In 2006, Lindsay Platoshyn (@quiksilvababe and http://twitch.tv/quiksilvababe) saw a commercial for Dragon Con in Atlanta and immediately knew it was a community she needed to be part of. “I was blown away seeing all these colorful costumed people come together,” she recalled. “I was immediately sold for life on the culture of costuming and conventions.”
When it came time to choose her early cosplays, Platoshyn was immediately drawn to characters that represented an amalgamation of her interests—evil characters, non-mainstream characters, throwback characters, nostalgic characters, underdog characters, sexy characters. Some of her early cosplays included Klarion the Witch Boy from DC Comics and Barb Wire, the title character played by Pamela Anderson Lee in the 1996 science fiction/action film.
While some cosplayers dismiss the attention they receive while pursuing their hobby, Platoshyn unabashedly embraces the limelight, and group cosplays tend to garner a lot of attention, particularly when the group in question is as large and colorful as the McVengers. So when Platoshyn first saw a terrifying clown at San Francisco Comic Con in 2016, she immediately made a beeline toward the cosplayer. Platoshyn doesn't like clowns, fast food or cosplay mashups but none of those facts prevented her from befriending Brandon Isaacson, the founder of the McVengers.
“Mashups confuse me,” Platoshyn admitted, explaining her dislike. “I never know if it's someone's original artwork, their own interpretation or another planet/alternative universe-type character so then I feel dumb for not knowing. I really enjoy staying as true to a character as I can be, but that's just my costuming style. I just do not do mashups, not my cup of tea. But when all my best friends are involved in a mashup group, how does one say no? I had to.”
From there, it was just a matter of time until Platoshyn joined their noble and mouthwatering ranks. It wasn't difficult for her to choose the fast food/Avenger mashup that best fit her personality and interests.
“I grew up loving Krispy Kreme. It was our rare family treat to go there and was even better when the ‘Hot Now' sign was on,” she explained. “Scarlet Witch is rad and it just made sense to mash those together when our cosplay group was brainstorming new characters.”
Platoshyn began the process of developing the Krispy Kreme Witch by sketching concepts in her notebook, attempting to meld Krispy Kreme and Scarlet Witch's equally bold colors without producing a cartoon-y result. She relied on Photoshop to test various combinations of red, green and white. Complicating matters was the fact that Krispy Kreme is one of the rare fast food brands that doesn't have a mascot, making it even more imperative that the Krispy Kreme half of the mashup read clearly to viewers.
Making a purse was high on Platoshyn's list of priorities for the character so she used a Krispy Kreme box to fashion the accessory. Because budget is always a priority for Platoshyn's cosplays she relied on her usual fabric shops where she knew she could purchase inexpensive materials, and used an existing jacket pattern to create a lined Scarlet Witch jacket. She sewed a leotard. The headpiece initially took a single day of work but the paint refused to cure properly resulting in red splotches on her face so she wound up redoing the paint until the end result matched her expectations.
The Scarlet Witch's psionic energy circles translated beautifully into donuts which Platoshyn fashioned from felt, tulle and poly-fil. She finished the project by sewing a cell phone compartment into one of the donuts. “I always try to make my accessories or costume pieces functional and sneaky,” she said. “The donuts are actually a huge hit with kids. Oftentimes I let them hold them in the photos I take with children. It makes my heart warm seeing their eyes light up and getting to hold a donut as big as their head.”
Krispy Kreme Witch made her McVengers debut at SacAnime in the winter of 2017 but the debut was just the beginning. “We are all local cosplayers in our own cosplay groups where each of us has our unique ability to create crafty items. Some of us are best at sewing, some at LEDs and wire work, some at weathering. It's so wonderful how well we all mesh together. We feed off each other's energy,” Platoshyn enthused.
Having more than a decade of cosplay experience has some undeniable advantages. Platoshyn's skills include embroidery, working with fabric and foam, 3D printing, molding, working with clay, weathering and painting. In the past decade, Platoshyn's become increasingly focused on the small details, striving for perfection in every new cosplay with the help of her Bernina sewing machine and 3D printer. Especially when it comes to sewing, fewer details and embellishments make mistakes more noticeable.
“Bringing a character to life from head to toe, every little detail counts,” Platoshyn insisted. “Every. Detail. The more details you find and incorporate, the more people will react and love it. Trust me on this. Don't skimp on the detail work! It always pays off.”
And after more than a decade, Platoshyn still has her list of dream cosplays, which currently includes Barbarella, Dracula and Mina Harker. In fact, she's already got a garage filled with red fabric that would be perfect for the latter's dress but the thing she doesn't have is infinite time to devote to every character she dreams of cosplaying. Another thing that's severely lacking after so many years of cosplaying is space. Platoshyn estimates that she creates between four and five new cosplays a year, and she's now considering selling some of her costumes to make room for new cosplays but space will always be an issue to some extent. When attending out-of-town conventions that require air travel, for example, space limitations force Platoshyn to be very selective about which costumes to bring—a stressful dilemma for any cosplayer.
But the benefit of years of experience is that Platoshyn is learning to make the most of everything—time, space, money. An exceedingly popular pastime among cosplayers is procrastinating on a costume, resulting in con crunch—a frantic race to finish a costume in time for the next convention. Platoshyn's not a fan of this approach.
“I avidly stand against it because when you rush things you sacrifice quality and, in most cases, accuracy. Taking your time on a costume with no close deadline ensures you have more time to think, take it nice and easy. This also gives you opportunity to practice methods before diving into the actual costume and possibly ruining said costume. Lots of mistakes are made when rushing work. Don't start costumes the week of a convention and certainly don't spend time painting, sewing, etc. in your hotel room at the convention.”
Lindsay's Advice to First-Time Cosplayers
"Google. Everything you could want to learn is all out there now with the internet. YouTube is HUGE for watching tutorials. There's so many forums and Facebook pages that are directly tied to characters/games/movie cosplays that you can study your heart out and ask questions to fellow costumers. Just please don't be lazy and directly ask a cosplayer, 'How did you make all that?' That's such an insane loaded question that no one person has time to directly answer unless you're writing a book on costuming.
"Be sincere when asking. Don't ask bluntly on an Instagram post. Some cosplayers will reveal their knowledge and how they made things to people, some people will not and either response needs to be respected. Some costumers spend countless hours researching for their costume, they are in no way obligated to tell you in one sentence how they made something when it took them 10 hours to find that answer.
"Most importantly, during the research process of finding out how to make something, you discover so much and it's such a huge learning experience. I've learned so many things from all the mistakes I've done. As it's always said, cosplay is essentially trial and error, set on repeat. Keep searching! Have a curious mind, try different methods. Just because that one method worked for someone else doesn't mean that's the only way. You do you if it works for you."