Fox McCloud is probably my favourite.  I made him quickly and picked him as I'd never seen any Lylatt Wars/Star Fox cosplays.  I thought he'd only be a recognised retro character but being a huge retro gamer myself, I'd obviously misjudged the love for him.  Within seconds of getting his outfit on I was greeted with crys of "DO A BARREL ROLL!" and many more Star Fox quotes!  During the Masquerade I barrel rolled nearly taking out The Claw!

I have so so many but 3 stand out in honesty.  One was the Final Fantasy XII cosplay contest - I had been assaulted and required a finger joint replacement but just days after the operation, I received an email from a friend about the contest.  I was in plaster with no chance of making anything.  Two days before the contest closed, I came out of plaster.  Still bandaged and unable to move my left hand fingers, I worked solidly to finish a Mont Blanc cosplay.  It wasn't great but I was just happy to have entered.  I was emailed two days later to say I had won a place at the launch event.  It wasn't the fact that I'd won that mattered, just that I'd worked hard to achieve something so special.

The second was earlier this year at the Birmingham NEC Sewing for Pleasure event.  I made an Easter bunny outfit.  No real reason but the show is about our hobbies and cosplay is mine.  While walking around a few people thanked me for dressing up again as my outfits "always brightened the day" but in the second hall a young lady with autism gave me a note, asking the Easter bunny to bring her a gift.  She gave me a hug and a wave and I have treasured the note ever since.

The third involves meeting people - I've made lifelong friends through cosplay and its given me a social outlet I never had at school.

Oh all the time but its important not to give up!  My advanced planning is awful and I'm a "throw enough mud at it 'til something sticks" kinda person.  My usual problem is sewing machine issues - it will always break when I need it most...or someone will break all my needles...

I was making a pink and purple Cheshire cat for Race for Life (click here for a picture) and on the morning of the event, I was still finishing the outfit hours before the 5k run/walk after the timing on my machine broke.  Its important just to keep calm and remember at the end of the day, its just an outfit, not the end of the world.

If I'm at a convention I always bring a full cosplay repair kit including sewing machine, back up travel machine, many cotton reels, glues (super, fabric, copydex), tapes (sticky, duct, electrical and double sided plus elastic bands, safety pins and much much more.  If yours goes wrong, feel free to nab me and ask as I'll always try help!

Regretted, no but I did nearly quit after some people branded me "fat" and "minging" after my Mont Blanc cosplay.  Certain people and websites think its ok to get nasty and personal about costumers but its not.  The assumption is cosplayers are "attention whores" and bring it on themselves but most of us are just trying to have a laugh.  Most of the cosplayers I have met have been bullied and are quite insecure so this nastiness is detrimental.

I also found it a tad gut-wrenching that some cosplayers look down on me and don't treat me with respect.  I try to be friendly to everyone but have found a few members of the cosplay community to be very stuck up.  I work just as hard on my outfits and while I don't have any illusion that I look like a model, I don't think I should be treated any differently.  One cosplayer pretty much blanked me at a recent event with no reason other than they make "serious" outfits and I make fun ones.  Some people take it too seriously, granted, but at the end of the day, cosplay is just a form of fancy dress so why be elitist about it or so critical?  Cosplay = srs bsns?  Hardly. If you lose sight that it is meant to be fun, then you shouldn't do it anymore.

Q:  Is there a particular theme to your cosplays?

I tend to do retro Video Games cosplays as while I do love anime, Video Games are my first love.  I also like to pick unusual outfits.