Outside it was hot, windy and even rainy, but cosplay enthusiasts escaped to a world of fantasy at Melbourne Showgrounds over the weekend.
After years of COVID-19 pandemic privations, fans of dress-ups seized the chance to strut their stuff in Oz Comic-Con’s first Christmas-themed event.
Sian Gregory (left) and Erin Hutchinson won best Christmas costume at the Oz Comic-Con Christmas event.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Sian Gregory, of Hurstbridge, and Erin Hutchinson, of Yarrambat, who have been going to cosplay for 19 years together, were excited to win best Christmas-themed costume on Sunday.
Gregory said she had sewn “pretty much nonstop” for a week to make the pair’s costumes.
Their vibrant yellow and red dresses, decorated with Christmas lights, sequins, little Santa hats and white furry edging, depicted the glamorous anime fighters Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon.
Hutchinson said it was a good hobby. “It’s good fun to come out, dress up silly and have people walk past and say, ‘We love your costume’.”
Phil Pearce was a popular figure in his Stormtrooper suit.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Gregory said: “You get to dress up all nice and pretty, you get to feel a little bit silly and see everyone else dressed up. It’s like, ‘Yes! Everyone’s having fun together’.”
The pair wore face masks out of precaution about COVID-19, but even they were embroidered. On the bright side, Gregory said, it meant she only had to do the top half of her makeup.
Phil Pearce, 56, of Rowville, trimmed his Star Wars Stormtrooper outfit with a Santa hat and tinsel. He also wore a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and thongs in a nod, he said, to sunny Christmas holidays.
Pearce, an auditor, said his son, Willis, 19, took him to his first cosplay event three years ago. “I love it, it’s a great experience, a good fun day out and I can spend time with my son,” Pearce said.
Nathan Vincent as Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas movie.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
“We have a good laugh together.”
Pearce said he received plenty of requests from strangers for selfies with him, and he enjoyed seeing smiles on people’s faces when they saw his costume.
Also popular for selfies was Nathan Vincent, 31, of West Footscray, who came as the skeletal Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, the movie where Jack tries to abduct Santa.
Although the outfit was spooky, Vincent said kids didn’t seem frightened, and parents asked for selfies, perhaps because the movie character was familiar.
Helena Millett as Gandalf Santa, based on The Lord of the Rings character.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Vincent noted that wearing an all-felt suit was hot in summer. But he didn’t think of not coming.
“It’s worth the sacrifice. What’s a bit of sweat lost?”
The event’s content manager, Jess Yates, said this was the first Oz Comic-Con in Melbourne with a Christmas theme. The original Comic-Con has been held in winter since 2012.
Last year, after COVID-19 restrictions eased, the first slot available for Comic-Con after two years’ absence was in December. To differentiate from the winter Comic-Con organisers decided on a Christmas theme.
Cosplay competitors take the stage in the Christmas costume event.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Yates said the cosplay community have supported the move.
“They like being part of the community, to talk to each other, to see each other,” Yates said. “I think this year has been about reconnecting for people who hadn’t seen each other in a very long time.”
Yates saw costumes including a Gandalf Santa (adapted from The Lord of the Rings), numerous Grinches and costumes from the movie Beetlejuice.
The event’s activities over the weekend included a speed gingerbread decorating competition, an Elf on the Shelf scavenger hunt and an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition.
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