We are costumers too!!! Larger Women and Costuming

I was browsing my Facebook feeds this afternoon and saw someone had re-posted a picture of a Doctor Who cosplayer, who like me is a bit on the larger side.  In the re-post, someone had posted a few derogatory comments towards the said cosplayer/costumer because of her size. Several of my friends, jumped to her defense and said that she was beautiful and that it was one of the better made TARDIS costumes she had ever seen.  I happen to agree with my friends because larger women can and should be able to costume what they want as long as they feel comfortable in the costume that they are wearing.

I have two friends who are larger women who costume as Yarna, a female Tusken Raider,  a Jedi and a Jawa and when they go out they have fun and strut their stuff.  Not only that I think that they are beautiful in what they wear and strutting their stuff out there.  I have other friends who are big and costume in a variety of genre's including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Doctor Who and Star Wars.  

For me, I have seen a lot of derogatory comments towards larger female costumers.   I think the general consensus among people who are purists is that women that are larger like me, shouldn't costume at all.  Granted, there are times where I am on the fence about this, because I have no self-esteem because of my weight issues.  I had bought the Royal Guard to hide my hips and my obesity problem because I was too embarrassed to come out of my shell and there are times where I don't want to come out because of my weight.

{Photo by Chad Pulliam,  January 2013)

Yet, let me speak about my Padme' and how people view her.  Natalie Portman, who played Padme  ' in the prequels is pretty tiny and it's obvious from my pictures that I'm not tiny.  I even at one point in my life weighed 320 pounds, right now I'm sitting at around 200 and still dropping because of lapband surgery in 2011.  I don't regret my decision but I wanted to do an Episode III costume for the longest time and because I'm a girl, Padme' was the logical choice.  Not to mention, I wanted to hide my weight, so what better way than to do a fake baby bump using what I had left over from surgery.  However, most geeks associate pregnant Padme' with being extremely tiny while carrying twins.  It took a lot of guts for me to decide to do this costume but in the end I ended up doing Mustafar Padme so that way I could see and be out from the guard.  It has taken me a while to get used to the costume because what I've been hiding for so long is now exposed for all to see.  Not only that with my short hair I have to wear a wig which is awkward for me.

The first time I wore the costume out in the open I wanted to hide because people don't recognize her. I think it's because the costume was only in there for 30 seconds.  Not only that, a fat girl playing a skinny pregnant girl with twins?  I really wanted to hide at the checkers game when I wore her but since then I've forced myself to wear her not because I wanted to, but to get over my fear of socially awkward situations, and to get over the stigma of being overweight and a costumer.  A lot of people that I know, like Padme'.  I've been told by several of my friends that I pull her off, but what about if I went to a major con?  DragonCon?  Celebration?  Would the majority of the Rebel Legion or 501st like her or hate her?  I mean I know right now I'm about 80 pounds more than Natalie Portman and even with the weight loss surgery I couldn't get down to her weight because of all the extra skin that I have left over.  I think the response that most people would have with me, would be to ignore me and that's fine i'm used to it or that is the ugliest Padme' I have ever seen.  *sighs*

 Now I am about to start on a costume that I've wanted to do since I was a little girl...Luke Skywalker's Endor Costume from Return of the Jedi.  Yes, it will be up to Rebel Legion standards and yes I am going to be a bit awkward in it because I'm heavier than Mark Hamill and I have female equipment up top but I am going to hide that with the Endor Poncho and use makeup to conceal some of my more feminine traits.  Yes, I am still on the fence about it because I'm a girl and overweight but I'm leaning more and more towards it.  I gave it up last year and sold most of the stuff I bought for it because of my weight and personal self issues but now my friends are encouraging me to do it.

In closing:


Not all of us have model bodies that would allow us to wear a Slave Leia or a skimpy outfit.  I hate that society and certain strands of the geek culture have labeled the fat costumers as ugly and shouldn't costume at all.  I know with my body I will never ever wear a Slave Leia costume, my weight won't allow it and it's not a costume that I'm interested in even if I was skimpy and pretty.   However, I will say that the more girls that I know that are like me, we tend to choose costumes that fit our bodies rather than make fun of it.  Again, Yarna, female Tusken Raiders, Episode III Padme' and Royal Guards are prime examples of what we wear.  In addition, for me, I have completed an Amy Pond costume from Doctor Who, the Day of Moon/Impossible Astronaut plaid outfit and I have gotten complimented on it.   The only reason why I did that costume is that she was "slightly pregnant" in that Episode although it was her ganger for the majority of that first half of that season.  Still, I have fun in it and I think that's what big girls are out to have.  Fun.  We costume like other women for fun and we find costumes to fit us and our shape that we like and love.  

Am I saying love us?  No.  I am saying accept us because we are here to stay.  We love costuming as much as the skinny con chick.  We love all the sci-fi, medieval, fantasy and other genre's as much as the next person.  We know how to wear costumes that suit us and fit our bodies, we like to have fun as much as any other geek.