Dragon Con is one of the best conventions for costumes and cosplay. Each year, people turn out in droves dressed as their favorite characters from pop culture. Atlanta-area cosplayers use the con to show off their best work, like Volpin’s insane Big Daddy costume from Bioshock. This year, the costumes ranged from the delightful to the despicable. I headed downtown on Sunday to take a look at some of the costumes of Dragon Con.
My boyfriend and I got in on the cosplay action, too. We decided to do something comfy and cheap this year and did the h3h3 Summer Look. We had a surprising number of people yell out memes from the youtube channel at us and were repeatedly stopped for pictures. One thing about Dragon Con is that you never know which costumes are going to really get a reaction out of people. (To date, our most “successful” costume was the Repo Man from Repo! The Genetic Opera.) I had more people appreciate this costume than ones I spent 60+ hours of time sewing on. C’est la vie.
The Young, the Old, and the Crass
A young girl had one of the most impressive costumes on Sunday. Dressed as Charlize Theron’s witch queen from Snow White and the Huntsman, she looked absolutely stunning. Photos can’t do the costume justice. The details were incredible, and the girl really had the part down, carrying herself like a queen. It was impressive, and she’s a young cosplayer to watch.
One of my favorite costumes this year was an elderly woman dressed as Olenna Tyrell. Her wheelchair was turned into the Iron Throne and she even had an assistant in costume. As the Queen of Thorns, she looked perfect. It was a great example of a costume that fit the cosplayer. Anyone can cosplay, and seeing an old lady in a wheelchair rock it this hard was great.
It was no surprise that there were several Deadpool‘s running around after the successful movie this year. Thankfully, each Deadpool tried to have their own spin on the Merc with the Mouth. This guy had a sign that told everyone what he thought Dragon Con was about.
Couples in Costume
Cosplaying in a group or in pairs is always a blast. Some couples choose to wear costumes from the same franchise, while others mix it up a bit like this Daenerys Targaryen and Captain America. Even if the costumes don’t go together, it’s fun to see how people react.
This couple rocked it as what was most likely warriors from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They had great poses planned and were instantly ready for a photo op despite being in the middle of drinking booze. The details in their costumes and props were incredible. Additionally, they were wearing fur and leather in the Atlanta heat so deserve awards for that alone.
This duo dressed up as a Doctor Who-steampunk mix. One of the neat things about Dragon Con costumes is that they’re not from any one pop culture entity. People will come up with costumes as random as can be, and that’s a good thing. The spirit of creativity is alive and well in the cosplay community.
This couple were dressed as Jawas, complete with glowing eyes and stolen droids. It’s a good thing they’re a desert people because those costumes had to be brutally hot to wear.
And Everyone Else
Just as people will wear Dragon Con costumes straight out of their imaginations, they will also come up with costumes from an incredible variety of media. This woman dressed as the Landlady from Kung Fu Hustle. She really looked the part, complete with crying baby attached to her leg.
This guy dressed up as the Jason Todd Robin, dead at the hands of the Joker. He didn’t just pose like this for the photo but was sitting in this position for anyone who walked by to see. There’s a weird level of dedication that goes into some costumes. Sometimes, the person’s behavior outshines even their costume-making handiwork.
Sometimes friends wearing costumes to Dragon Con end up in some really bizarre pairings. These buddies dressed as Jareth from Labyrinth and Ash from Army of Darkness were definitely a pair to draw to.