Cosplay Spotlight: PrettyWreck Cosplay

Spring may not have sprung just yet, but cosplayers are getting back into the groove as convention season draws near. We recently spoke to Canadian cosplayer PrettyWreck Cosplay – a featured guest at the upcoming GTA Comic Con – to learn all about her cosplay and convention experiences.

When and why did you first get into cosplay?

I got into cosplay after attending Toronto Comic Con and witnessing other cosplayers. Beforehand I didn’t even know what cosplay was, I had never seen it before. What really got me intrigued was seeing a Jinx cosplay from League of Legends, a video game I was obsessed with at the time. This made me really want to make a League of Legends costume as well. After the cons I went home and went to the internet for help and found out what cosplay is. A few months later I made my first costume.

Which costume are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of my Power Girl – it’s my latest, and in my opinion best quality costume that I’ve made. Over the past few cosplays I’ve been learning new tricks and I put everything I have learned over the 7 months into this costume and I feel it looks overall very well made.

What was your first cosplay and why did you choose it?

Hextech Janna was my first ever cosplay. I picked her because she was from my favorite video game, and I could not sew whatsoever and with her I was able to only sew a few things and the rest was thrift store buys and prop making.

What kind of characters draw your interest?

Comic book characters such as superheroes and villains and video game characters!

What’s your favourite part about cosplaying?

Meeting new friends, and bringing illustrations to life. It’s a crazy art form, and the feeling you get after you finish a cosplay and put it on and realize you look just like the person in the comic/game/anime is just amazing. It’s really addictive!

What kind of events and conventions do you attend? Which will you be attending this year or would you like to attend in the future?

I like to attend all kinds of comic cons and geek expos. Because I’m in school I’m on a budget so I go to local cons in Ontario. I plan to attend Toronto Comic Con, Niagara Falls Comic Con, Fan Expo, and Forest City Comic Con. I will be a cosplay guest at London Comic Con September 25^th-27^th and GTA Comic Con April 12^th this year.

I’m hoping this year I can make a trip to either New York or Montreal to attend the comic cons there!

Tell us about your costume-making process.

I literally just get an idea and start planning everything I need for it. I make a list of each cosplay I want to do and the items I need to buy or find to build it (I watch for a lot of sales), so sometimes the planning stage takes longer than the actual making of it. If I don’t know exactly how to make something I research and watch YouTube videos over and over until I have a good plan of how I will make it. I have a lot of trial and error learning. You have to make mistakes to get better and I have definitely made my share of mistakes!

What has been your most difficult costume (to make or wear)?

Kitty Cat Katarina because I was using real leather, and sewing fur to leather was a challenge, and I was learning how to make props and all those shenanigans and it was only my second cosplay and I was trying to do it on my own without watching YouTube tutorials. Sylvanas has been a much more complex project but I have not even gotten very far into the process yet, but I know she will end up being way more difficult and complex than Katarina.

What is your most memorable cosplay/convention experience?

It was when I went to Pop Expo in Ottawa and I met some really great people in my den during the masquerade. They were so inspirational with their passion and I realized how much I wanted to grow as a cosplayer to be just like them. A couple of them had made armour and gave me some tips and I came home with a goal to make my own armour inspired cosplay. They also became friends and I still keep in contact with them to this day.

Any upcoming costumes you can tell us about?

Sylvanas and Power Girl are my current works in progress that I actually have started and continuously am working on, with Power Girl basically done. For Wonder Woman I have the materials and will start working on once I finish Power Girl. I have a Disney princess in the works that will not be shown until the fall. I have her started but have put her away until I have all my other current projects done.

Any advice you’d offer first-time cosplayers?

I’ve learned to buy everything ON SALE. Cosplaying is expensive and you want to save as much money as you can! Also I’ve learned that sometimes you have to fail to succeed and that YouTube tutorials are a cosplayer’s best friend! Also to remember that cosplay is fun and that it’s not a competition; everyone is doing it for the same reason, TO HAVE FUN! So always be nice to other cosplayers and don’t put each other down.

You can follow PrettyWreck Cosplay on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Deviantart or check out her online store.