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| Photo by Toby Plumb |
Instagram's definitely become the place where I've formed many friendships from all over globe. All through cosplay, and I've got another wonderful individual for you guys today. In interview form to make it even more exciting! Meet Jawjarrose, a cosplayer based over in Australia and I definitely can see some awesome potential as she slowly dips her feet more into creating cosplays from scratch! Her first taste dates back to 2012 when she along with several of her close friends and former boyfriend bought outfits resembling the Vocaloids. Hatsune Miku was a part of this collection but Jawjarrose portrayed Kagamine Rin. Since that little event, she grew to love the hobby and made her first cosplay a few years later. Her New 52 Wonder Woman which you can see above was mainly brought out to cosplay gatherings and photoshoots. She actually wouldn't have her first taste of convention going until this past weekend at Supanova in Brisbane. A lot of Aussie cosplayers I'm familiar with attended that event and Georgia was able to meet some cosplayers she'd been following for awhile!
Getting into this kind of stuff didn't blossom until about 8 years ago when she asked her mom about Doctor Who and fell in love with it ever since. The episode that aired at that time was a re-run featuring the 9th doctor! She also admits to gravitating to people who have gotten into other aspects like trading cards, gaming and comics! It helps that her younger siblings enjoy Doctor Who about as much as she does so there's that common ground aspect. You'll learn in this interview the process that went into making Wonder Woman not to mention her debut of Goddess Enchantress from the recent Suicide Squad movie.
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| Photo by RedFoxx Photography |
Other tidbits of info include Georgia's upcoming cosplay plans, her view on cosplay as it gains more popularity and even mentions of some cosplayers she's followed! She is also hoping to expand into the world of YouTube with wig tutorials, and other cosplay related topics. I can tell she enjoyed answering the questions I had for her so I hope you all can enjoy this piece as well!
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What got you into cosplay and how long have you been doing it?
It was probably around November 2012, my best friend at the time
was talking about cosplay and introduced me to Vocaloids. She was putting together
her first cosplay of Megurine
Luka. My close friend group decided to all cosplay together. I was Kagamine Rin and my then boyfriend was Kagamine
Len. We also had Hatsune Miku and Kaito. Most
of our costume was bought of eBay but thinking back to it the quality was
pretty decent for pre-made costumes, they were custom made to fit our needs and I
got a really nice quality wig from eBay. I can’t for the life of me find any
photos any more and I don't talk to most of the people in the group :( but I
remember other Vocaloid cosplayers who told us that we were the best Rin and Len.
Which cosplay was the first you ever created?
The first cosplay I've ever made by hand is my new 52 Wonder Woman
in October/November of 2015.
Thinking back to the last convention you were at, did you enjoy it?
The last convention i attended was the Supanova Pop Culture Expo
in Brisbane. i competed in my first cosplay contest! Which is definitely the highlight
of the convention. but I also had a few exciting things happen; I had many
photos taken including a few for the career mail(newspaper) with my batman. I
ran into a few of my favorite cosplayers including Infamous Harley Quinn, SkyBrown
Cosplay, Banshee Bitch and Jajutsu
What cosplay(s) did you bring to this convention?
I skipped Friday to finish my Goddess Enchantress for Saturday (I
hope to never leave a cosplay so last minute it really stressed me out)
and Sunday I wore my new 52 Wonder Woman with my Justice League
group in the competition
What is your favorite cosplay you’ve made so far?
I wish I had made more but I think because of the stress I caused
myself with enchantress I prefer my Wonder Woman. But I adored the feedback I
got on my enchantress.
What got you into being a geek?
I remember in 2008 I asked my mum what Doctor Who was, and with
her reply “some dumb show that was on when I was a kid” I watched one episode
(a rerun of Christopher Eccleston) and have been hooked ever since! I also
gravitate towards other people who introduce me to geeky content such as Magic
the Gathering, console gaming and comics.
Do you have any other members of your family who are into what you
enjoy? Or are you at present the only “geek” in the family?
My two sisters are less geeky but they do enjoy Doctor Who just as
much as me and watch different series. We also grew up with a few
Gameboys/Gameboy Colors playing some of the original Pokémon games. We had a
shared DS Lite and eventually a Wii.
Remembering our chats I think you said you were looking into doing more
video game cosplays? Cause at the moment you’ve done a few comic book
characters as well as ones from films like Merida from Brave!
I think I’d love to make an assassin from Assassins Creed! There
are so many cosplays I would love to create; I have a Pokémon planned for next
year, maybe some Disney princesses. Planning to dabble in a bit of marvel with Jane
Thor. I just need to collect all my ideas and stick to one or two to build at a
time XD I always end up jumping around on my cosplay wish list as to that I’m
feeling and the time, money I have for the cosplay.
So I happened to stumble upon your work after following each other on
Instagram for a short while. The one cosplay that drew me to you was your New
52 Wonder Woman you made not too long ago! You’ve expressed a big love for the
character wanting to do more outfits of her. What was it like creating this
version though? Any difficulties?
This version of her was the one I was drawn to the most because of
the silver armor and blue boots, less stars. When I was making it I was trying
to figure out how to get the lines on her bodice. I was going to try and sew
one fabric on to the other like a patch but after talking to my mum who has
been sewing for as long as I can remember. She suggested that I sew the fabric
to it to get seams that would create the diagonal lines. We patterned the
bodice and it was better them I could've imagined. The boots and wonder pants
were challenging too. If you look at my original version I have made new boots
after having drama with the first ones. The lining fabric was sewn twisted so
it was a challenge to get it on. I loved making the armor and have only
replaced the belt. I was actually thinking about hanging up wonder woman
as I thought I had worn her enough but after Supanova I’m thinking ill have to
make a v2 in the near future.
I’ve also learned that one of your favorite parts of making cosplays is
the wig aspect. You’ve even shown me a couple of wigs that you’re working
on/styling. I also think you’re the first cosplayer who’s expressed loving wigs
the most. Why is that?
I adore being able to change my hair so quickly. But also I
consider myself a creative person and trying different techniques really
excites me, same reason I loved making my foam armor for Wonder Woman, I just
haven't done it before and it feels good to make something work when you
haven't got experience with it. I check it off my list as something I know I
can do for next time. I’m currently experimenting with creating wefts from
loose hair and I want to explore dying synthetic wigs, hopefully track down a
reliable way to lighten them too. I want to learn more and be doing more than
just cutting and styling.
One other thing you’re looking into doing soon is creating a YouTube
channel. Wig tutorials were something you planned on making videos about. What
other content do you plan on populating the channel with?
I have so many things I’d love to film, definitely going to give
reviews on all different on line wig stores as I grow my collection I insure I
try new sellers. I think it would be helpful as it would be a consistent
opinion from one person instead of jumping around to different people who have
different standards for quality. I would love to make build videos just a time-lapse
of different costumes with a voiceover explaining what I’m doing. But I need to
figure out how to record that so I might have explanation videos that combine
short videos and progress pictures to help others understand my processes and
hopefully inspire them to try it or help them solve their cosplay problem.
I plan on launching my channel with a video explaining what I want
to post and get out of YouTube and how I got into cosplay like a story time :)
What do you think about cosplay as it is now hitting the mainstream?
i don't think it will ever be as normalized as sports, but in the
pop culture side I think it fantastic that people are cosplaying more. It’s
about having fun and being creative and I have met a lot of really good friends
that I hope to keep the rest of my life. It’s a great way to instantly know
that you have a common interest and I’ve found most of the community to be very
loving and supportive of each other. I believe the world can always use more
love. People need to come together instead of drawing differences.
Do you have any upcoming cosplays for this year that you’re able to
share?
Yes! I know for sure I will have a Christmas Harley Quinn ready in
about a month. I’m having a local event to meet more cosplayers on the area and
I’m determined to create more costumes while I’m not as busy studying. I also
hope to finish my Kim Possible and Panty from Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
Do you imagine cosplaying being a part of your life within the next 5
years and do you hope to evolve your skill set?
I don’t think I’ll ever stop making cosplay. I hope to try
different products and processes as much as I can. I think bringing LED’s into
my future cosplay would really bring it to the next level. But I have a lot to
learn with just basic techniques, about fabrics and construction. I hope to
always improve from my last costume.
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| Photo by Toby Plumb |
What’s a day in the life of Jawjarrose? Where did that name come from?
My everyday life consists of a fantastic retail job that I find
very satisfying, studying multimedia, marketing major visual communication
minor at university and hopefully going to the gym to lift some weight. I have
a brilliant relationship and a few close friends that listen to all my crazy
ideas and support my cosplay. The name I spent about 3 days trying to decide
on, as I know it will become my brand so I didn't want to not love it in a few
months, years. It’s pretty simple how I created it, it is my real name but with
different spelling put into one word.
Any upcoming game releases you’re looking forward to?
I don't follow new games too much; I leave that mostly to my
boyfriend. But I recently found out that Trackmania is coming to the PlayStation
VR which I think will be absolutely nuts! The game is fast paced and tries to
mimic how a real race car would respond to speed and different surfaces while
having elaborate out of this world tracks.
Do you have a favorite convention?
It would probably have to be the Brisbane Supanova Pop Culture Expo,
it was my first convention and we don't get very many around in Australia
unless you're able to travel interstate.
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