Interview with cosplayer Jennifer Wicks

photo credit to  Christina DiSessa

 Jennifer Wicks can usually be found at the local convention scene in myriad of costumes. I met her a few years back at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Genericon. I just had the opportunity to chat with her about what cosplay is and the fun she's had doing it.


Amanda Stevens: Well to start this off right, what exactly is cosplay?

Jennifer Wicks: Cosplay is a hobby, which consists of people making and wearing costumes based off of mostly anime and video game characters. However recently, there's been an increased interest in general pop culture cosplay.

A.S: How did you get involved in cosplay?

J.W: It almost happened by accident! When I was in high school, I caught wind of Genericon being held at RPI in Troy, NY. I was a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII at the time, and put together a Sephiroth costume; my first cosplay! I sewed very little of it; I mostly modified a trench coat and made some details like the shoulder pads (from sports padding!) and bought a wig appropriate for the character. Safe to say I was hooked, and started getting more involved in sewing shortly after.

A.S: Now I have heard from some people that unless your costume is an anime character, it isn't really cosplay. Do you have a rebuttal?

J.W: I really don't think that's true! Although the origin of the word is indeed Japanese, "cosplay" is also used to refer to maid cafes, gothic lolita, visual kei etc. Broken apart it means, "costume play", and is used pretty freely in Japan. To me, cosplay is anything where you dress up as a certain character or genre, and the word fits very well into the subculture that it's created.

A.S: So, do you exclusively do game characters? Have you ever mixed it up and focused on other genres?

J.W: I started out mostly with game characters, then I started making replicas from Cirque du Soleil's touring shows. I was interested in doing something slightly different and be faced with the challenge of creating a costume that physically exists. I have done a few anime costumes and even some from movies, such as Hellboy 2 or Prince Caspian. Recently, I've been interested in comic book costumes. I think it's fun to not limit yourself and do whatever your interests take you to.

A.S: So, this may be a tad random for those not in the know, but you do a lot of crosplay. Could you explain the term and why?

J.W: Glad you asked! Crossplay is whenever a person dresses as a character who is opposite their own gender. Sometimes it's done for intentional humor, other times it's amazingly convincing and great!I absolutely love to crossplay. I hope my answer isn't too lengthy... I do tend to crossplay, and usually my favorite characters are villains. To be honest, I feel like I resemble the males more closely than females when it comes to Japanese game and anime characters. On top of that, most female characters have an asset that I fall a tad short on! I also find it interesting to fall into a character's role, and switching genders helps it become more of a portrayal. An example I'll use is Albert Wesker, the villain from Resident Evil 5. He has such a strong personality that it was a fun experience to "fall back" into who he is and play the cool, calm, menacing villian. With slicked hair, all-black clothing and red and yellow eyes, it felt like my skin was a different person altogether. In my personal life, I do have more of a traditionally "male" role in my relationship, so I think that I feel comfortable being that type of person. Sometimes when I wear full suits in public, I get looked at a bit strange, but when I'm at a convention, fans of characters tend to be pleasantly surprised that Wesker, per say, it just a convincing girl!

A.S: How do you decide who you're going to cosplay as next?

J.W: Usually it's whatever I'm into at the time! Whether I see a movie or play a video game that really captivates me, I try to find a character that I relate to and can successfully "pull off". By looking at my timeline of costumes, you can easily trace my interests over the past few years.

A.S: What would you say is the hardest costume you have ever made? What is the proudest costume you've made?

J.W: The absolute hardest was probably Vayne Solidor from Final Fantasy XII. Even though I'm not trained in sewing at all, and many costumes present challenges, Vayne's costume was insane! He was made of tons of different kinds of materials; leather, pleather, clay, thermoplastics and sheet metal to name a few! It was hard to just walk in that thing. I'm very proud of the end result, though. My proudest, however, is currently Patience, The Magdalena from Witchblade. The writer of the series really liked the costume, resulting in a huge payoff for me! The payoff being gratitude and happiness, of course.

A.S: Is there a character you want to do the most, but you think the costume is outside your skill range?

J.W: I'm kind of reckless in the sense that I dive head first into projects. For example, I'm currently working on a giant light-up jellyfish! I suppose you don't know what you can't do until you've tried and failed... I would love to do a giant robot-style costume sometime, but I think I'll leave those to the people who do it best. I don't think I'd have the patience! Kudos to those who can, and will!

A.S: Has there ever been a costume that you started making and then decided to scrap it and start from scratch?

J.W: Yes! I feel so terrible about it. I started making Ilchymis, a side character from the game "Skies of Arcadia". I ditched it halfway through...I think because I couldn't figure out how to make a part of it work and I was just starting cosplay. I still have the pieces...maybe someday I'll finish him!

A.S: Seeing as how you've been to quite a few cons, what is the most impressive cosplay you've ever seen?

J.W: Oh, that's a toughie! I saw a girl at Otakon 2008 who was Queen Rutela from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. She pulled off the stunning, haunting beauty of the character effortlessly. Being a fan of the franchise, it was awesome to see someone put so much love and detail work into a cosplay.

A.S: So what's next? Who can we expect to see you cosplayed as next and where?

J.W: My next costumes (being worked on at the same time) are Louis Cypher from Shin Megami Tensei and Fujimoto from the Miyazaki film Ponyo. I'll be wearing them to Connecticon and Otakon this summer!

To see more of Jennifer Wicks in action go check out her deviantART.