Cosplay is becoming more and more popular around the world and at conventions. I’ve personally found a lot of joy and personal confidence doing cosplay at conventions, and the number one reason I started was as an activity with my son. My goal is to talk to parents and families of all configurations and skill levels who cosplay and spotlight them here on GeekDad!
Cosplay Family Spotlight is a new recurring segment where I interview and spotlight a cosplay family. This week, I interview Many Faces of Cosplay.
Interested in participating? Leave a comment here or reach out to me on Twitter @billythebrick.
- GeekDad:
- How many members of your family are involved in cosplay?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- The whole family (of three) are involved from making our costumes and props through to attending Cons and entering masquerade.
Family Prop Cosplay Page
Stephen McGowan Age: 46, Many Faces of Cosplay, Craigavon LeatherFace, Irelands Sloth
Kathryn McGowan Age: 36, Black Kitty Scout
Chloe McGowan Age: 13, JediChucky - GeekDad:
- How did you and your family get into cosplay and prop/armor making? Did one particular member start it or did you all jump in together? What was your first cosplay?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- Kathryn was into reading graphic novels, and her friend mentioned about a local Comic Con convention, and it all spiraled from there into what we are doing now. Prop making came a year later, as our costumes became reliant on props. With our own props on show, other cosplayers started asking us where we bought our weapons/props.
- GeekDad:
- Do you have a favorite cosplay of yours? A favorite group cosplay you’ve done as a family?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- Stephen: Ireland’s Sloth or LeatherFace 2003 Remake Cosplay
Kathryn: Pirate Harley
Chloe: TinkerBell / Hitgirl. (she can’t decide!)
Family: Big Daddy, Nightb-tch, and Hitgirl from the film Kickass.
- GeekDad:
- Speaking of group cosplay, do you always try to cosplay together? Or do you all do your own thing?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- When we do a weekend Comic Con, the first day we do our own unique cosplay character, and the second day we try and do a family cosplay. It allows us to enjoy the convention on our own time as well as with the family.
- GeekDad:
- Do you have a favorite piece that challenged you?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- With each cosplay costume and prop, we like to select a character that challenges us as a family to always think outside the box when thrift shopping. We love to recycle everything as much as we can from thrift shopping to using household recycled materials.
- GeekDad:
- What’s your favorite “medium” to work in (sewing, EVA foam, resin casting, etc.)?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- Kathryn works a lot with materials for sewing of costumes whether making or amending/adapting. Stephen works with mainly wood or foam, sometimes plastic in making props and weapons.
- GeekDad:
- It’s been awhile, but I used to do quite a bit of scale model building and I see a lot of similarities in techniques between small-scale building and prop and armor building. Have you ever done any scale modeling or smaller scale builds?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- As a side hobby, Kathryn builds DIY Doll Houses, which takes time and patience, so as for similarities, patience is definitely something you need when creating a new cosplay. It sometimes takes us a year from start to finish with a costume build depending on sourcing/availability of materials, structure build, and prop build.
- GeekDad:
- Most of our readers are parents and, like me, want to share their geeky interests with their kids. I’ve been doing father and son cosplay with my son since he was born. Do you have any suggestions on how parents can get their kids interested and involved with cosplay and fabrication?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- Find the nearest convention and attend for a day of fun, see all the stalls and prop makers, take time to speak to the artists, sellers and manufacturers. After your first convention, get onto social media sites and join local cosplay groups to find out what your interests are.
- GeekDad:
- Something along the lines of “Being a geek isn’t about what you love but how you love it,” is sort of the new geek mantra. Do you have anything, besides cosplay, that you consider yourself a geek about?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- Kathryn is a big DC and Marvel graphic novel collector. She has built up a massive directory to keep track of all the titles. Chloe has just started collecting Warhammer models , which keep her quiet for hours painting and gluing all the pieces together.
- GeekDad:
- What upcoming conventions do you have on your schedule that people could see you at?
- Many Faces of Cosplay:
- We are hoping to attend Showmasters Belfast 2018 and DCC 2018. As for Ireland’s Sloth, keep an eye on his Facebook and Instagram as announcements of where he will be are posted there.
