Uh... Nope. I got shit to do, yeah, but I'm also studying to do this kind of stuff for a living so it's not like I'm planning on leaving the field any time soon.

whit more problems, less time, still i dont wana leave never to be a cosplayer.

Not quitting just yet, but definitely slowing down.

The older I am, the older the characters I cosplay are.

Pretty simple.

It's just getting more and more intense. But I am only 19.

So.... you all want to cosplay your whole lives?

>>2364939

"So.... you all want to cosplay your whole lives?"

Isn't that what Yaya is doing?

>>2364939
Actually, once I get a job in my field in 2 or so years, I'll never be able to go to another convention again. I want to get as many in as possible while I can.

After making the skirt on my Bad Girl costume and wearing it around, I'm pretty burnt out of making "hard" stuff. I'm just going as a RED soldier next fanime, otakon, and SDCC.

>>2364956
Yeah, and you all think she's sad for it, so back to the question...

I may eventually stop wanting to make new costumes at the same rate I do now, but that's because these day's I'd rather take pictures than sew.

In the future, only when I'm really inspired I suppose.

I'm definitely already cutting out some cons. I can't travel as much as I could back in university. So that means i'll drop the number of new costumes per con, as well as the number of cons i go to. I'm bound to settle in eventually with just photography.

I'd hope most people outgrow the hobby by the time they hit their mid 20s.

I'm getting tired of the drama, and of my friends constantly trying to out do each other. Or be more popular. I miss the days when I wore a costume, had a blast with other friends who wore costumes, and called it a day. Now it's all "Oh, I can't go to panels or artist alley, I'm too busy getting photos taken and/or sucking up to the people who run the con.
Maybe I just need new friends.

>>2365008

Some of the best cosplayers I know are past their mid-20s.

That being said, I definitely don't see myself cosplaying well in to my twenties. I grew out of cosplay once (when I was 15) but I never really "grew out" of wanting to get/wear items exactly like other characters do. I still collect brands that characters wore in Dr. Who and Firefly just to wear around, because if I'm going to spend money on clothes, it might as well be clothes that are a subtle shout out to shit I like.

I noticed that I just drop out of the "convention age". A lot of the people there goes totally crazy, crows the hole day, jumps around and yeah... act like teenagers on a convention?
Some years ago I went to a convention just to see some friends, have fun and spend a lot of money there. Today I only want to show my cosplay and have a nice weekend. It's just one of many great weekends in a year, no longer THE weekend.
So my hobby is only one of many hobbies I have and I think, I will stop with it on one day. Maybe because I will have no longer enough money, time or desire for it. Sure, it would be great, if I have so much fun with it in the age of 40. But I think, it's really hard to have fun on a convention in this stage of my life. And sure there will be much more important things than cosplay...

>>2365032 Dr. Who and Firefly

Hello new friend.

I started at age 18 when most cosplayers were around 18 back in the late 90's. I did it for around 3 years and then made nothing new for a couple years and then felt like coming back to it around age 24. By that time I was staff, wondering what these crazy 14 yr olds were doing.
I pretty much don't cosplay anime much at all anymore. Graduated to historical stuff, comics, a couple games, and TV shows like Firefly and Farscape. Also graduated to Dragoncon and Megacon. The only anime cons I can bother to get to is the one I am staff at and one that is down the street.

I like the process of creation of a garment. That's something I don't think I'll ever outgrow.

>>2365032
Yes, some of them. A minority of the best of the best. That does not mean the majority of cosplayers should continue beyond their mid 20s. At some point you need to grow up.

I'm just about done with anime cosplay except for a couple older characters. But there's still a whole wide world of awesome things to cosplay when getting away from the weaboo crowd and interests. And I'm also kind of done with planning groups and shoots. It can just be way too much crap to deal with and I'm tired of putting the energy into it.

not stopping till i recreate this box gundam decently.

Actually thinking about quitting cosplay every day. But it's not that easy because I love it.

I think it's funny people saying "stop after a certain age and grow up" because what is really so terribly immature about the hobby? It's all in your behavior. If you have the money to make costumes and go to cons, it's no worse than any other hobby. Some people spend tons of money every year going to football games and painting their chests or following their favorite band around the country. Cosplay is no better or worse than any other hobby and people can enjoy it for however long they want.

>>2365273
THIS! If you love cosplay, then why stop doing it. Then you can show those kids how it's done!

I do. I feel it's hard to enjoy cosplay and conventions anymore when the conventions I choose to attend have way more to do with the kinds of people who attend them than the actual subject of the convention. I.E. I go to a lot more comic conventions lately with my boyfriend, and find myself a lot happier, than when I went to animu or gaming conventions with friends that were always full of drama.

me. no money, miserable life, not much into anime (but more into movies now) I can't believe this is actually happening to me.

I'm in my mid-twenties, but no way am I giving up cosplaying any time soon. No one knows who I am, so I don't have to deal with any drama. I enjoy cons, I enjoy cosplay, why the hell should I stop just because society thinks I should "grow up"?

My mom still cosplays... she is 61, so you know.
if that means anything to you people.

>>2365604
what do you mean 'You people'?

>>2365604

My mother is 51 and she still cosplays once a year every year when she drags herself along to one of the conventions I go to annually. So yes, it counts.

>>2365640
What do YOU mean, "you people"?

I'm in my mid twenties, and I don't feel like growing out of cosplay, but sometimes I do feel like quitting. It is partly my own fault for choosing unknown characters and feeling a little lonely because of that. Where I live doesn't help, as I'm the oldest serious cosplayer around, and I don't have much in common with the people closest to my age (totally different tastes in anime).

my friends are all below 21, but some of them have been feeling "to old for con's and cosplay"
I try to tell them that college age is appropriate age for such, but they don't listen.

When I get REALLY old I'll just do Warhammer characters.

There are still some people whose have a life (job, money, family, and friends) but they still cosplay when they have some free time others do it as a hobby on the side.

Cosplay is just a fun hobby. That's all it is.

People do grow up. They get jobs, start families and lead lives of their own. But if they have time for a hobby once in a while, then who is to say that's wrong?

I do believe that it gets rather frightening when cosplay starts to run your life, though. Like when people don't pay rent because they spent money on fabric or pawned their car to go to a convention . . . then that is sad.

I'm twenty-two right now. I started when I was eighteen and probably do one or two cosplays a year. While I don't move at a particularly fast pace as I really like to get into character acting and emulating the mannerisms of the characters I pick, I've felt no love loss or urge to slow down.

Cosplaying is one of my major hobbies, and cons are a social high for me. The carefree atmosphere of performing and goofing around wipes away whatever troubles I might have, and cons are honestly the only chance I have to act and be appreciated for this kind of work.
(Also, let me add that attending a con without cosplaying is worthless to me.)

I'm 24 and while I still really enjoy cosplaying, getting into the character, having fun with friends, etc. it just seems that con atmosphere has changed so much from when I was a teen. Everything's filled with drama, competition, etc. A lot of my friends gave up cons and cosplay because of this, too - so that's even less encouragement there.

So, I don't know. I'm considering quitting. I loved it when it was just a bunch of nerdy idiots who were AWARE that they were nerdy idiots running around and having fun and being thrilled to meet other people who shared the same interests. Now? The competition? The gossiping? The drama? Really, really puts me off.

I'm feeling burnt out at 21, but I still go to conventions to see some of those friends you only really get to hang out with a few times a year. I still love sewing, but so much of the drama and cattiness associated with the cosplay community is tiring.

For you people feeling old and out of place at cons once you are 21 just move on to comic and media conventions.
People are older, more mature, and have far more variety of costumes and are usually superior in execution.

You get the best of both worlds.

I'm 23 and barely even getting into it because I never bothered to learn to sew until now, and I never had the opportunity to go to cons as a teenager.

I figure I'll keep doing it until I get bored or find something else I like doing better.

I don't see why it would be a big deal either way.

I do find sci-fi and more general cons more fun than anime specific cons. I'm just not that crazy into anime and I see way more costumes I recognize that way. Plus, they usually don't care if you wear and anime costume there, but if you wear a sci fi or american comic costume to an anime con, some stupid person will inevitably give you shit.

eft, dude. I just like making stuff.

I've grown out of popular anime and cosplaying as extremely popular characters.

I find making harder costumes from obscure series that tend to be "mature manga for mature readers such as myself" to be just as rewarding as making something that'll get me a ton of unwanted attention from underage b&s. I still have the fun of crafting things, I get to wear stuff representing what i really love, anybody recognizing my obscure crap is a possible friend, and nobody really bothers me.

I'm also enjoying general media and comic cons more than anime cons, although the group who I attend anime cons with are fantastic and make even the stupidest stuff more worthwhile.

>>2366157
I've been thinking of doing this. I'm 21 and am getting incredibly sick of cons and cosplay, though I have this feeling it's because of the people I'm with and the cons I go to, where it's always more or less a feather fluffing contest.

I've been cosplaying for two years and constantly wonder what's it all about and consider giving it up.

Not because I don't enjoy it, but because I can't stand the bullshit.

The cosplay community I come from is relatively small, but there are a lot of cosplayers in it who are getting too big for their boots. Either because they think they're amazing cosplayers and believe they should win every award under the sun, and are better than everyone else. Or because they're trying to be the next Miyu.

I can't stand all the crap and drama and it really makes me want to jsut say fuck it, and chuck it all in. But I don't. I enjoy cosplay as a hobby and like sewing and being creative. I'm just trying to make the effort to ignore all the dramawhores.

>>2366287
...i'm so curious, what state are you from

your scene sounds the same as mine

Not quitting just yet thanks to my SO wanting to do stuff together, but I am def. slowing down, and have been for the past year. I only made 2 or 3 costumes for myself last year. A lot of it stems from my lack of wanting to get dressed up at cons, and a lot of it comes from concentrating on school to the point where cosplay is almost meaningless to. Sucks, but I'm not sad about it, I've had a pretty good 8 years.

>>2366685
I feel the same with this. Concentrating on school more makes cosplay look really not worth the while. And while I'm sad about leaving cosplay behind, I still think to myself, I had a good time.