Seventh Cosplay Anniversary - Timeless Cosplay

February 26 is a special day for me personally. It is, of course, my cosplay anniversary, as the day I first formally cosplayed. Details of that can be seen in my previous-year posts below. On this anniversary, though, I would like to discuss a fascinating topic: "timeless cosplay". It's something that someone brought up a few events or conventions ago - I forgot which one, but this is not too important - but it very much applies to me and perhaps others that are involved in cosplay.

The person who I talked to said that cosplay, at least in my area, tends to follow certain trends over time. A few years ago, it might have been an anime, and then the next might have been a game, and after that might be a series, and so on and so forth. Many cosplayers might decide to cosplay something that would be related to that, perhaps also initiating team projects as a result. However, the person observed (also over time) that I was different. I didn't follow trends and I didn't decide to cosplay something others cosplayed at certain times; I cosplayed what I cosplay, which is Pokémon, and more specifically Ash, since I have many sets of the costumes for his outfit. It is thus "timeless" because it is not affected by time or trends.

While I've never been too observant about these trends, I have noticed them to some extent, just as much as I notice different cosplayers with different costumes. And I appreciate those who cosplay accordingly; there has to be someone who does it. But for the most part, I'm just not quite interested in them, at least not deeply enough for me to initiate some form of cosplay from them. And I've rarely felt the need to do so; Pokémon is sufficient enough for my cosplay needs, and I find as time goes on that it's hard enough to justify cosplaying anything outside of that, based on a number of factors. Because I happen to have costumes of characters outside of Pokémon, there is still the possibility that I might wear them, but now that possibility is rather limited.

As for others that might follow a similar path as I have taken with Pokémon cosplay, though it might be for other things than Pokémon, I say why not. If it's an approach that works well in consideration of other things, it seems perfectly permissible. It took me quite some time before I worked up the initiative to partake in cosplay competitions, and even more time before I won, even with a costume that by then is not so new. I'm always trying new things even with the costumes I have, and as I've noted with a teaser last year, it may be something that even well-to-do cosplayers do. For me, my choice is to do it with Pokémon.

It's been seven years since my first formal cosplay. Lots of things have changed since then, even Pokémon itself. Even so, my cosplay tends to follow the adage that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". And yet, supposedly, that is what makes things quite memorable. Even Pokémon remains memorable after 23 years - something that I'll discuss soon. It's perhaps what lends spirit for me to be able to cosplay with it, and do so transcending times. With that, my cosplay really is "timeless", so to speak.

Happy seventh cosplay anniversary to me.

One year ago: Sixth Cosplay Anniversary - From No-One to Someone
Two years ago: Fifth Cosplay Anniversary