Cosplaying with Pixistyx!
As we approach Hellfire Club’s next party, aimed towards geeks, I thought it would be fun to cover something that’s become wildly popular over the past few years as geek culture becomes more mainstream. Cosplay is the activity of dressing up as a geek culture icon (a character from a movie, comic, anime, etc.). Many people build intricate costumes themselves, and wear them to conventions. When it comes to cosplay, there’s few people that are as good at pulling off different characters as well as Pixistyx! I did a little Q&A session with her, and I think you’ll enjoy it!
MATT: How long have you been cosplaying and what inspired you to start?
PIXISTYX: I started cosplaying when I was 12, if there’s a definitive point to say I started. I’ve always loved dressing up, but the first costume I built was at that point – a Slytherin robe from Harry Potter. I’ve always LOVED dressing up and becoming my favourite characters, and Sailor Moon kind of fueled that fire when I was a kid. By the time I was 12, I got pretty sick of stores never having the Halloween costumes I wanted, though, so I asked my great aunt to teach me to sew. I also made a costume for my sister – Sakura from Cardcaptors, and I was pretty much hooked from then on!
MATT: How does cosplaying make you feel?
PIXISTYX: It’s empowering! Whenever I get into one of my costumes I feel like I’m taking on a part of that character. I never really go “all out” with the character, but I definitely pull some traits for posture and posing. I feel so good knowing that I created the thing I’m wearing, and it’s a huge boost to my self-esteem. Also, depending on the costume, it helps me feel sexy. Not so much because of the character I’m dressed as, but because my self-esteem is through the roof and I just feel incredibly confident and beautiful – like I’m actually displaying how I feel on the outside – and that, to me, is sexy!
MATT: I’d have to agree. Self-esteem is attractive! Some people seem to enjoy cosplaying one character, but most seem to like making many costumes. Why do you like changing it up? How do you choose what you’re going to cosplay?
PIXISTYX: I’ve got around 30 costumes now, but I kind of fluctuate between what I want to wear. Sometimes I’ll stick to one costume for a while (like Power Girl, seen to the right), and sometimes I’ll really change things up. It depends on my mood and the theme of the convention. My reason for having so many is that I love the actual construction process, so I’m always finding new things to challenge myself with.
MATT: Is there a commonality between all cosplayers – some sort of common ground that unites them all?
PIXISTYX: I’d say passion for their interests/hobbies. If you’re that passionate about something to want to portray it in public, build it from the ground up, or even just spend a whole lot of money having it made for you, I believe every cosplayer can relate to that.
MATT: Why has cosplay become so mainstream recently?
PIXISTYX: I honestly think big-budget films like Batman and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had a lot to do with it. With such geeky things becoming mainstream, it only makes sense that cosplay and conventions would blow up in the media too. Many of these big stakeholders use cosplay to promote themselves (I worked the Avengers premiere in Toronto as Black Widow, for example), and people are really catching on. There’s also an aspect of sexiness to cosplay – seeing your favourite characters come to life can be a huge thing for people, and on the flip side, becoming those characters can feel sexy too… and sex sells, don’t ‘cha know!
MATT: Ha! Hence the renewed work on the Wonder Woman movie I suppose! Speaking of sex…have you/would you ever involve cosplay in your sex life?
PIXISTYX: Surprisingly little, but yes. Honestly, most of my costumes have had far too many hours of work put into them for me to risk ruining them in the bedroom, but I will admit that a few have been made with ‘sexytime’ in mind. That is to say, I’ve taken measures to make sure they’re wearable, but ‘accessible’. I’m also a big fan of pin-up and burlesque, so certain costumes are built so that I can do photo shoots and routines in a kind of “systematic” way of undressing without giving away how everything is constructed.
MATT: Fear of ruining your hard work aside, do you have fantasies revolving around cosplay?
PIXISTYX: All I’ll say is, I keep trying to talk my boyfriend into cosplaying Tuxedo Mask…
No but really, I’m really happy to be in a relationship where at the end of a convention day we can go straight to the hotel for a bit of “roleplay” in (and out of) our respective costumes. Even when I’m working on costumes, I tend to play with my many wigs in the hopes that my man will indulge me. He generally does. In that sense, he gets to fool around with Power Girl and I get to get kinky with Prince Hans. So I guess my fantasies aren’t that specific, but they’re certainly realized.
MATT: Some of our readers might be interested in getting into cosplay…do you have any advice for them?
PIXISTYX: Be patient with yourself, and don’t compare yourself to anyone else. If your first costume doesn’t look like that of someone who has been doing it for 10+ years, that’s ok. They’ve just had 10+ years to practice, and you’ll get better! Just aim to have fun, and don’t get yourself down.
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