Meet Joe Colton Cosplay | Cosplayer

I have always been mesmerized by movies, fashion, prosthetics, science fiction or fantasy. I loved seeing what people had created and just wanted to make those things. My mom was a seamstress by trade, and later on a housewife and then worked cleaning offices and as a demo lady at Costco. She never stopped sewing though. My 9-5 is for a consulting firm and so I am constantly problem solving all the time. The cosplayer side of me is my creative side. It’s a way to express myself and challenge myself to make things that even my mom, as a seamstress is surprised by. She’s even joined in and helps me with some of my costumes.

Cosplay has been around for decades. I got into it over a decade ago. It was not easy, but I was shy so it was probably harder. But I met some really wonderful people and worked on my skills and just kept at it. I think what set me apart from others was I delved into a lot of male fandoms like GI Joe or Dredd. So I was a minority but I loved screen accuracy and had an attention to detail for pieces on a costume that weren’t noticed by everyone. Just the hardcore fan. I then expanded my cosplay to other fandoms like DC, Marvel, Star Trek, etc. It was exciting because as I expanded into other fandoms, I also increased my skills and also challenged myself to doing more complex costumes. Some of my most challenging costumes include a Klingon from Star Trek, Hela from Thor Ragnarok, Mera’s jellyfish gown from Aquaman, Geralt’s armor from season 1 Netflix, to mention a few.

I think I got to where I am from hard work and not giving up. It’s hard breaking into an industry you know very little about and there are so many talented people and knowledgeable professionals. It can be intimidating, but I love learning and growing. I think my want to learn has been one of my greatest assets. I’m like a sponge I never go in saying I know things. I ask a ton of questions and brainstorm with my core group of friends, professionals, and with people who’ve done this for years. There’s always a veteran costumer/designer/fabricator who you can learn from.

When we are not dealing with Covid, I tend to average going to 20+ cons a year. I either go as an attendee or a guest. But in addition to the amount of cons, I think I also stun people with the amount of costumes I do in a year and take to cons like Dragon Con. I average 14-16 costumes for that con. It’s a 5 day con. Each year I probably make 6-7 new costumes just for that con. I take a lot of risks for certain costumes, but I enjoy the challenge to make costumes each year and what better place to showcase your costumes, than at the Cosplay Mecca that is Dragon Con.

I think challenges came from myself wanting to do things but not being able to- whether it was skill level at the time or timidness. My recent challenge is to get better at prosthetics. Other challenges I face while I was up and coming were comparative. People compare people all the time. I didn’t like that. Every costumer or cosplayer I know is unique and brings such creativity to their work. I get inspired by friends succeeding or with others I follow on social media doing something I did and doing it better/not as well or having a different take. It took me a bit, but I don’t let it get to me that people compare my work to others. I just try to focus on the positive and build people up.

Lessons. Oh boy. You will always make mistakes. I used to keep 2 bins full of mistakes. And I’d tell new cosplayers this. Don’t give up just because you’ve tried 3 times and it didn’t work. I have bins of things that didn’t work. But I learned and now make stuff that a decade ago, I couldn’t see myself doing. Share your knowledge. It was shared with me and I pay it forward. I help people where I can or if I don’t know, I point them to people I think can help. Another lesson is take a risk. It may pay off, it may not, but the experience that you’ll get from it regardless is immeasurable. And one of the most important things- the friends you will make as you are in this community are lifelong friends. These people will be family.

I’d say if you haven’t been to Atlanta during Dragon Con, go. It is a must see. There’s even a parade. You’ll see your favorite super heroes or villains, Disney princesses, anime characters, actors from movies and tv shows, artists, and a place to shop all the nerdy things you need.

Well, my mom. She’s the one who taught me how to sew and she always used to say, “you need a skill outside of education- you need to know how to sew a button.” Now she laughs and says, “this is the girl who didn’t even know how to sew a button.” But she always was there, pushing me to keep trying and figure things out. She would be on the phone or visiting from Canada and watch and give inputs and ideas or even help hand sewing beads or whatever she could help on.