[Interview-October2007]TESS

Hey everyone!Here comes the first Intervew of the year! TESS is a pretty young cosplayer,full of great ideas,and costumes!...First time i saw her work i was amazed.I seriously thought i had sooo much work to do before i could get to "ses chevilles xD"..haha..well let's put out the podium for a minute and let her tell us aa little more about herself : )

1. What's your name? Why did you pick this nickname?
I use the name Tess both online and at conventions. Years and years ago, I performed in a musical called "Crazy For You" and the character I played was named Tess. I always thought it was a very pretty name, and so I started using it online!

2. What got you into cosplay?
A few months before I decided to go to my first anime convention, I found Cosplay.com. After looking through the galleries, I knew that cosplay was something that I really had to try! My mother taught me to handsew and cross-stitch when I was a little girl, so making costumes came pretty naturally to me.

3. How do you choose your characters?
I really, really have to love the character! Either I love their personality, I love their costume design, or I just think that they would be super fun to portray. One particular thing that always draws me to a character is makeup: If the character has cool makeup, I will almost always want to cosplay them!

4. What do your friends and family think about cosplay?
Most of my friends either cosplay, go to conventions, or are involved in theatre, so they think costuming is really awesome. Most of my family thinks it's neat, as well. My mom is really proud of my work, and my relatives always ask to see pictures of my newest costumes.

5. What has been your most memorable cosplay experience?
There are too many! One story I like to tell is from Anime USA 2005: I was wearing my Wedding Yuna costume and an attractive man and his mother approached me and asked to have a few pictures taken with me. I said sure, we took the pictures, and he told me that I looked "really beautiful." It was only later that I found out the man had been Vic Mignogna! Years later, I am now a big Fullmetal Alchemist fan and am kicking myself for not seizing the opportunity to chat with him!

6. Do you participate in masquerades? Why?
I do sometimes. I don't often do skits, but I like to compete in the craftsmanship judging. The masquerade is very stressful and takes up a lot of time on Saturday, though, so sometimes it's nice to just skip it and have a nice relaxing weekend.

7. What do you think about the cosplay community?
I am sad that it is so full of drama and hate! I have met so many friendly, fun, amazing people at conventions, but for every nice, supportive cosplayer I've met, I've also met a cosplayer that has been less than nice. In the future I hope that we can all be more supportive of each other! I love to see new faces and watch everyone improve their costuming skills!

8. Are you aware of new fashion and makeup styles?
I love fashion! I'm not always 100% up-to-date, but I do try to keep up with fashion and makeup trends. I love to look cute.

9. Are you fashionable?
I try to be!

10. Which do you do better: "Costume" or "Play?"
I like both, and I try to do both well!

11. What do you think about cosplayers that buy their own costumes?
As a commissioner [someone that makes/sells costumes to others], I love them! They keep me in business! As long as you don't claim you made the costume yourself, there's nothing wrong with buying a costume.

12. What is your favourite costume? Why?
Oh, such a hard question! Right now I'd have to say Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. He's such a quirky character to play - his movements and poses are very fun to copy - and I feel very connected to his personality and backstory. He's also a challenge to cosplay, since everyone does him. It's hard to make your costume stand out from the rest!

13. What are you doing in "real life?"
I'll be graduating college in December as a music education major, which means that next year I will begin a career as a music teacher! I sing and play piano, and I love to travel.

14. Anything else you'd like to add?
Thank you so much for featuring me! Cosplay is such a great hobby, and I have a lot of fun working on my costumes and wearing them at cons! Good luck, everyone!




Fell free to click on the image to access TESS cosplay.com gallery.
If you wish to ask her more questions,please feel free to wrote,and i will get back in touch! : )