One of the ways I think of it is this: The people who rant about fat cosplayers are likely the kind of people who rant about “fat people” in general. You could choose not to wear a costume, but those jerks are probably going to be just as critical. So you might as well wear what you want to wear and have a good time. Why should you change your plans for a vocal group of jerks?
I always find this video humorous, it’s from SDCC in 2013 when Hugh Jackman was on the Days of Future’s Past panel. At 46:00 he talks about dressing up as wolverine at the con so he can walk around incognito. This is what he says:
“ “I got dressed up in my full Wolverine costume. Not one person stopped me,” said Jackman. “One guy goes, ‘Eh, not bad.’ And another one said, ‘Whoa. Way too tall buddy.’”
Literally the actor who played Wolverine, and he is getting criticism on the con floor because they don’t know it’s him. There are jerks out there who hate on cosplayers for just about everything, even when their costume is spectacular and they suit the body type. If there isn’t fat to be concerned about, someone out there will another complaint. It is just impossible to please everyone.
And that is why I advocate cosplaying for yourself and setting/reaching your own standards. Making a cosplay costume that you are happy with is an achievable goal. Wearing a costume that you are proud of is an achievable goal and you can keep raising those standards so that you can improve. Reaching difficult, but achievable, goals is a great way to challenge yourself, feel good about your accomplishments and see that you aren’t garbage
— because you’re not.
You might find blogs like Fuck Yeah Fat Cosplay, Fuck Yeah Chubby Fashion and Fuck Yeah Chubby Girls as sources of inspiration. You might feel more confident by cosplaying a character that is the same size as you or modifying the design to put less emphasis on areas you are insecure about. You might also want to take a break from certain cosplay communities if that is where you are seeing a lot of the negative comments.
I wish you all the best Anon!
