Local Tailors and My Cosplay Costumes

All my cosplay costumes - in particular, my Pokémon cosplay costumes - are great, of course. But I also have to appreciate the additional hands that went into the assistance of making those costumes. I speak of the local tailors in my area, whose knowledge and know-how of making clothing definitely contribute to those costumes. I provide the fabric, and they work their magic. It's a neat relationship, albeit also an up-and-down one that I've had over the years.

Very early on in my cosplay adventures, I had a tailor whose skills in making clothing was great, as well as for fabric selection. That tailor was the one who made the fourth-generation (DP) costume, which I already detailed way back during my fifth cosplay anniversary. It of course turned out great with no flaws, major ones at least. However, when the tailor made the third-generation (AG) costume, a lot of things went awry - it definitely did not look like the perfection it is now. The tailor has since moved on, and I've moved on from the tailor. A similar story happened for the fifth-generation (BW) costume with a different tailor, but it was more like the former than the latter; I've since moved on from that one as well.

Currently, I peruse the services of two tailors. One of them works magic on less sensitive parts of my costumes - that is, the clothing parts that don't show the true intent or origin of my costumes. As such, they tend to be the simpler parts, like the pants. And that has worked out well; I've never been queried about the origin of the clothing parts, nor have the intents been discovered, as most likely the tailor has not found out. I will likely continue to peruse the services for as long as I have the intent to cosplay.

The other tailor works on the more sensitive parts, as the ones that are characteristic of the origin and intent of the parts. One of the marks in my hall of fame of this tailor is for salvaging my third-generation costume, making it more perfect (and prize-winning). The tailor has also delivered for other parts of different costumes, which makes me inclined to come back. Recently, for a part of a new costume project, the tailor even immediately recognized that it was for a Pokémon costume from references that I had already prepared beforehand, and we even researched the part together after my request. I'll explain more on this when it gets done, but I can already tell that this could look very good, given the previously demonstrated caliber.

With this assistance, I do have to say that it's impossible for me to take full credit of my costumes, though in most cases I provided the fabric, making a collaboration of sorts. Still, this won't let me participate in super-competitive cosplay competitions requiring clear personal attribution. On the other hand, their magic with working fabric lets me have costumes that last for a real long time - my DP costume after seven and a half years is still pretty neat, for example, and I may be using it soon again. I'll take the longevity over attribution.

Even with all that has gone on with the tailors who are involved in realizing my Pokémon cosplay fantasies, I still appreciate and trust a few of them to do so and continue to do so for as long as there are Pokémon characters to be cosplayed. The results may be as surprising as they are long-lasting, and that means a lot for this long-running Pokémon fan whose cosplay adventures are also long and extensive - and great as well.

One year ago: A New 3DS Story: A Second Monster Home
Two years ago: Personalities