Costume Contest

Costume Contest Registration

Contest entrants must have a valid ticket for entry to Louisiana’s World Steampunk Exposition on the day of the competition.

Entrants must be 13 years of age or older. Cosplayers 12 and under may compete in the Children’s Cosplay Contest.

Louisiana’s World Steampunk Exposition contest participation is restricted to contestants who complete the online registration. You can sign up online until the day of the contest.

Registration reserves a spot in the contest; contestants are still required to complete a prejudging appointment earlier on the day of the event.

Online registration will require the following information for each participant:

• Legal Name
• Cosplay Name (optional)
• Age
• Division
• Character
• Each additional name, age, character of group members
• A brief description of your cosplay and/or construction process for the emcee to read as you appear on stage. Max 50 words.

Contest Divisions

To ensure fairness to all contestants, entrants will be split into skill divisions* Please ensure that you select the appropriate category to compete in. Group entries must enter the skill division that their most experienced member meets the criteria for. The costume contest director and the judges retain the right to bump a contestant into a higher category if they feel a costume deserves to be recognized at a higher skill level.

Masquerade

**professional costumers** may not enter the Masquerade division

1. A cosplayer who has never entered a contest

2. A cosplayer in a store bought or thrifted costume

3. A cosplayer who made ar altered LESS than 50% of their costume

Novice

**professional costumers** may not enter the Novice division

1. A cosplayer who has never entered a contest

2. A cosplayer who has NOT won an award in any costume competition at the adult level

*Journeyman

**professional costumers** may not enter the Journeyman division

1. Costumer who has won one (1) but less than three (3) awards in adult competition such as: Best Costume, Best Skit, Best Workmanship, First Place, etc.

2. Costumer who has NOT won a “Best in Show” or “Best in Class” award at the Journeyman level

3. Costumer who has NOT won any kind of award at the Master level, including Runner Up or Honorable Mention prizes

4. Any Novice who wishes to compete as a Journeyman

Master

**Advanced costumers and professionals** in the costuming field

1. Costumers who have won three (3) or more awards in adult competition

2. Costumers who have won a “Best in Show” or “Best in Class” award at the Journeyman Level

3. Costumers who have won ANY kind of award at the Master level

4. Any costumer regardless of experience or past awards who wishes to compete as a Master

** A Professional Costumer is defined as any individual who is hired for pay on a part-time or fulltime basis to create costumes for any kind of studio or theatrical organization, OR who obtains more than 25% of their yearly income through commissioned costumes for other individuals.

Children

1. Any cosplayer under the age of 13

General Rules

The following criteria must be met to avoid disqualification:

• Entrants must have made or significantly altered at least 50% of their costume in order to compete. Unless entering into the Masquerade category.

• Costumers may elect to have a model wear their costume during the contest, but must be present for both the pre-judging appointment and the on stage event.

• Costumes that have previously been awarded a Division Award, Runner Up or Best in Show at a previous competition are not permitted to compete.

• Louisiana World Steampunk Exposition reserves the right to disallow any contestants on basis of appropriateness of costume is a family friendly convention. Nudity and simulated nudity are strictly prohibited. Costumes that are deemed to be racist, obscene, or otherwise derogatory will not be allowed to compete.

Pre-Judging and Judging

Pre-Judging

Each contestant will have a 3-minute time limit with the judges, please prepare accordingly.

Competitors must be in full costume at the time of judging.

Judging is based on the following criteria:

Fabrication: Clean edges, paint job, seam work, construction and durability, attention to detail, innovative construction methods. Props and accessories included.

Materials: Fabrics, leathers, etc. are believable to the costume, innovative use of unconventional materials, functionality of the design, and execution of simulated materials.

Fit and Presentation: Tailored and scaled to the cosplayer, complete character (makeup, wigs, and prosthetics), and overall presentation of the character.

Adaptation: Accuracy to the reference material (photos, drawings, or literary descriptors, references to variants, mash ups, etc.), original designs will be judged on the believability of the costume based on the character described in the reference material.

The Contest Judging

Contestants will appear on stage in front of a panel of judges who will be scoring each entry on the following criteria:

Costume: complete head to toe character, fit and scale, accuracy to the source material or believability as an original creation, overall visual impact, creativity and originality of the costume

Presentation: appearing in character, Q&A, stage presence, overall preparation

Audience Impact: fun factor, audience response (we understand that not everyone is an actor, often a good pose is sometimes enough to “sell” the character)

Contest Entry Form