The Trouble with Competition

I still regularly visit cosplay.com in order to see what people are up to, offer advice on people's costumes, and get a read on the current trends. Having been a costumer for almost 14 years and a competitor for at least 12, with almost 20 awards under my belt - and planning to direct my first masquerade, at CostumeCon 34 in 2016 - I like to roll through the Masquerade sub-forum to help out people with genuine concerns and questions about their skill levels, complying with rules, etc. But it feels like lately I've been repeating myself a lot, the same questions keep coming up over and over. So, just in case, this post is about competitions: mainly, why we have so many problems trying to figure out The Rules. If anyone needs a permanent reference to check when they have a dilemma, here is my take on it.

Disclaimer: this blog post assumes the reader knows what a masquerade is already. If you've never been to a con before or attended the masquerade, consider doing so first and then try to figure out whether it's something you want to participate in someday.

( winning is never a guarantee but the challenge is worth it )