Fancy cosplay costumes generally don't come easy and all the make-up, wigs, accessories are naturally going to cost. A lot. But with help of lots of imagination and little bit of hard work (in the same order), cosplay influencer Anucha Cha Saengchart is turning the tide on how inexpensive can cosplay as a hobby be.
A Thai cosplay artist, Saengchart is a bit of a social media sensation and boasts of more than 700k followers for his low-cost, do-it-yourself inspiration and ideas on costume play.
Of the three major components in any cosplay; make-up, wigs, and accessories, Saengchart resorts to any object in the household to do the transformation. Be it a bag of classic salted potato chips that turns into a wig inspired by Donald Trump's hairdo, or tyre around the waist that's intended to look like a donut. Wildly popular posts, funny but just as creative.
Saengchart even boasts of his fan club page, who mostly reproduce his ideas comprising household items. His Facebook page again has a solid 2.77 million followers.
So, what exactly is cosplay?
Cosplay today is more than an ice breaker or a conversation starter. Literally put, cosplay is performance art and the practice of dressing up in a costume inspired by some character in a film, cartoon, book or video game. People who follow the practice regularly are called cosplayers.
Cosplay is trending more than ever, while the cosplay community keeps growing by the day. Pop culture conventions like comic-con, video-game cons welcome cosplayers with open arms. In Australia events like Oz Comic-Con allow cosplayers get to participate in competitions.
Criticism and appreciation alike
There is no denying the negativity coming the way of the cosplayers' community as a whole. Negative comments on social media, harsh criticism received by cosplayers is a rampant phenomenon now. However, a number of studies and surveys have emphasized the role of cosplay in promoting body positivity, feeling confident and better about themselves. From a nice community comprising passionate cosplayers, the tribe is growing and thereby also starting to become extremely competitive and commercial.
Check out some of Saengchart's work below and there's a lot more where it comes from on his official Instagram page.
