The Dynamic Dara DeFreitas Cosplay
Canada is becoming a hot spot for geek culture. There are many great conventions that happen, which turns Canada into an abundance of cosplay riches. The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo just wrapped up last weekend. They broke their all time attendance record with over 97,000 attendees. One of those attendees, and native Calgarian, is a veteran of the Calgary Fan Expo and cosplay, Dara DeFreitas.
We got to sit down with Dara and ask her about cosplay, costume design, and the state of geek culture.
Thanks for doing this, Dara. To give a quick intro for everyone, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Dara DeFreitas. I just recently graduated from Mt. Royal University in Communications, so I’m real excited about that. I work at Bikram Yoga in Calgary, it’s awesome. I’ve been there for nearly four years. My real passion, though, is geek culture, mainly cosplay.
What got you into cosplay?
My first ever “real cosplay”? Oh, it was at the second ever Calgary C&E Expo, back when it was a dinky one room convention. My friend was playing Warhammer Online, and she really liked this character, a high elf. She didn’t want to dress up alone, so she convinced me to go with her. I’m really into the bad asses, so the witch elf drew me in.
I didn’t know it was called cosplay at the time. We took the time to google the armour, and put a lot of work. It was interesting and scary. I wasn’t used to that kind of attention before, but I loved the idea of making a costume. I was hooked, I had to take it one step further.
Who inspires you in real life, and which characters/genres inspire you?
I really enjoy female characters who are powerful, hence the She-Hulk role. I love the badasses. I also don’t mind gender bending male characters into female costumes. We just recently did the Punk Rock Sailor Moon cosplay, for C & E Expo.
Everyone has done Sailor Moon before, but we wanted to toughen it up a bit. I love adding interesting genres to characters. We have a plan for 2015, we’re going to take Disney princes/princesses and villains, then put them all in battle gear. Adding something to a known theme is something I love.
As for people, my biggest inspiration, who is never a let down, is Kamui. She just goes above and beyond in making her costumes. There’s so much detail in everything that she does. She does so much armour, it’s why I’m always doing armoured cosplay, I’m terrible at sewing. Every time I go onto her page, all of her costumes, I just immediately and want to go cosplay or work on a costume right away. I’ll just go onto her page, and it gives me hope that I can do this. It’s beautiful and amazing, she’s absolutely wonderful.
How difficult is it to manage the costs of cosplay?
It’s tough, especially with being a former student. All my money would go into cosplay. I wouldn’t buy normal clothes for myself, it would all go into cosplay. I don’t think I’ve bought new clothes for myself in years. A lot if it is worbla. It’s such a great material, it’s so versatile. I work with EVA foam as well, but it’s not as good as worbla.
However, there are ways to cosplay on a budget, and there are tutorials out there to help you. I’ve been looking into different ways to make money, like selling prints, because I want to put that much more effort into building amazing costumes.
Where do you think cosplay is going? What trends do you see happening?
I’ve been to a lot of cons, it’s not just cosplay, it’s geek culture in general that’s exploding. Each year, more and more people are dressing up, and it can be anything. It can be the most unknown character or the most popular. They don’t care what the reception is going to be. They just wear it, because they love it.
I see more of my friends getting into cosplay. My boyfriend is getting into cosplay, which I never thought I’d see.
It’s growing, and for the better. There’s always going to be some dark part of the culture, where someone says that person is too fat or too short. I’ve got my fair share of that, but that’s part of it sometimes. Calgary was great with the Cosplay is not Consent. They were awesome with that this year. It was welcomed, and a great change.
Have you ever experienced any of the negative aspects of cosplay?
I have, but the good experiences far out weigh the bad ones. The worst came from my Magic The Gathering cosplay of Chandra. It was stupid. I didn’t have enough time to finish the chain mail she normally wears. So, I had my stomach showing. Some people were saying I was doing it for attention, when the truth is, I just ran out of time and couldn’t finish. But, I also get a lot of positive feedback that balances out the jerks.
If you had no problems with resources or time, who would you cosplay right now?
Oh, there’s a couple. I would redo my Demon Hunter costume. There’s so much on that I’d like to remake. It was rushed the first time I did it, so I would take the time to make it super badass. I would also do a wizard from Diablo III as well. There’s so much fabric and detail on that design. I’m working on a female Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. It needs a ton of worbla, because it’s just all armour. I’m working on that for Dragon Con, so I have to bring my A-game for that. That’s the mecca for any cosplayer.
What advice would you give to new cosplayers or people who are looking for a place to start?
Google is your friend. If you’re thinking about a costume, it has probably been done. There are pictures out there, find them and study them. Don’t start off too big, get a handle of what you’re doing. Maybe, don’t start off with a Bumblebee costume; It may turn out really well, but try and start off small.
Cosplay on a budget is a great Google tool. Kamui has great guides that have helped me out a ton. If I’m stuck on something, I reference those guides. Oh, and Bill Doran from Punished Props, he has a prop making guide that is noob friendly.
I am not an artist at all, but it’s such a fun hobby. I never thought I’d get into something like this, but I did, anyone can do it.
How do you act in costume? Do you stay in character, or are you just wearing a costume?
I’m not super comfortable being in character all the time. I like to talk to people as myself, but when I’m asked to do photos, I commit 100% to that moment. There was a guy at the Montreal Comic Con last year, who was in an Ace Ventura cosplay. He stayed in character the entire time, it was an amazing commitment.
What last piece of advice do you have for anyone in cosplay?
Just own it, be confident. Don’t let negative comments bring you down. For every negative comment you get, you’ll get a thousand positives. The sky is the limit. Don’t look at a costume and say you can’t do it, because you can do it.
Have fun, that’s the most important one.
It’s easy to get caught up in other people’s cosplay, and start comparing them to yours. Don’t get caught up in that. Use them as inspiration and strive for the best.
It’s cosplay, have fun. There’s an amazing community of people out there who are eager and willing to help you.
You can check out more of Dara’s work in the links below:
Facebook: Dara DeFreitas Cosplay
Twitter: @FemmeFatale23
Instagram: DaraDef
Hey Jonnny, as a lover, and I assume someone who respects the art of photography, did you consider crediting the above photographs to the artists? These photographers also love their work and would, I assume, appreciate being recognized for their considerable talent.
my bad, they are all credited except the top banner photo.
Yes, my apologies. The photo was sent uncredited. I have received the proper information and we are adding the information as we speak.