Cosplaying Harley Quinn

If you happen to follow my personal Intsagram account (yagooobian) and/or my Amino Cosplay profile (awanderlustbeing) you may already know that I cosplay Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie. At the moment I don't have a lot of the cosplay done. I basically just have the wig, make-up and t-shirt sorted for her 'superhero outfit' and the wig, make-up, slippers and props for her outfit in the last scene in her cell.

I recently wore the 'superhero' cosplay to Film & Comic Con Cardiff back at the beginning of March, despite the plan being to cosplay Kylo Ren. As this year goes on I'd like to add to my Harley Quinn cosplays so at least the prison cosplay is done and the 'superhero' cosplay will be further alone or even completed.

I want to tackle something though which pushed me into writing this blog post on a Saturday morning before work. Leave Harley Quinn cosplayers alone.

It is entirely up to each individual person who or what they want to cosplay. Some people are negatively pointing out that there are a lot of Harley Quinn cosplayers with the Suicide Squad cosplays yet I don't think they realise that there were a lot of Harley Quinn cosplayers before the movie was announced. I have seen plenty of classic Harley cosplayers as well as some from the videogames and cross overs or original pieces for the character.

You are allowed to cosplay anything or anyone you want to cosplay. I would love to cosplay Foreteller Ava for example, yet I haven't played that particular part of the Kingdom Hearts series. That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to cosplay that character. Even if you haven't seen the movie/tv show, played the game or read the book the character belongs too doesn't mean you can't cosplay them. Cosplay is to celebrate characters whether that be you're drawn to a character because of their design, personality, backstory or if you feel a connection to them in some way.

So what if they are now more Harley Quinn running around at comic conventions? I think it's pretty cool that all those people want to celebrate her as a character. I'd also like to just say, not one cosplay is the same.

Are you a Harley Quinn cosplayer? Have you experience this judgement first hand or seen people criticising people for cosplaying certain characters? I'd love it if you left a comment below!

Cosplay: What It Is and What It Isn't

Cosplay, or 'costume play', is the art of dressing up and pretending to be a character. It's something I found out about around the age of 14/15 or what I like to call my Japanese phase seeing as this is around the time I was obsessed with everything Japanese culture. Through Anime I found people cosplaying on YouTube who went to conventions and created skits. Instantly I was hooked.

To me cosplay is a creative outlet. I barely draw or paint anymore like I used to in school, I seem to have lost a lot of motivation to continue with it despite it having being a big part of my life. I've mentioned before I struggle with bad mental health and cosplay is a huge help with keeping positive. It give me a goal to work towards and I feel a huge sense of achievement by the end when I wear a cosplay.

Of course cosplay is a wonderful thing where everyone in the community interacts with you as your characters at conventions and it can lead to making new friends and learning new skills. However, there is also a negative side like everything has now. The cosplay community is full of lovely people with different skills and tips if you can find them. There are also those who find it hard to understand that anyone can cosplay and that everyone's cosplay efforts should be respected and celebrated.

It doesn't matter if you are black and want to cosplay a white character or vice versa. It doesn't matter if you want to cross dress to cosplay a character identifying as a different gender than the one you identify as. It doesn't matter if you buy or make your cosplay or do a mixture of both. It doesn't matter if you don't have the skills another cosplayer does. It doesn't matter if you weigh more or less than the character you are cosplaying. The thing about cosplay is that it should make you happy. Having made the effort to research and make/buy your cosplay is personally the best feeling to me. 

Cosplay is everything to me and I'd love to learn new skills and develop my cosplays to make them the best I can. I want to build up the range of cosplays I have and build up a portfolio of sorts just for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Tell me what cosplay means to you and if you send me a link to where you showcase your cospalys I'd love to have a look.

Let us all support one another and celebrate cosplayers of all ages, genders, skin tones, heights, weights and abilities!