What precautions should you take as a young cosplayer?

There has been a whole movement starting in the early 2010’s around making conventions a safer place for everybody. The situation seems to have improved quite a bit in response the the ‘Cosplay is Not Consent’ movement, but it’s still not perfect. So to keep yourself safe, you’ll want to take some precautions. Many conventions now have harassment policies that you can view on their website. Some even have signs throughout the con to remind people to always ask for consent before taking photos of cosplayers.

Before cosplaying at a convention, you should take the time to consider your boundaries. Will you allow people to hug you? Take photos with you? It’s always okay to say ‘no’ to photos that make you feel uncomfortable, and you don’t have to let anyone touch you or any part of your costume. If anyone says anything to harass you and make you feel uncomfortable in your outfit, you can report them to a nearby staff member.

For your own safety, always make sure you stay with a partner when walking around in cosplay. Using the buddy method, you can explore the con safely, with your partner being able to alert the convention staff if anything were to happen. If you can travel around with three or four people in the group, that’s even better.

Conventions are pretty safe places to cosplay as long as you stay within the premises of the event. However, there are unfortunate occasions when you may receive unwanted attention from other attendees or members of the public.

To be clear, I have neither experienced nor witnessed this type of harassment firsthand in all my years of cosplaying, and I’m a pretty tiny person. However, it has been an issue at some conventions where many cosplayers find they are, unfortunately, more likely to experience harassment when wearing revealing or tight-fitting costumes.

If you are on a tight budget, you can put together a closet cosplay of your favorite character. This is when you find pieces of clothing from your closet or a thrift store to create a costume for your character. This is easiest for characters who have a simple design, such as a plain colored dress or jeans and a T-shirt. However, you can also often find a version of your character with casual clothes and make a closet cosplay out of it.