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[tekkaman_01]

I have never entered a cosplay runway competition before, and I think I might want to at the next con I am going to. My question is, to all the people who compete, do you wear your costume the day of the competition, or do you wait until the "green room" when everyone gets ready to go onto stage? Also if it is a new costume versus one that you have worn in the past, would you do things differently? How many people here try to "hide" their coplay as long as possible until the competition?

[Yet Another]

I'm curious to see how people feel about this; I'm entering my Pikachu and really want to wear it that day, since we won't be at the hotel much.

[touchmon]

Well I do hall costume so it is a bit different, but I wear mine all day. I am just extra careful that nothing gets messed up or ruined.

[Smoong]

I only wear my contest cosplay right before it's time to get ready for rehearsal. I don't like to wear it before the contest because I like the surprise factor when I step out on to the stage. ^^ It's different for everybody...I've seen people wear their contest stuff all 3 days of the con and it still looks just as awesome on Sunday as it did on Friday. Just depends on what you feel like doing. If you think your costume rocks, wear it all 3 days!

[ShiNo_Usagi]

Most contests I've been in require you to be in your costume for per-judging in the morning and the walk-on isn't until the late noon/early evening. I will wear my costume all day and sometimes even the day before to work out any kinks there may still be. I find it too much of a hassle to get into costume for per-judging, change out of it just to change back into it a couple of hours later, plus I like to roam around the convention in my costume for photos, and to see friends while in costume.
If you're entering a contest where there is no per-judging and you're costume is particularly delicate or uncomfortable or you even just want to keep it a surprise until you're on stage, I see no issue with getting dressed before going on, just make sure you've done a test run in your costume so nothing goes wrong on stage =) I do know that some people may look at this sort of situation negatively, due to you popping up in costume just for the contest, some people look at it as Elitism, even when that's not the case, just because you haven't made yourself present throughout the day in your costume (I was only just informed of this issue a couple of months ago during a costume contest). So make sure to be friendly, social and, courteous!

Good Luck!

[CapsuleCorp]

I love the element of surprise. I will never wear a competition piece - that I created specifically to be competed, shown on stage - in the halls before a masquerade. Which is also why I really dislike any competition that holds all-day judging for which you have to be in the costume, because it means either getting into it, then out of it, then into it again, or ruining the surprise.

But then, my competition pieces are not really appropriate to be worn as hall costumes anyway. They're too big, too cumbersome, too hot, take too long to do the makeup, etc. It's not worth the hassle to wear them in the halls anyway, at least not until after the competition is over, the awards have been won, and I can re-engineer it or rethink it to make it more comfortable for the halls. The bigger and flashier the costume is, the harder it is to just wear in the halls for fun.

[tekkaman_01]

I like the idea of the "surprise" factor, but the runway isn't until late at night, and I have 2 other cosplays planned for the other days, so if I wait I will only be wearing it for a few hours, and not that it is anything special, but if I wear it all day the "surprise" is gone. dilemmas dilemmas.

[DarkCloudInc]

Since I don't feel like competing in masquerades, I compete in something that's probably a little scarier due to the leniency of the rules, costume contests. Though for the last costume contest, my costume was still able to maintain it's wow factor despite having worn it all day which is the wings.

I wear costumes really that suit stage than the competition.

[kyokyogirl]

I compete but I don't save costumes for the competition; or make costumes specifically for the competition. I just tend to pick one I'm really pleased with and enter it, and wear it that whole day.

[Sarcasm-hime]

Do keep in mind that while it's important to work out any kinks before taking it onstage, the longer you wear a costume, the more chance there is that it might get messed up. Wigs, especially, will start to look mussed after hours of wear. If it's a complex costume and/or you want to make sure you look perfect onstage, it might be a good idea to test out the costume at home and then put it on only when necessary for the competition.

I agree with CapsuleCorp in that many really big and/or bulky costumes are not really very well suited for wearing all day and are best for stage. I'd say the same goes for really long wigs.

Of course at the end of the day it's all up to personal preference!

[Mariks_Dragon]

You need to be wearing your costume only on the day of the contest. With Comic Con if your caught wearing your costume any other day but the contest day your disqualified. Make sure you read the rules.

[Moonmisery]

Surprise is nice, but in my case I have to take an hour long train to and from conventions that I go to, so I usually wear my costumes to the convention. The one plush side to wearing your costume out of the competition is that you can get pictures, and sometimes photographers will request a photo shoot. To be honest, its really all about preference. In my case, for Fan Expo this year I want to wear my Raven (DC Comics) costume all throughout Saturday (day of competition) because I know there are lots of fans of the character. Anyways, hope this helps.

[tereshkova2001]

Many cons I've been at require you to keep your costume secret until the competition.
If that's not a rule, I'll decide based on complexity. Dresses with long trains are just not hall costumes, so I change right before the show. Outfits that are easier to wear might be my daytime costume as well as my masquerade entry. For my next con, I'm wearing a casual version of the character all day and changing into the fancy armored version for the show.

[lunaladyoflight]

I always try to schedule pre-judging appointments as close to the green room time as possible, and then I schedule my photo shoots in there as well so I can knock everything out within 6 hours or so. Most of my competition costumes are very involved and a pain to wear for extended periods of time.

[Adnarim]

I tend to wear a lot of cosplays that deal with intense face/body make-up or prosthetics, I try to wear my cosplay shortly before I have to go into judging. I'm just trying to avoid getting anything smeared or rubbed off by extensively wearing it prior to the contest.
However, there have been times that I will wear something hours prior to the contest because it allows for the social aspect of cosplay that I enjoy.

Really, it depends on if you want to wear it out and I'm all for it or if you feel like you need to make it a surprise or fear that something might go wrong.
It's up to you! Just have fun with it!