Hi! Our names are Tabby and Mariam, and we love entering competitions together. We also convince friends to join us! Entering competitions as a duo or as a small group is a great feeling – we’re going to talk you through why you should consider, how to enter and what competitions you can do as a team.
Why enter as a group? Firstly, not all the work is on your shoulders! As a group entry, as long as you as a group have made either 50% or 80% of your cosplay, it does not matter if you made your own piece! This means if you are better at working with foam you can make the foam pieces for everyone in your group while your sewing friend takes over those pieces (as it is with Mariam and I mostly!)
Guild Tip: At Guild ran competitions, each cosplay must meet the made requirements (depending on the class or competition this number is either 50%, 60% 70% or 80%) but anyone in the group can contribute towards the made pieces.
Skill sharing is not only a great way to level up your cosplays but it’s also a really nice way to hang out with your friends- joint crafting sessions either online or in-person are fun ways to hang out outside of conventions without spending money to go somewhere and meet up. Being able to share more of a hobby with your friends is also super fun.
Secondly, doing a group cosplay gives you a lot more options for skits (if your competition has a skit component). Doing a skit on your own limits how you can interact on stage- but with friends you can do group dance numbers, fight scenes, and a tonne more comedy!
On the day, entering a cosplay competition as a group also has benefits. You have an instant support network with you at the event, in line for pre-judging, and in line for the actual competition. That said, you can absolutely make friends with the other cosplayers who’re waiting for both pre-judging and the stage component!
So what should you know about how to enter? What considerations do you need to make when you want to enter as a group?
First, be sure you make a battle plan! Your schedule might be free but that doesn’t mean the rest of your group are ready. You need to all agree on an event to be ready for – don’t force someone to con-crunch to match everyone else – you will be judged collectively, so although one person can bring everyone’s score up, the opposite is also true.
Second, matchsies! Do your cosplays need to be made of the same material or need to be the same shape? You need to get these decisions locked down before you start sewing. In some cases this isn’t relevant at all- but for groups with outfits which are uniforms (like Love Live for instance) you want to make sure your look is cohesive! Obviously, not every cosplayer has the same body type and accessibility needs- so make sure your materials and cuts are appropriate and comfortable for everyone in your group!
Once you’ve made your costume and gotten to the convention you need to get ready for pre-judging. A post about pre-judging is coming soon! Normally, groups will be given more time than single entrants for pre-judging because there is physically more to cover.
However, you need to rehearse as a group and make sure that you are able to cover all of the costumes in your time limit! If you forget something and waffle on, your friends now have less time to talk about their work. There is a lot more accountability on you as part of a team.
Thinking about entering? Last, but not least – when can you enter a group competition? Not all competitions have a group category- and some competitions don’t allow group entries at all! Other competitions allow groups but have a limit to the amount of people who can be in the group.
So before you plan your group make sure the competition you are aiming for is appropriate for your group! All MegaCon shows allow group entries – check out this guide to the new competition structure for more info!
In conclusion, entering competitions as a group is an amazing bonding experience. Communication and inclusivity is key, and you need to do a lot more preparation work for the competition – but it’s all worth it for the wonderful time you will have with your friends!
