MORE ABOUT IMPA

This was my first ever competition piece and the only piece I have not won a major award with because man, it really is the quality of a first competition piece. I wanted to share it here because nowadays so many people know for my discussions and advice about cosplay competitions and my competition wins themselves, so I think it's important to acknowledge that my beginnings were just as humble as everyone else's.

I applied for and competed in my first contest because I was incredibly inspired by the footage I had seen of the first ever Crown Championships of Cosplay (now known as the Cosplay Central Crown Championships) and Kyle Mathis's (now known as Turtle Smithy Cosplay) Subject Delta Big Daddy costume. At the time I wasn't a very skilled crafter, I was extremely unprepared for the process of competing, and I was an anxious wreck in pre-judging. I barely remember the experience at all — literally the pretty much the only thing that has stuck with me after all these years is I remember is that one of the judges was cosplay Nanami Kiryū from Revolutionary Girl Utena. But anyway, I went for it, I did terribly, I learned an absolute ton from just participating, and the rest is history. I wouldn't change this first competition costume and experience for the world.

This costume is mainly made from denim and Worbla. Details were created with scrap fabrics, beads, and paint job that left something to be desired. Those with eyes may also notice that my work here is missing key design elements. This costume went through a couple upgrades over the course of 2015 and I unfortunately don't have pictures of the final version.