FAN EXPO CLEVELAND 2024 | April 12 – 14, 2024
This past Friday I had the pleasure of working with the incredibly talented cosplayer, Beck Poppins (@beckpoppins on Instagram). Dressed as Fearne Calloway from Critical Role, Beck talked with me about her experiences creating award winning cosplays. I’d also like to note that she is so kind that she even showed me around Fan Expo Cleveland while we did the photo shoot together! Thanks again Beck, you’re the coolest.
What was your favorite part of Fan Expo?
I’ve been going to Fan Expo Cleveland for a few years now and the community is unmatched. Every year I see returning cosplayers and artists. It’s such a fun reunion of crafty nerds who express their joy in the coolest ways.
How many years have you been cosplaying?
It’s a real fuzzy line for me. I was raised in a “making your halloween costume is the highlight of the year” household so crafting was always a big part of my life. I started attending cons in my early teens and only got serious about competition-style costuming over the last 8 years.
What’s your process like from choosing a character to creating the pieces?
Generally I’m attracted to building characters who give me a lot of room to add design elements (book/podcast characters, very simple cartoon characters who benefit from a lot of added ‘real world’ detail, or even things like gender swaps where I can turn a masculine suit into a new gown). I have a background in historical costuming and haunted attraction work so having free reign over character designs appeals to me.
Tell me more about the competition stuff! I think I saw that you won something?
I did! I was very lucky and won this year’s best in show with the craftsmanship cosplay contest here at Fan Expo. As much fun at it is to wear costumes, I find intense joy in building them! Specifically, craftsmanship contests call to me. I’m not an actress, I’m never going to win a more performance-based contest. I’m a 6-foot tall plus-sized woman in her 30s, there are not a ton of characters that look exactly like me that a screen-accurate cosplay would benefit from. But pouring all my sewing and building skills I’ve learned over the years into making something new and ‘believable’ for a real-world version of a character really butters my toast.
Competitions are great because between the judges and the other cosplayers, everyone is backstage isn’t asking ‘oh where did you buy this?’. Everyone is excitedly asking “How did you make this?”, “Where did you get this idea?”, “oh your embroidery is beautiful! Don’t think I didn’t notice that!” It’s such a positive community that really fuels me to keep building.
I’ve won a few titles in the northeast Ohio area, and I always worry people will get sick of me coming to shows but I always get the same response when I’ve joked about retiring, I’ve been told I’m not allowed!
© Amanda Cool
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