In our modern times, it would appear that as a society we are starting to become more relaxed about how much flesh one may expose. Go into any high street store and among the t-shirts and dresses you’ll also find short shorts, tank tops and vests. Some may come to the conclusion that we’re becoming more accepting of people wearing whatever they want. This is kind of true but there are definite issues when it comes to some people’s personal judgement and this is unfortunately true in the world of cosplay. So with the issues facing cosplayers, especially women, there is one question when sorting a cosplay: to boob or not to boob? Translated: is it okay to show off cleavage, leg or anything at all?
The term ‘booth babes’ refers to women who are hired to dress provocatively to promote products or games. Whilst the outfit could’ve been seen as a violation on a technicality, Nigri is a globally known cosplayer who isn’t shy about wearing what she pleases and power to her for that. This has lead to speculation that PAX East will start to put restrictions on what is appropriate to wear at events. This is an incredibly poor move. Trying to enforce a ludicrous uniform code based on some patriarchal fears is only going to drive cosplayers and other patrons away.
There is a finer point that has to be made about ‘sexy cosplays’ that was pointed out to me whilst working on this article. Some costumes that show a lot of skin aren’t inherently sexy in themselves until someone comes along and sexualises them. Hypothetically a woman could dress as a girl in a skirt. The character is a child but if the cosplayer is branded as having a sexy figure all of a sudden the cosplay is sexualised with no context. Instead of throwing the blame at people who choose to dress as whichever character they please, maybe we should look at our attitudes towards sex and clothing.