!!!DISCLAMER BEFORE READING!!!: ~ I am not trying to say that there are no other countries like this nor to offend anyone that really is poor and can’t afford to cosplay. I am just giving you my honest thoughts on this topic and sharing my experiences. ~

~ Thank you for understaning! ~


I live in an East European country, on Balkan called Serbia. This is a poor country but, in general, it functions pretty well. The economy is quite fucked up and so is the system of value as well. So how is it to cosplay in a country like Serbia?
I must say a country like ours is hard to swallow if you don’t have a strong will to deal with everything that gets in your way. It is, however, a little better now and every day I see change bit by bit, but in the beginning it was and always is hard.



As a young 17 year old anime lover, when I heard about Japanizam I came to participate in a cosplay competition. Back then it was a small convention and I was happy to know some people that had the same interests as I do. But in this country cosplay is treated like, well, kind of cult. Seeing a person walking around in their cosplay is like some kind of demonic sin for people in Serbia. Many still think that we are some crazy lunatics and freaks when they see us. The cosplay community is growing day by day and, it is getting more and more popular, but it is still hard for people to swallow all the mean comments (like go back to China where you got the idea from, or you look like a freak), whispers behind backs, laughs and the ultimate glare of shame and dishonor. However there are always those people who are curious, ask about us and wish to know more which, is a great considering we are trying to popularize cosplay culture. Sakuraban is the main leader in popularizing cosplay culture and Japanese culture in general. There are now more communities that try to popularize other fandoms like epic fantasy or American comics.


With Ferasha as Poison Ivy and Endymion as Batman

As for the money wise, it isn’t easy. The country that has poor economy , has poor supply of many things we need, and so the cosplayers here have to rely on what we have. This may be a good and a bad thing. The bad thing is, if you are testing and trying out to craft or sew a costume with what you have, and it breaks or rips on stage (like my Noiz pants :'D), it might cost you that first prize. But it does give us more experience and makes us use our imagination. The way of figuring out how to put your costume together with pots, pans, paper or anything else that may catch your eye as a potential material for cosplay, also helps your brain. You work more and it trains it to think better and figure out problems faster. I must say I did see quite an improvement with my way of thinking after these 4 years of my constant cosplaying! Of course the factor of how much money you earn, or have, or take from your parents, also makes you limited with your options. Yes that does stand for anyone in general but you must be reminded that we don't have fancy worbla and that Eva foam isn't as cheap as it is in some other countries. The thing that did help and made cosplay easier however, is the fact that most recently internet shopping is available, and so better quality wigs and other accessories are now more approachable. Few years back, you couldn't find a decent unusual colored wig in a local China shop. You ether had to buy an extremely expensive wig and dye it with the hair dye, that might as well be expensive, figure it out how to make the wig pretty and how to extend it, or pray for God that the wig you bought at the local China store, won't be so shiny on stage. Yes internet purchases did help a lot but, finding sites that are trust worthy and are shipping to our country is hard, so there is still a limit to what you can get online.




In overall now being a cosplayer is Serbia is somewhat bearable, the market is a bit better, and internet purchase helps us out in a way. People are slowly accepting cosplay as a normal thing, and so it might not be as hard as it was before.

In this post there were pictures of
Ferasha: http://ferashacosplay.althemy.com