Cosplay Spotlight Roxanna Meta

Roxanna Meta is one of my favorite cosplayers. Her beautifully detailed costumes are stellar and her craftmanship is first class. In addition to being a very talented costumer, Roxanna is also one of the nicest people I have encountered on the interwebs. Roxanna took some time to talk to the Confessions of a Cosplay Girl Blog about her craft, dealing with trolls, and what she has in store for 2014.




 Victoria: How many costumes have you created?

 Roxanna: I just now counted seventeen made since about 2004; I actually dont make very many costumes each year.

Victoria: What is your favorite part of costuming?

Roxanna: Wigs! I never accept "just okay" on a wig. Hairstyle is a huge part of accuracy, especially when mimicking a live-action character, and I think a lot of people neglect it or dont know how to approach it. But of course my true favorite part is wearing the costume, feeling sexyfine and proud of my work - does that count?

Victoria: Yes, that count! What is your favorite convention to attend?

Roxanna: At the moment, Dragon Con. It used to be WonderCon, but then WonderCon moved; it used to be San Diego Comic Con, but then Comic Con became overwhelming and impersonal. Now Ive found that Dragon Con best embraces the social aspect of cosplay that I love so much.

Victoria: How did you learn how to sew and create armor?

Roxanna: Books, skilled friends, and online tutorials. I started my cosplay career by buying pieces and modifying them. So back when I could only sew a straight line, I would pick costumes where I had minimal sewing to do, and the rest could be constructed with purchases and my other craft skills like painting. But Ive made sure over the years that each project includes new tasks that Ive never done but Im pretty sure I can figure out, and so Ive built my abilities up step by step and now I can say "psshh yeah, I know some stuff!"

Victoria: Do you accept commissions?

Roxanna: Not at the moment, although I will always listen to a proposal in case it blows my mind. I used to do commissions, but found that I have trouble motivating to work them into my schedule; its best that I just dont do that anymore. I do, however, have an online shop where I sell pieces of my choosing, and thats at http://hausofm.storenvy.com

Victoria: Do you think that the world of cosplay has changed now that its become mainstream?

Roxanna: Well, Im not convinced that mainstream is the right word to use - were still a fringe group! But yes, I think a lot has changed since I started, some for the worse and some for the better. Im looking forward to seeing what develops in another five or ten years. In some ways, I hope cosplays popularity dies down a bit, so participants dont feel like they have to hustle for attention in the crowd (and lets be honest, we all love attention!).

Victoria: What advice would you give to female costumers who have to deal with trolls on the internet? 

Roxanna: Hoo boy. Follow your gut. I dont think theres any right way to handle online trouble, or any wrong way. With straight-up trolls, of course, the common wisdom is that the best way is to ignore them (I would amend that to say "and block their asses whenever possible"). In the case of critics and body-shamers, though, theyre not trolling so much as feeling like its important and okay for them to share their opinions on everything all the time. Some women choose to treat those people like trolls and ignore and/or block them, which is valid. I personally only feel right if I call them out whenever and wherever I see them voicing hurtful opinions. Ive gotten into arguments this way, but Ive also made people reconsider their attitudes. Thats enough reward for me to continue calling people out in a way that I feel retains my dignity. This method works best for me.

Victoria: What projects do you have in store for 2014?

Roxanna: I try not to plan too many projects ahead of time, and instead I go with the flow of what feels like fun right now. Plus, I am ALWAYS taking time to make improvements on previously worn costumes before each convention or appearance - I seriously dont consider any of them "finished." That said, my current pet project is, like many other women right now, Elsas ice gown from Frozen. Weve got a great big Facebook group going and were all sharing tips and progress, and its so much glittery fun! This project will take me a long time, though, I have a feeling. Its pretty ambitious for me and Im not the kind of person who marathons sewing unless I have to, so I work slowly, bit by bit.

Victoria: Where can people contact you and view a port of your work?

Roxanna: My Facebook page is Haus of Meta, and I do post there regularly (although of course Facebook is terrible and limits how much of your content people see on their walls; so its not ideal, but thats the current most popular option so Im rolling with it). Im also on Tumblr, and although I post a lot of different content there daily, my homepage at http://roxannameta.tumblr.com has an option to click on "Photos of Me," and youll see all my posts that show my work!

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Latinas Cant Cosplay!

When I discovered the hobby of costuming back in 2006 and made the decision to try it, I was incredibly excited and told all of those closest to me. I had been reading comic books since I was 11 years old and was watching television shows like the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman series and the Superfriends. As I grew older I not only began collecting comics, but toys as well and watched super hero themed films religiously (mostly Superman I & II and Batman Returns. We had limited comic movies back then). When I reached my teen years, I began writing fan fiction and drawing fan art. Now that I was an adult, cosplay seemed like the natural next step in expressing my fandom. Surprisingly enough, one of my closest friends (at the time) flat out said something rather shocking; I couldnt cosplay because I had tan skin. Thats not something you expect to hear from one of your best friends and I was literally stunned to hear such a racist remark. But it turns out, he wasnt alone. Several people were telling me that I could not cosplay because I was a Latina.

Racism is nothing new and neither is hatred. I, like many, have dealt with both my whole life. Although things are better now than they were when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s (yes, Im that old) it still  exists. People judge you based on the color of your skin before you even open your mouth and speak. They hate on you, treat you bad, bully you, threaten you and try to do everything in their power to make you feel inferior. Nobody deserves to  be treated like that and I definitely did not deserve to be told that I wasnt allowed to express myself because of the color of my skin. I had a very rough time deciding what my first cosplay character would be because according to my friend, I could only dress as characters whose skin tone I matched. I had to stay away from the pale skin ones. I decided to push the prejudice aside and put together my first costume; Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. I wore it to a local con and upon seeing me, my "friend" said:


"Oh nice. You do look like Aerith. Except with tan skin." Needless to say, the friendship did not last due to this and many other reasons.

Apparently my skin color was a huge deal to him and it didnt stop there. Upon finding a photo of me on Flickr from the con, someone left a comment saying that the colors of my outfit clashed horribly with my skin tone and I should have never dressed that way. Only white people should dress as Aerith. On a video game forum, someone said my Aerith looked "dirty" because of my skin color. The moderator refused to take the comment down upon my request ( it was Game F.A.Q.s) Over the years I have read many hateful comments.  One person said  that I  did not deserve to wear Supergirls S crest because I was a "Sue Storm ruining Jessica Alba looking chick" (actress Jessica Alba is half Mexican and a proud Latina). My boyfriend actually stumbled upon a photo of my Catwoman posted on a message board and was enraged when he read the following statement: "She would be a good Catwoman if she were white." A MEME was made of me and several other cosplayers saying that all Latinas fail at dressing as Hatsune Miku.

Im going to be completely honest and human and say that it did get to me. The negativity and racism gave me moments of weakness and I wanted to give up. Every hero, every princess has that chapter in their story where they want to walk away but in the end, they pick themselves up and keep moving forward. Thats what I did. I wasnt going to allow racists cowards who hid behind their computers dictate what I should and should not do, who I should and should not dress as. The color of my skin is not a "problem". It is not a disability. I have every right to costume just as much as anyone else no matter their age, race, gender, religion or weight. And I costume for one person only; myself. This is about my self expression and my creativity.

It literally makes me laugh and shake my head when I think that people have told me that Latinas Cant Cosplay. Heres a big, fat middle finger to all the racists. Dont let anyone ever tell you, you cant cosplay  because of the color of your skin and know that even though we may not know each other or ever meet, you have my full support. This Latina proved that you can become whatever character you want to be.

                                    

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