Photo by Aperture Ashley

This week the spotlight is on Jinxie, Texas based veteran cosplayer who also studied costume design. You may know her for her kick ass Ryuko from Kill La Kill.

How did you get involved in cosplay?

I first got involved in cosplay when I was 14. I honestly never wanted to learn how to sew until I stumbled across people dressing up as their favourite anime characters on web searches, so I wanted to try as well. My mother showed me the basics, the rest by lots of trial, and error. Seven years later I took sewing classes for my costume design degree which helped me learn a lot more.

What are your favourite costumes?

This is really tough to decide on, I do really love my Ryuko Matoi (Kill La Kill) cosplay. It’s surprisingly really comfortable to wear, just really difficult to get out of without any help. I try to cosplay characters that I really fall in love with in an anime. I tend to like stronger characters, or ones that grow into that.

Proudest achievement relating to cosplay?

I would say just having people who watch my work online then find me at conventions, and come up to me. I really like making new friends so I’m always up for meeting through cosplay.

Biggest challenge when making cosplay?

My biggest challenge would be just figuring out how I’m going to break down and construct a costume/prop that I have no idea what is going on with it. This happens mostly when there is a lack of reference photos for a character design.

Looking at your work your wigs are great! How did you style your Yugi wig?

My Yugi wig was styled pretty quick because I didn’t have much time, it was rather a rush for me. I was going to be cosplaying Yugi along side Malindachan’s Yami for a convention. Luckily, she put together her Yami wig tutorial a few days before so I followed her tutorial a bit, and just tweaked things on my end to make the wig lighter. When I work on wigs I try not to get over stressed by the overall design. I have learned to stop over thinking it, and just cut a little bit off at a time then try it on to make sure all the lengths are where I need them to be. It’s always good to start cutting longer rather then cutting to close to the wig, to avoid messing it up.

What are your favourite part about conventions?

I mainly go to cons to see friends, and cosplay. I don’t really go to panels, or enter contests anymore. I used to enter all the time, but it takes up too much time on Saturday, and for some cons even Friday. I don’t get to see some of my friends often because I moved away so I  would rather spend my whole convention cosplaying, and hanging out with them.

Photo by Immaculate Studios

What are your hobbies other than cosplay and conventions?

I have a figure collection that is getting out of hand. I started recently this year, and its pretty crazy right now. I’ve also got like 10 figures on my pre-order list… currently. It may go up.

Can you reveal your future cosplay plans?

Yes! My next convention is Anime Matsuri in Houston, TX. Right now my list is looking like Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon Crystal), Raven Prince Mytho (Princess Tutu), Shin (Nana), Esdeath (Akame ga Kill), and Killua (Hunter x Hunter). I also need to finish my Cherry Blossom Sakura Kinomoto(CCS) cosplay, and may bring her along as well.