Dragon Con Costume Contest

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

Dragon Con is an annual con over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. The con website can be found at the link at the end of this post.

I am happy to announce that there is a new addition to the DragonCon schedule. On Friday night there will be a Costume Contest held in one of the main programming rooms. This show will focus soley on Costuming. Masquerade will still go on Sunday night as usual, however, this is to compensate for how the Masquerade has become more about wild presentations and gimmicks and less about pure workmanship and costuming. Judges will be looking at the costume itself, the workmanship, the wearing and "wearability", inspiration, etc. This will be open to groups as well individuals, experts (from our panels) as well as novice, mainstream or self-creative, etc. Presentations will be allowed but kept strictly to 2-minutes and kept to a method of explanation on the costuming (who/what you are, how well you present, etc). Although there will be some "celebrity" judges, the panel will mostly be people with extreme costume backgrounds chosen by Pat Henry, the costuming track, and a group from the Directors. Tentative categories are as follows:

Best Youth - (infant to 15 y/o)
Best Mainstream Media - TV and film recreations.
Best Literary Media - Gaming, comics, books, personal interpretation, etc.
Best Novice Work - Category for new-comers to win and get recognized. We will open this to all aspects and judge JUST on workmanship and creativity.
Best Journeyman Work - Category for people that have done costumes for a few years. Not always a winner but REALLY good work.
Best Professional Work - This is for people that do this as a MAIN creative outlet but still have fun with it.
Best in Show - Overall good work and good presentation. What really WOWED us, etc.

These categories and awards may change depending on the number and kind of entries. We want to make this an ongoing thing. People have argued for years that the Masquerade has become less about costumes and more about who can WOW the judges or have a comical presentation, but has little to do with the costumes itself. While we do not want to take anything away from the Main Masquerade, we want people to know that this is where you get judged not based on popularity and audience participation but rather on how well you did your homework, your construction, and your presentment in general. The above information categories, etc are subject to change based on decisions that Pat Henry may make, etc.

In order to make this a success we will need entries! If you have been one of the people disappointed by the lack of costuming focus in the Masquerade then you need to plan an entry for this event! Tell your friends to come see it! Entry forms will be available at a later date on the Dragon Con webpage and on the Costuming Track webpage. You may also join the Costuming Track yahoo group or the Costuming Track LiveJournal group to keep appraised of developments. Links are enclosed at the end of this email. Please spread this around and plan to enter!

The Costuming Track Staff


Dragon Con website - http://www.dragoncon.org/
Costuming Track website - http://hometown.aol.com/jester7946/CostumeTrack.html
Costuming Track Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dc_costumetrack/?yguid=189948497
Costuming Track LiveJournal - http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=dragon_costumes

Comments

[growly.livejournal.com]

Hm, interesting.
I don't really see the need of two costume contests, but eh.
Would we be allowed to enter the same costume in both contests?

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

I think the desire is for people to have a costume contest because Masquerade has become a preformance contest. The rules are still under debate, but I would hazard to guess you will probably be allowed to enter both.

[numbereleven.livejournal.com]

I LOVE this idea. I noticed that the entries in the Masquerade that were soley about the costume were the most boring, and the gimmicky/entertaining entries werent dependant on the costumes at all.

Exactly what the con needed, and I love the different catagories to seperate professionals and such from people that do this in their sparest of time.

[ravyn001.livejournal.com]

Great idea.

[afallingfaerie.livejournal.com]

I also like this idea. Great Job!

[nisie.livejournal.com]

Is the nc-17 contest still going to be held?

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

I'm 99% sure it will (I can't say 100% until after the director's meeting tomorrow and approval goes through, etc, but it's being planned). It will be on Saturday. Yup, we're busy bees at the costuming track.

[tk7602.livejournal.com]

bravo! send my cheers along to anyone that might care!

[suhl.livejournal.com]

This is awesome!

[kellilla.livejournal.com]

Awesome news! I will definitely plan on entering!

[radegund-lj.livejournal.com]

Great news! I have never liked how DragonCon allows the Masquerade emcees to heckle and interfere with the presentations. I appreciate a show that actually respects the amount of work that goes into making a costume.

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

OK.....I guess it is time for me to jump in here and try to clarify some of the questions and information that we have about this GREAT new opportunity for the costumers at Dragon*Con.
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Brian Holloway and I am the Director of the Costuming Track for Dragon*Con. I will not list credits or anything but suffice it to say that I have a LONG list of experience with costuming and makeup for film and TV. I am the dude responsible for this track at D*C.
For those of you responding to this thread, I am excited to see we have so much interest already. This concept literally got off the ground with a phone call to me at 8:30am this morning. After speaking with Pat Henry, the main head honcho controlling ALL of D*C, we decided that we wanted to have a contest that focused solely on the design and building aspect of costuming. In some contests it is a pre-judging, but we decided that it would be better to launch this as a new contest entirely. This is not designed to detract from the Sunday Masquerade in ANY form, but it is aimed at giving the designers and constructors of costumes a venue to be judged and seen. If you have gone to the Masquerade, you know that this can sometimes become an audience popularity contest and true workmanship often goes unnoticed. We are aiming to fix this starting this year. Whether or not this continues is based solely on you folks and your participation. Now I will try to answer some of your questions:

1 - Can you enter BOTH?? Yes you can. We do not want to detract from the Masquerade and in many ways this is the "pre-judging" for that contest. We just want to provide a venue to give credit where credit is due. This is just workmanship and we are limiting ANY presentation during the contest to 2-minutes maximum. Tell us about your costume, show it off, get off the stage.

2-Is the NC-17 contest still going to be held? Absolutely. This has been re-named "The Girls of the SPAT*Cave" contest. This will be held as usual on Saturday night at 11:30pm. The late hour is due to legalities about having under-aged people granted access to this venue. However, we will ALSO be having the normal NC-17 panel (got overlooked last year) at 8:30pm on the same evening to act as a pre-cursor to the final contest.

3-Woohoo! xD Nekkid people! If this is why you are attending this part, then you have gotten the wrong idea entirely. I began this contest because I saw that there were a LARGE number of women that ran around in sexy or revealing costumes. We have the panel to discuss what works and what does not. The contest came out of this panel because I realized that the "revealing" or "adult-themed" costumes took just as much effort to create as the standard costumes or in some cases the BIG outfits the we see in the Masquerade. Building a costume that is revealing, tasteful, and manages to stay in place is very difficult and requires more than a little skill to create. Additionally, these ladies do not have a proper venue to show off the truly enticing things without being thrown out of the hotel, arrested, or pawed by the passing con-goers as they walked down the hall. Also some very sexy ladies(Bless you Jacks)feel fine wearing these outfits in confined quarters but would not feel comfortable just walking down the halls. So we have the costume contest as it is.

4- Nudity and Special F/X in this contest??? There will be NO nudity in this contest. This is being done during "family-hours" and any violation of the rules will be treated accordingly by the convention and will most likely result in your being ejected from the convention. As for F/X, blood, etc....the same rules apply as for the regular contest. If blood is part of your costume design, it needs to be done in such a way that it does not detract from the rest of the contest. If it drips, you need to clean it up. Part of the design process involves making your costume functional, wearable, and a certain ease of use. If you are not sure, attend the panel on "Winning the Masquerade". We are NOT children and so we will not treat you as such. If you drip blood or gore, your design has failed and will cost you points.....PERIOD.

Part 2

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

5-Can they use a model for the outfit? Does the maker have to be present to win? Parental consent?? These are all good points and I am sorry that I do not have ALL of the answers right now. Models can be used but we prefer that the designer/creator be present. All of this information will be made available once we get our Costume page web-site rebuilt. It is coming along, but these things take time. We hope to have the submission forms for all contests available this way so that people can enter prior to coming to the convention. We will have the chance to double-check entrants and make sure that they comply with rules. As for ages and parents, etc....that is why we will have a pre-judging and entry form. If you do not pass, you are not seen.....PERIOD. KLeep looking for the updated web-page in the next few months. Right now, I have most of the panels designed or requested but until we know about guests, etc there is no way to post a full schedule. My intent is to give an informative page that shows what panels are being given, when they are given, who is in them, etc. Got to have the guests solid before we can post. I would LOVE to have designers from Star Trek, Harry Potter, Serenity, Battlestar, etc. I just have to wait for the convention staff to book them. One of the guests we do have planned (we hope) is James Cawley and the group from the web-based fan-films Star Trek: New Voyages....we will see.

On behalf of Jacks and myself along with the rest of the Costume Track, I want to thank you in advance for your enthusiasm. This makes me feel good and lets me know that our efforts over the past few years have not gone unnoticed. I hope to keep getting bigger and better but we can only do this through your interest, your input, and your support. If you have questions or suggestions you may post them here or better yet, you can ALSO email me directly through the D*C page and let me know.

Thanks again and Bless you all ---
BH

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

It's not really clear from the description - will there be one-on-one backstage workmanship judging?

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

No, judging will be done in a "cattle-call" method before the main contest. We will have all of the entrants parade before the judges and the workmanship will be judged at that time.

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

Yes. That is really going to be the focus of this contest, with the on-stage presentation mainly for the audience at large and not the judging. Judging will be through a backstage pre-judging, a one-picture documentation will be required and making documentation will be encouraged.

The Dice Man Cometh!!

[jesterstomb.livejournal.com]

Thank the Maker for the type of contest I went to AWA last year after D*C and thought that how well they were made was and is more important than seeing a monkey in a chicken suit dance.

That and the fact that my costume crew for next year is going to be a bunch of dice a skit would just be stupid unless i got someone with a GIANT hand to roll us and then that would just hurt
but this is such a great idea!!!

[pktaxwench.livejournal.com]

I think a third contest would be frelling awesome. The focus on stupid skits and special effects that has become the Masquerade has really annoyed me the past few years.

*applauds the brilliance at work*

[evanthx.livejournal.com]

It might be worth specifying how much of the costume can be made and how much can be bought - for example, I did a Rocketeer costume. I spent a year building the jetpack, but the jacket and boots were made for me (I can't do that leatherwork that well!)

http://www.evan.org/jetpack/

In some contests, that would disqualify me as everything would have to be made by me, which is fine. In other contests, it'd be a moot point. When you finalize these rules, I'd love to see addressed how you will consider that when judging - either way is fine, but it's nice to know that sort of thing.

And I also want to add that this is a great idea. I've seen some great costumes at the masquerade, and due to the distance I can't see any details or work in the costume, and unless there is a skit it doesn't go over well. I would love see this set up so there is a "walk" like there used to be after the Masquerade when it was in the Hilton so I can actually get a closer and better look at the costumes! Some of the ones in the new venue I never have gotten to see up close and I miss that.

[lorenalis.livejournal.com]

This is a good point. I have a Zatanna costume that I love to wear at con, but I did not do any of the sewing myself. I gathered the parts from many different locations to put this costume together. Others have done similar and it's a shame there is no place for this.

Although I must say that I'll probably enter the contest with something I've made, I can definitely understand those who cannot sew, but who can gather pieces from different places and put them together to create a really awesome costume.

[atomicferret.livejournal.com]

I think this contest is a fantastic idea. I would love to make something to enter. I have been scared off the Masquerade since I entered it in 2001, and have been more and more disappointed in it every year. So this would be a lot of fun to do. I don't care if I win or not, but it would be lovely to see other people who really costume for the sake of making a beautiful costume, and not to do a silly skit or something of the like. I have seen a lot of awsome thigns in the Masquerade that don't stand a chance against the people who do funny skits with rotten costumes.

[puzzleoflight.livejournal.com]

After reading through the initial post and all of the replies, I have to admit that I more than a little confused on some points. I realize that you haven't worked out all the bugs yet, this concept being a new idea, but one thing that's always bothered me as a costumer is when people enter costume contests with commissioned, store bought or assembled costumes and are allowed to compete with those who have made their own costumes. If you're calling this a craftsmanship contest, it's really not fair to those of us who spend numerous hours building a costume from scratch to be judged against those who have no hand in creating their own costume. If you'd like to allow people to compete in assembled, commissioned or store bought costumes, perhaps it would be best to place them in their own category so the more serious costumers can feel like all their hard work didn't amount to nothing.

As a costumer who makes the majority of her costumes from scratch, I would certainly think twice about competing in a "craftsmanship" contest that allows contestants to wear costumes they did not create themselves. Maybe it's best to leave the assembled, store bought or commissioned costumes to the Masquerade and use this contest to strictly focus on workmanship. Otherwise you don't really have a distinct contest; you have a smaller version of the Masquerade, particularly if you're allowing performances.

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

You make a good point. We will consider both points of view as we make the rules. You can keep an eye on the communities and websites posted above for a final version sometime around June.

[jennstar.livejournal.com]

I love love love this idea. I wanted to enter the Masquerade last year, but I was really intimidated by the idea of being judged based on a skit. I think this'll be a great addition to the lineup.

We need a NAME !!!

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

This promises to be a good event and hopefully a long-standing one.....but we need a good name. So, in a rare display of tokenism for D*C Directors, (LOLOL) I am asking for input for the actual con-goers. It is YOUR convention and you SHOULD have some input. We need a good name for this. We cannot just call it "The Costume Contest" because that will confuse people who wants to enter the Masquerade. We cannot just call it the "Costume Workmanship Contest" because that may discourage possible entrants. So we need something fun and entertaining. Suggestions????

Re: We need a NAME !!!

[silverbec.livejournal.com]

Dragon*Con Fashions Contest
Fabrications Contest
Our Way Runway Contest
Dragon*Con Fancy Dress Contest
Stitches Out of Time Contest
Masterpiece Runway
Duds, Sweat and Tears Contest
Imagination's Fabrications Contest
A Midsummer Night's Costume Contest
From My Mind to the Marriot Marquis' Lobby
Manifestations
Creatures, Characters and Costumes Contest
and of course, last and least, Fantasy Fashions Contest

I know, cheesy, but maybe one will inspire something cool from someone else... I don't mind making a fool of myself to lead the way for others to do the same. Trying to emphasize the "creation" aspect more than the "theatre" aspect of the contest, without stealing really cool business names.

Suggestions

[silverbec.livejournal.com]

A comment first: At last!!!

1. You might want to put the solicitation for name suggestions in a new post.

2. Brian, please don't get frustrated with all the "please do" "please don't" comments - with 35,000 people you get 35,000 opinions, and you said you were interested in suggestions ("I hope to keep getting bigger and better but we can only do this through your interest, your input, and your support. If you have questions or suggestions you may post them here..."). The comments clearly indicate interest in the possibility of entering something many people have wanted for a long time. We want answers because we are excited about the prospect of a new venue for our creativity, and you know that breeds more "what if we..."s than anyone can answer at the outset. 41 comments in less than two days... sounds like there's plenty of interest.

3. For those posting comments: Please read through the initial post and comments thus far very carefully. There's a lot of information, and if you skim it in your excitement you may be asking questions that have already been answered. No fun for the organizers to answer, no fun for the rest of us to plow through.

4. To the staff and volunteers thus far - THANK YOU for trying to get this done. I know it's hard to change the status quo at something this big, and the fact that we have a chance is clearly indicative of your effort and loyalty to the cause. Not to mention the sheer effort of getting something likely to be at least as big as the Masquerade off the ground. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for working to making D*C even better.

The new rules and stuff

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

1 - In 2005 the convention raised over $50,000 for charities with a large percentage going to help Hurricane Katrina relief. Please remember that Katrina was only a week old when we had this convention and the other hurricanes had not yet hit. I guess "fan-geeks" are a pretty conscientious group of people. GOOD WORK!!!! I love these guys. Adam Baldwin and Tricia Helfer headed most of this up by donating ALL of their autograph funds directly to this worthy cause.
2 - The Hilton Hotel has been added officially to the growing list of convention host hotels. All gaming has been moved to this hotel so if you or a friend you know are seriously into gaming they may wish to book their hotel accommodations in this hotel.
3 - Hotel registrations went live on January 1st, 2006. You can NOW book your hotel and receive the special rate for Dragon*Con 2006. Please use the convention code found on the "Hotels page" at www.dragoncon.org.
4 - Pre-registration for the convention is already up 25% above the same time last year and we have not even announced any guests yet. I guess these are the fans that just really love to come see US. LOLOL
5 - With the gaming moved to the Hilton, this has opened up a fair amount of space in the other hotels. As a result, the "Walk-of-Fame" will now be moved OUT of the Dealer's Room basement area and placed in the main areas of one of the other hotels. This will be a GREAT step forward for keeping things moving along during the convention.

[badwolf01.livejournal.com]

12. A “dead-dog” after panel will be arranged for the participants to attend as well as audience members. This will be a panel for constructive criticism and encouragement, not a hack-n-slash tear-down session. Since this contest takes place before the Masquerade, this can be a helpful tool to use so that you can adjust your costume if you are planning to use it in the Masquerade as well. Once the rules and participation information are set up, we will determine when the best time for this panel will be. Optimally, it is best after the contest, but some participants may have family in the audience, want to go drinking, or to attend parties. We may also set up a panel time on Saturday morning. It is always best to be able to address issues while the costume is still present and in place. This panel will be a chance for the participants to ask questions and get answers about their costumes.

OK….this is enough information for now but you KNOW more will be following. Please keep things light and fun, forward any questions to me either directly or through Aurora to me. If you have contest suggestions or things we may have overlooked in this first draft, please send these directly to me.
That is enough for now; PEACE ---

Brian Holloway
Director; Costuming Track
Dragon*Con 2006

[http://users.livejournal.com/spooksquad_/]

:( Ooops, I missed the "keep things light and fun" part just then went I got on the elitist attitude thing. :D


But hey! The masquerade show and tell is a terrific idea for DragonCon. They do that at Archon, and it's not to be missed. You get up close to the costumes, are allowed to handle them, or parts of them to see details and get lots of info from the designers, quality Q&A time. And sometimes comments from the judges.

[http://users.livejournal.com/spooksquad_/]

one thing that's always bothered me as a costumer is when people enter costume contests with commissioned, store bought or assembled costumes and are allowed to compete with those who have made their own costumes. If you're calling this a craftsmanship contest, it's really not fair to those of us who spend numerous hours building a costume from scratch to be judged against those who have no hand in creating their own costume. If you'd like to allow people to compete in assembled, commissioned or store bought costumes, perhaps it would be best to place them in their own category so the more serious costumers can feel like all their hard work didn't amount to nothing.

As a costumer who makes the majority of her costumes from scratch, I would certainly think twice about competing in a "craftsmanship" contest that allows contestants to wear costumes they did not create themselves. Maybe it's best to leave the assembled, store bought or commissioned costumes to the Masquerade and use this contest to strictly focus on workmanship. Otherwise you don't really have a distinct contest; you have a smaller version of the Masquerade, particularly if you're allowing performances.


Wow.

First, lemme say that I don't disagree that there is a difference between the two types of costuming. But also...Whether someone had pieces assembled elsewhere and incorporated them, commissioned the entire thing and didn't sew a stitch, or built every bit of it from scratch all by themselves.... they are all costumes, period. So I suppose they should be judged and awarded accordingly to that. I have things that I have made myself, and I also have things that have bought pieces incorporated into it. Since it's not for a show, it makes little difference to me, as long as I'm having a good time wearing it.
I would be unhappy however, if I entered a contest to win, with my handmade stuff going up against something store bought. I don't think they should be in the same category.


Now that part that I don't quite get... What is meant by a "serious costumer"?

That is the sort of thing that discourages people from playing. I can hardly believe it sometimes where I hear people say that they thought about trying costuming, but were intimidated or put off the whole thing because of some of the more experienced or "serious" costumers they've run into. Sorry, but that sort of stuff is unnecessary. Costuming and cons and masquerades are supposed to be, for the most part, fun. We don't need the elitist attitude. If a person is a damn fine costumer (and you know who you are :D ) then great. And I also do understand that some people, they live for this stuff and are definitely more intense about it, and that's great too. But there's no reason to go acting like what someone else is doing is less worthy because they have a different way of doing their thing.

[http://users.livejournal.com/spooksquad_/]

Also, just to get the understanding here...

If someone commissioned something to wear in a show, the person who created the costume should get full credit for the costume, correct? The person wearing the costume is just the model for it. So what difference does it make if the costumer wears it themselves or not, the best costume wins, yes?
Some of the best costumers I know often don't wear their own stuff; they get an idea, create something really amazing and find someone to model it for them.