Amateur Cosplay

USPA NEWS - In the world of Cosplay there are few people that can truly make a character come to life. Amongst those that can, most are professionals with vast resources at their fingertips. Alison Tabitha, a rank amateur, does what many of these professionals fail at, She creates living fantasy.

When most people think of great Cosplay they think of Yaya Han. I however look to the amateur Cosplay community as they are the cutting edge of Cosplay. The professionals have money, experience, and often times a complete team to help them put together their amazing costumes. Everyone else has to rely of a mix of intuition, love of the concept, and geek ingenuity. This brings me to one of the best Cosplay transformations I have found in years of attending conventions.

If you are like me you are a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean. Johny Depp´s portrayal of Jack Sparrow has left a memory that will never fade. As you can imagine I was excited to discover a well done Jack Sparrow but when I discovered this Jack Sparrow was actually a woman I was stunned. Alyson Tabbitha is a rank amateur when it comes to Cosplay but she pulls off her character with the skills one would expect of a professional.

How did you get into Cosplay?

"I´m actually relatively new to the cosplay community. I´ve been making / wearing costumes for Halloween my whole life, thanks to my mom for being really into that stuff, she got me really into it too. She is very talented with sewing, and costume making. She taught me how to sew, which helps a lot because sewing can be pretty complicated."

"Despite the fact that I wasn´t a kid anymore, I´d use almost any excuse to play dress up. I just loved dressing up and getting into characters. I didn´t consider it cosplaying, though I was aware of the term, I didn´t know much about it. Once my friend Raven Rain (https://www.facebook.com/RavenRainModel) made me aware of a local convention called Megacon and showed up at my work dressed up in her costume because I couldn´t make it to the convention that year, I knew that was something I HAD TO DO."

Your Jack Sparrow is incredible. How long does it take to get into character?

"Thank you so much for the kind words! The makeup alone take 2-3 hours, some people think it´s just some tan foundation, a beard, eyeliner and some contour on the cheek bones (I wish it were that simple!) but it´s not. Putting on the costume usually takes about an hour, just because there are so many pieces to it and they have to be a certain way. So prep time is 3-4 hours total."

What other characters have you played?

"Well since I am relatively new to the cosplay community I´m just gonna add the only character I´ve worn so far to a convention. Which is Lightning Farron from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII in her Equilibrium garb. I had less than a month to make the costume because I was determined to beat the game and see if I liked it first before I started making the costume. Though I already was madly in love with Lightning from previous games. lol She was the first final fantasy female (a game series I´ve been playing since I was a kid) that I ever really got attached to."

What conventions do you regularly attend?

"Due to lack of knowledge & lack of funds/time, this year I only attended Megacon in FL. But I am SO READY with a list of cons, backup funds, and plans of new costumes for 2015! Soooo excited!!"

Do you have a favorite convention?

"It´s obviously going to be my one and only at the moment, Megacon. haha"

Are you working on any cool new projects?

"If you consider Howl from Howl´s moving Castle cool? lol (Which I totally do) Though he´s a bit of a drama queen. Oh and Padmé from Stars Wars is pretty cool imo."

Any advice for someone who want to break into cosplay?

"If you want to cosplay you already achieved the first step! Now you just have to do it. whether you want to express your creativity and make your own costume, or find someone that can make it for you. Every kid I knew liked playing dress up when I was little, whether they were ninja´s or princess, or old people lol. It´s like playing dress up all over again but for all ages. It´s such an innocently fun hobby, and a great social environment to make friends with similar interest. I have met so many great people thanks to cosplay, my only regret is not doing it sooner!"

As you can see, good cosplay does not require you to be a professional or even to have a team. Good Cosplay comes from your personal desire to transform into the character and your dedication to the art. Alyson Tabbitha has both the skill and dedication for her craft and I suspect we will see much more of her int he future.

Learn more about Alyson at https://www.facebook.com/AlysonTabbithaOfficial