand School of Dance and Drama Learning Period costuming and corsetry for theatre.

Since Finishing Tertiary my education I have finally freed up enough time to give back to the Cosplay community.

For me the S.P.C.C is Place where people can grow and learn, with support from like minded people.

Gone are the days where Cosplayers are the weird kids who speak fluent Klingon and live in their mother’s basement.

With the S.P.C.C I feel that we are trying to turn Cosplay’s reputation from the weird fetish into a Performance art, to help the population learn how much time and effort we the cosplayers put in to various costumes and performances.

Currently I work at Wellington Sewing Services, Increasing my knowledge on Knitting, Quilting, and Machines, learning lots from my work mates (and fellow members) on the finer points of dress making, and even machine embroidery.

My hopes for the S.P.C.C are high, I hope we achieve more events, fun competitions and opportunities for learning.

Got any questions, feedback or ideas? Drop us a line:

spcc@cosplay.org.nz