My Journey (Part 16) - My First Cosplay Convention
Covid had put a huge damper on events in Singapore since 2020. No festivals, no celebrations, no conventions. With almost all restrictions lifted in 2022, cosplayers started coming out of the woodwork to gather and go for events. And the biggest Anime and cosplay event of the year was the 3 day Anime Festival Asia (AFA) held at Suntec City Convention Centre.
Attending a cosplay event has been something on my bucket list, so with a bit of YOLO in my heart, I decided I had to attend AFA 2022. I dipped my toe into cosplay a few years ago by buying an outfit from Taobao purely for the fun of it. After looking at multiple choices online and eliminating those which revealed too much skin, required too much booba or had hem lengths so short nothing would be left to the imagination, I finally decided on a maid outfit of Tamamo no Mae, a kitsune (fox) spirit from the once popular game Fate Grand Order (FGO). It was really cute and the outfit could hide all the manlier parts of my body, such as my deltoids, my veiny arms and rather strong calves. The lack of hips was also not a problem, since a petticoat gave the skirt a lot of volume and flounce to balance out the broad shoulders. I knew FGO was no longer popular, but I wasn't going to spend $80 on an outfit I'd wear only once. So Tamamo no Mae for AFA 2022 it was (minus the tail, which was too unwieldy). Anyway, cute maid outfits are always welcome at cosplay conventions.
(Fox girl + Maid outfit + Pink hair with two ponytails = Kawaiiiiiii 😍)
For those who have not cosplayed before, outfits have a LOT of fiddly bits. Putting it on requires a bit of time and preferably a mirror. Not wanting the hassle of lugging around an outfit to AFA, I decided to set off from home in cosplay. It was going to be slightly embarrassing if someone saw me in cosplay, but the most I was going to get was 1 or 2 quizzical looks from people in the neighbourhood seeing a guy in a maid outfit walking to the carpark.
Oh boy, was I wrong.
I always dress on weekdays so the neighbours are at work and the lift never stops at any floors on the way down. Being cautious as usual, I'd peek out into the corridor to make sure no one was there, quickly take the lift to the 2nd floor so the lift doors doesn't open to a bunch of neighbours, spy the route to the carpark to make sure the coast is clear, before walking 1 flight of stairs to the car. Precautions are taken, because my neighbours all know my family and I don't really want to answer awkward questions on who that woman coming out of my house was.
AFA on 26 November 2022 was a Saturday and it was 1pm when I was dressed and ready to leave the house. I peeked out into the corridor and didn't see anyone, so I quickly stepped out and locked the door and pressed the lift. But while waiting with my face looking directly at the lift door, I realised to my horror that my neighbour's door was open...AND MY MALAY NEIGHBOUR WHO STEPPED OUT SAW ME IN A MAID OUTFIT WITH A PINK WIG. AHHHHHH!! I was just thinking omg omg omg hurry up lift, why are you taking so long to come down from the 25th floor. The lift did eventually reach my floor and when the door opened, it was packed with people, including a family with a little girl (she did refer to me as auntie so that was a good sign). I felt incredibly embarrassed but had no choice but to endure the lift ride down. The lift proceeded to stop at 3 more times to let people in, before finally reaching the ground level.
Looking on the bright side, as embarrassing as it was, it would be very easy to explain that I was going to a cosplay event, which was the reason for me being in an elaborate maid outfit and as a female character. Had I been in regular clothes, it would have been difficult to explain to the neighbour why I was dressed as a woman.
I made my way to Suntec City and reached the convention centre around 1.30pm, by which time the tickets to the AFA Expo hall were already sold out. Not that it mattered since I wasn't planning to visit any of the booths. I was expecting AFA to be really crowded, but stepping off the escalator into the crowds thronging around did make me momentarily very self-conscious. I've never been dressed as Isabelle in such a crowded location in the day. But realising that around 30 - 40% of the people were in cosplay and nobody was giving me a second look, I quickly shed of any sense of unease.
While attempting to link up with a fellow crossdresser, I walked around to get a feel of the event itself. The crowd was young, mainly consisting of tertiary students and some young working adults. Many were dressed as characters from the popular game Genshin Impact, but other Anime and games characters also made an appearance. Everyone was doing their own thing; Cosplayers were applying their makeup, taking photos with each other, doing cool/silly tiktok videos, sitting in a secluded wing to hide from the crowd and heat, queuing to get into the Expo hall and taking even more photos.
I spotted a significant number of crossplayers while walking around, ranging from those who put in a lot of effort to look like their favourite female character, to the low effort macho guy in a wig and dress. At least 5 other guys were dressed in maid outfits and we gave each other knowing nods when we saw each other. Takes one crossplayer to recognise another crossplayer (I find it is our manly backs that is always an immediate give-away).
(Cosplayer was dressed as Surtr. She was really pretty)
The setups for photography stations at AFA intrigued me a fair bit. There were simple ones with just a single softbox and speedlight. There were also elaborate setups with C-stands, multiple softboxes, reflectors and backlighting. Normally for the stations with elaborate setups, there was usually a really pretty and well dressed cosplayer posing for a huge group of photographers. It would have been nice to be the centre of attention, but I didn't feel courageous enough to go up to one of these stations.
I did see a number of old uncles in their late 50s or 60s with good compact mirrorless cameras equipped with separate flash made for taking selfies, going around taking photos with the prettiest female cosplayers. While it could be argued that everyone is entitled to their tastes and the cosplayers were happy to take the photos, as an observer it honestly did feel quite creepy.
Considering the large number of really good looking cosplayers with elaborate outfits, I was surprised that a few people actually came up to me asking if they could take a photo. Strangely, they were boys who looked to be early to late secondary school age, so I did have a slight suspicion that they probably wanted photos with "female" cosplayers who were actually a guy (one of them did admit that he was collecting such photos to share with his guy friend). But whatever. I was however, pleasantly surprised when a little girl came up to me shyly for a photo request.
(Yes that's me. Sorry no showing of face here as my makeup was too light)
I manage to link up with my friend and we took a bunch of photos together, as well as with other cosplayers. The favourite photo I took with another cosplayer was with this little 3 year old girl dressed as Anya from the Spy X Family anime. She was so insanely cute and was continuously stopped by people for photographs. Made me wonder how cool it would be if I were to dress my daughter up for an Anime convention.
(I like high heels. But my toes do not)
I lingered around AFA till 5.30pm before calling it a day. Having spent a good 4 hours walking around the crowd in my 5 inch heels, my feet were absolutely killing me. (The heels made me look fantastic, but these shoes were NOT made for walking). I changed out to regular clothes, went to Don Don Donki for a simple sushi dinner, popped into H&M for a quick round of shopping as Isabelle before heading home. I was so tired from spending one full day as Isabelle at AFA that I spent the rest of Sunday taking multiple naps to get my energy back. Also I think I caught a bug from AFA that caused me to develop a sore throat and cough that lasted for a week (likely Covid, though I strangely kept testing ART negative).
Attending AFA was an eye-opening experience and it's great to check off an another item on Isabelle's bucket list. On reflection, there are a few take-aways from my first cosplay convention:
1) While I did feel too old to cosplay, I foresee myself going for at least one more cosplay convention. After all, I like dressing up in costume and taking a lot of photos. It can be really fun, especially if you have friends you can coordinate an outfit and take photos with.2) At cosplay conventions, nobody gives a damn if you crossdress. Apart from Halloween, I find cosplay conventions to be the next best event to try going out in public dressed as their female self. While it can be a bit scary due to the crowd if it is your first time out, there are many other fellow crossplayers attending as well. It could be just the thing to build up your courage to do regular things enfemme.
3) The amount of effort taken to cosplay is really high. Other than getting a fitting costume, there is a need to style the wig, properly apply makeup, learning to pose and just being daring enough to be out there. I think this is something that the crossdressing community could take a leaf from. Put in the effort to look your best self, be bold and show the world your beautiful female self!
2 Comments
Good to hear your first convention event was an enjoyable one! And yes, I've always felt that anime conventions are one of those social events that you could consider a 'safe space' for you to be dressing up.
ReplyDeleteYes it is one the "safe space" events in Singapore. Others would include Comic Con (which is similar to anime conventions), Halloween night, LGBT clubs, Pink Dot and Munches. I'd say that shopping malls are safe spaces, but there is a tendency to get stared at a bit. Just got to be thick skinned
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