Enclothed Cognition - Dress like the person you want to be

Why do we wear what we wear? It is a compilation of many factors; the position in society, the place one lives and other things that surrounds us like the magazines we read, the music we listen to and in general our hobbies. For me it is the music I listen to and the amount of time I spend online watching TV shows, movies and anime. And I am not the only one who is influenced by the TV shows. The amount of style guides for dressing like a fictional character and the tutorials on YouTube on hair and make-up of people from TV shows prove that there are many people that want to look like their favourite character.

I found this very interesting study online: 

According to the study it maters what you wear or rather what you think you are wearing. It shows us that we are influenced by what we wear, it even makes us act more intelligent. This comes to show how big of an influence clothing is in our mind and how easy we are tricked into behaving according to the way we look.

You could even extend it as far as saying dressing like someone else makes you feel and behave more like this person, or this is the theory. 

Toni Darling the cosplayer said in my interview with her, that one of her favourite things about cosplaying is to becoming the character and channelling their energy, she told me she selects the characteristic she admires the most and focuses on them.

After learning what that study sais about how we behave, we might not even have to concentrate on the personality trade of the character. It is enough to know that you are dressed like him and it will make you more like him. This is a very logical thing, if you consider that in theatre it is easier to act when you are in costume.

This may help you in your everyday life, I have learned to dress for the occasion. If you have a presentation dress smart, if you’re going out and you want to have fun dress like a person who would have fun or is fun to be around. And because the best people are fictional it is likely that you dress like someone fictional. And in general if you want to be more like a character the first thing is to dress like him and your mind will trick you into being more like him. It can be just one little piece of clothing that makes the difference, for me it is a mini skirt who reminds me of Amy Pond from Doctor Who and her independence.

Bye!

Mother of Dragons

Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi oft he Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons is the only woman in Game of Thrones who claims the Iron Throne. At the beginning she is a quiet, weak girl who is sold to a barbaric king by her brother who does not care for anything but his rise to the Iron Throne. With all the things that happen to her, losing her husband and her unborn son, getting betrayed and having to face all kinds of obstacles, she becomes a powerful leader. Her determination only becomes stronger and she gets confident. She is the Mother of Dragons with her three dragons, which were thought to be extinct, and she frees slaves. In the series at the moment she is a badass leader who fights for freedom on her way to the Iron Throne.

I chose to do an outfit inspired by her appearance in the last episode of the third season, in which it is shown that she symbolises hope to the people.

I am wearing a vest I made myself; it is out of very intense blue linen with black leather detailing. I chose linen because it is a fabric that seems to have existed in the time Game of Thrones is set. The leather detailing toughens the look up. With the vest I am wearing light blue jeans and black sandals. The sandals remind me of gladiator sandals, gladiators seem to fit into the same time period and in the series you often forget that the show isn’t really telling our history, but the one of a fantasy world. I am also wearing a dragon necklace and my hairstyle are braids that remind me of the scales of dragons.

Till next time! Bye!

Support your cause!

I didn’t just ask professional cosplayers, how cosplaying influenced their sense of style I also asked some hobby cosplayers and fashion bloggers. The reactions I got some very mixed.

"The Hobbit" dress from BlackMilkClothing

The fascination of cosplaying is for some being your favourite character and for others even making art. It contains making costumes out of the things you can get, giving a character an interesting twist or making the scenes they wanted to see, but never happened on film. There is much more to cosplay than you might think and there are many reasons for cosplaying.

But does cosplay influence the personal style of the cosplayers? Some said it didn’t and others said it did. Their style changed as they learned to style hair or wigs, doing make-up and making the most of the things you have. They turn little things into something fascinating and beautiful. They learn to be more skilled and more creative with their style. Also in cosplay you have to be aware of your body and not be ashamed of it, so you learn what works for you and what does not.

Carrie in the opening from Sex and the City

In general you can draw much inspiration from cosplay and from fiction in general.  At the moment superheroes are a huge trend because of the Marvel movies that are very successful. You can find all types of clothing with the superhero logos and you often see these shirts, pullovers or leggings on street fashion sites. Witch just comes to show that fiction influences fashion and not only the style of cosplayers. I asked some fashion bloggers what they think of fiction inspiring their style. One of the most known outfits is a simple top and a puffy skirt worn by Carrie in the opening of the TV show Sex and the City. Or they are inspired by the style in shows like Doctor Who which is a mixture of the things you wear in Britain and the somehow timeless style of the different Doctors.

To conclude you could say that the fashion in “fiction” is not just something that cosplayers take a closer look on. There are certain things that everyone can pick up from it and incorporate into their every day wardrobe even if it is just single piece of clothing with a superhero print or just a bow tie because you saw it in a TV show or a movie. Like this everyone can wear what they think is cool or/and support the TV shows and movies they like the most.

Till next time! Bye!

w.w.K.w.- What would Kenzi wear?

Kenzi is just a human in a group of supernatural creatures, she nonetheless manages to steal their spotlight with her awesome personality and her amazing sense of style.

Kenzi from Lost Girl is “only” a human and the best friend of the main character Bo who is a succubus and therefore should be the most attractive woman. But somehow Kenzi manages to stand out even more than Bo does. But it isn’t just her looks that make her that outstanding , it is also because of her character she is very brisk and chaotic but also quick-witted, sarcastic and courageous. Her charm also lies in the fact that she is a professional criminal who can persuade anyone if she wants to and knows whom she can trust.

Because she is such an outstanding charcter I thought it would be only fair to do multiple outfits, to capture her style and incorporate it into mine.

Her style is on the first glance quite trashy and typically “goth”. But on second glace you see that it is much more. It isn’t just goth it is also very flirty and put together but at the same time looks kind of comfortable. Plus she is a master of disquise, with her wigs and the ability to dress for every occasion.

 

To start off I wore some colourful pants. It is the first piece of clothing that comes to mind when I think of Kenzi. She rocks her red pants and sometimes her purple pants always with a chunky belt. A typical goth wears black, considering that I wore all black apart from the pants. I wore a black top with lace detailing and a black circus inspired vest over it. For the shoes I wore some chunky black wedges with studs on them, because you would never see Kenzi without chunky black heels or combat boots.

And these combat boots are the central piece of by next outfit. I wore my old, well loved combat boots which are almost falling apart. I also wore a black mini-skirt with lace detailing, again lace; I think it is something very feminine and also gothic. I wore a light pastel pink long sleeved shirt, which by itself is very basic. These types of clothing is what make Kenzi’s style so very interesting, she plays with basics and layers them with sometimes quite trashy, goth pieces. Over this shirt I wore again; the vest and also a fitted leather jacket. The combination of these rough elements, the boots and the jacket, with this soft colour gives the outfit this playful, young but flirty vibe.

In the last outfit I played with the trashy side of her style. I wore a black super thighs leather skirt with over knee socks and a deep red top with a waterfall collar. She really likes to accessories with belts so I wore my studded black waist belt with it. The vest I wore on top has this awesome train, which reminds me of a jacket Kenzi once wore. The shoes are some chunky black lace-up wedges with studs. These shoes remind me so much of Kenzi not because of the way they look but the way I felt when I got them. There is this episode of Lost Girl where Kenzi gets some shoes and the is so exited and doesn’t want to take them of anymore and that is exactly how I felt when I first got my shoes.

All of this make me want to be Kenzi, and with these outfits inspired by her I feel a bit more like her.

Till next time! Bye!

"It’s a statement of our passion and geekery”- Toni Darling

I feel like the people who are most involved in the fashion of fictional characters are cosplayers. They have to analyse the style of the person they want to impersonate to create their costume. This is why I asked some cosplayers about their opinions on the subject.

The lovely Toni Darling replied to me and shared her very interesting views and her incredible story of how she got into the cosplay scene.

Toni Darling is a professional cosplayer who is best known for her Thor crossplay. To the question of how she got into cosplaying she wrote her amazing story of how a google search changed her life:

“ I got into cosplaying about a year and half ago while looking for things to do. I had recently moved to Mesa AZ and had very few friends; I was bored and just looking for something interesting to do! I think I googled 'geeky stuff in phoenix' and I happened to come across an add for a zombie bikini contest. I thought to myself “the kind of people who will go to this event are probably the kind of people I want to make friends with”, so I went. I didn't win but I met Jim Miller of New Mutiny Media and he got me involved in the Geek Community in AZ, and the rest is history! I went from being an on air personality, to a model and eventually a cosplayer. Now I cosplay professionally.“

To the question of how her style changed through becoming a cosplayer she answered:

“I have always had very little fashion sense. I was always very plain when it came to my wardrobe unfortunately, but then again I grew up in rural upstate NY. Cosplay has influence what I wear in four ways:

1.       Because I am constantly training to look like Thor, I am always in athletic gear.

2.       The more immersed in geek culture I become, the more my wardrobe reflects that- event Tee Shirts, geeky leggings, wonder woman converse etc. are examples of the things I collect at different events. I went to 15 events last year and will probably make about 30 this year, and I usually grab a piece of clothing from every event.

3.        I am getting better at sewing and since I also run my own fitness and cosplay business, I have several business outfits I am now modifying to reflect my geekdom- currently I am working on adding a marvel themed fabric to a lapel of one of my suit coats.

4.        Now that I model, I have collected several more fashionable pieces to wear on shoots and out and about. Living in Hollywood- it is a necessity to dress to impress and I have slowly adapted my country bumpkin look to be a bit more sophisticated. 

I dream of one day having the skill to create an entire clothing line based on cosplay. Until then, I will support those who are already doing that. I think that cosplay influencing fashion is a great thing and there needs to be much more of it. Because it’s fashion that has more of a purpose than simply looking good- it’s a statement of our passion and geekery.”

I find her story and her opinion very inspiring. And I really want her to succeed in what she does so go check her out at www.facebook.com/tonidarlingAZ.

Till next time! Bye!