Curiosities of Cosplay: Back of Beyond

(Originally published Spring 2020)

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: Cosplay is for everyone. Whether you commission your cosplays, alter thrifted pieces, purchase pre-made costumes, or start with patterns from scratch, cosplay is largely about expressing your love for a character or story to other people who feel the same. I had the honor to speak with Kate, aka Back of Beyond Cosplay, during MagFest 2020, and our discussion touched heavily upon the shifting cosplay scene. I’d often seen Kate’s impressive work in FFXIV circles, and her outlook was a breath of fresh air amidst tensions that have sprung up in the cosplay community. As cosplay veterans face the increasing popularity of cosplay, it’s easy to fall into discussions about what are the “right and wrong” ways to cosplay. For Kate, though, cosplay is really for everyone, and the growing accessibility of resources for new cosplayers only makes that growth all the more exciting!

Since you’ve been actively cosplaying since 2013, your breadth of work is huge; even just scrolling through your Instagram is daunting. What was the catalyst that began this journey for you?

Back of Beyond: I was able to buy my first sewing machine in college, which is what started it all.  FFXIV in particular really sucked me into cosplay. I’ve just been working my way through it because I find so many things in-game that are just really fun to do and I just wanna make it IRL.

Did you have prior experience with sewing, or has cosplay really been the means of exploring your interest?

BoB: I wasn’t taught at all; I went to school for business so I have no sewing expertise like that. My grandmother was a seamstress; that was her career growing up, so I did learn a little bit from her, but when it comes to cosplay work, a lot of it is just kind of “wing it as you go” with some finishing techniques. So a lot of it was self-taught and just kind of picked up, because it was something I still very much enjoyed.

It’s very striking that most of your FFXIV costumes are specifically glamour pieces. What draws you to the glamour outfits more so than the job sets?

BoB: The job sets I do like, and I do want to do them, it’s just when it comes to practical application sometimes it’s not there. Like I wanted to do a dragoon armor set, but I have nowhere to store giant Worbla or foam pieces that take up so much space. Or with the white mage armor, I don’t have a practical way of making the floating butterfly staff. Some of them I want to do, but I don’t get around to doing it, whereas the glamour sets somehow get my attention a little more and pull me towards making them. [laughing] I realize now after you’ve said that I’ve pretty much done only glamour items! 

There’s nothing wrong with that! The artifact and armor sets are rightfully popular, as they have wonderful and recognizable designs, but you don’t always see the glamour sets as much. You’ve previously constructed beautiful gowns, such as Cinderella and your Miraculous Ladybug masquerade design. Have any of the new dresses in FFXIV caught your eye?

BoB: I recently actually forced my red mage to 80 just so I could wear the Nier casting set, so I think my next actual dress project is going to be that because it looks really cool and it looks like the next thing I want to try. Other than that, I’d previously been looking at some of the older ones, like the Autumn Wool dress and shirt. They’re lovely, and they’re actually glamoured for some of my outfits, but they’re also not as noticeable so I’m passing on them for now. But the latest Nier dress is something I’m really getting pulled into lately. 

So that striking silhouette and design of the Nier set is more up your alley right now?

BoB: Yeah, it’s just something about the design that just grabs me and that’s why I end up getting pulled into, so with the Nier set it’s just eye-catching.

With your sewing experience, you probably have a lot of ideas on how to take liberties and make your costumes more personalized. Do your armor and prop pieces tend to be more screen accurate?

BoB: Yeah, I really like when I do armor and props going for the screen accurate “out of this world” element, which is part of the appeal of doing it. When it comes to fabric, I love doing historical fashion references, like my High House Bustle is actually based off of 1890s dresses. So I like being able to put my own flourish on things. I teach myself new techniques, like beading work, when I’m doing my Dancer outfit, for example, which I’m starting to work on now. I’m practicing tambour beading, doing rhinestones, teaching myself dyeing, a lot of that fun challenge comes with working with fabric which I personally enjoy.

Your cosplays often include armor and props, such as your Alkalurops white mage staff for your Vanya robe of casting set, but most of your work is in sewing. Would you say the sewing aspect of costuming is your main wheelhouse, or do you try to have expertise in all areas of crafting?

BoB: I really enjoy doing both mediums, but when it comes down to practical applications I tend to go to sewing just because fabric is easier to store and work with in the dead of winter. I live in the north, so I can’t exactly spray paint or work with resin in my garage when it’s twelve degrees outside. So I tend to use fabric more out of sheer practicality. But I enjoy having any excuse to play with armor, props, metalworking, woodworking.

How is working with materials for props and armor different from sewing for you?

BoB: I like how easy it is to see armor start taking shape right away; you can actually start seeing how it’s coming together quickly. And I love all the finishing touches you can give accessories to add that little graphical in-game touch to real life, whether that be through painting or using LED lights, which is usually my favorite.

Sewing lets you do interesting flourishes with historical references to pull back from. So you can start mixing and matching in-game references with historical flourishes, and that gives you more freedom to explore both influences. So it’s like more traditional medium with sewing or more fantastical with the armor-making.

I was looking through your resources and tutorials, and I really liked the test you did for your Beyond the Boundary blood sword prop where you tested out a bunch of different adhesives. That’s so useful and interesting, and you mentioned really enjoying getting to mess with that kind of stuff by making props.

BoB: I have a lot of fun with prop-making because my grandfather was a woodworker. I work in hardware, so I have a lot of expertise and practice with weird things like resins, woodworking, and metalworking. Being able to put real world application into fantastical stuff is really fun, and it also comes back to being helpful in the real world for other stuff. Messing around and doing experiments is part of what I love, and if I can help someone have a better experience making things, that’s what I enjoy doing. I love teaching people through my goof-ups and trials and errors.

You’re incredibly active on social media; your feeds have constant updates with costume WIPs, and you never hide the mess or the process that goes into creating a finished product. Were you always actively posting your costume construction from the beginning, or is that something you started doing later?

BoB: It’s been a constant thing of posting work in progress photos on social media for me. It was a habit I got into while working on competition pieces; they usually like seeing a workbook of your progress photos to show off unseen detail and the thought behind it, and that carried over into my posting on various social medias. I also really like posting the work in progress behind things because it can help people who might be stuck on similar projects figure it out. I like being able to explain things that I had both a hard and fun time puzzling out.

One thing I really love about your WIP posts is that they really show just how much time costuming takes. The perfectly identical embroidered lines in your Immortal Flames skirt, for example, would not have looked nearly as polished if they’d been rushed. What drives you to be so detailed in your costumes even when the time it takes – especially when you’re under a deadline – can probably be frustrating? Is it frustrating, or have you learned to plan around timing?

BoB: I’ve definitely learned as I’ve been doing this for enough years that crunching under a deadline really is not healthy after actually collapsing at a con one year. Don’t recommend three days straight of crunching! So I’ve learned to pace myself better. For me, I’m a huge perfectionist. I love adding details and detail porn, so those close-up beading or the angles you see in embroidery. That is my thing. I kind of relish the monotonous detail work because it makes the costume pop all the more when it’s done. I’ve actually broken quite a few sewing machines doing embroidery, so it’s something for me that I hate, but I also really, really love.

For cosplayers trying to get into the cosplay scene, experimenting can be really intimidating. But you talk so freely about trying different approaches, some of them work, some of them don’t, and you enjoy that aspect. Would you encourage other cosplayers to really embrace the challenge of trying things and finding those moments to learn?

BoB: I don’t know if new cosplayers know how many wonderful resources there are now compared to ten years ago when I started. Back then, it was basically accepted that it’s trial and error, and if it goofs up, that’s fine, it goofs up! Nowadays, I’d like people to try and goof up and fail because that’s part of the fun of it! People can really start out of the gate strong with all these resources, which is great for people starting their first project and doing it immaculately because they have so much to learn from.

Do you think that adds pressure to new cosplayers, now that there are so many resources? There’s so much ability to dive in and have a lot of knowledge right off the bat. Do you have any advice for cosplayers who have all of these resources but also want the freedom to try and fail and learn like you have?

BoB: This actually comes up a lot in the craftsmanship community, about how many resources there are now versus then. Honestly, I don’t think it should be intimidating for new cosplayers because most everyone knows that for your first project, you learn as you go. I hope that the positive message of “learn and do your best” reaches them and they pick up on that and not feel bad if things go wrong.

I want to tie that to asking about some of the craftsmanship awards that you’ve won throughout your cosplay career. Has the competition scene changed with the growing availability of crafting resources?

BoB: There’s almost a ceiling now. People in novice are competing with beautiful handmade costumes from the first time they’ve ever sewn. And in masters, there can almost be nothing wrong with somebody’s costume. You have ten people who have immaculate outfits, and there’s almost nowhere else to go. So we’re hitting a really interesting top of the bell curve in terms of, “What are we gonna do next?” 

I’m excited to see what happens next, because I never thought it would get to this point where everyone is getting professional levels of quality. I’ve looked at people doing their first outfits and their work is flawless. As someone who has judged their outfits, they’re impossible to pick apart. They’re wonderfully done. And I’m so happy to see people doing so well and self-learning without having to go into a fabric or textiles degree.

You mentioned your High House Bustle is based on an actual 19th century design. Do you consider what would be interesting to learn how to make when picking your next cosplay? What other criteria go into selecting your next costume?

BoB: It’s kind of a two-part thing. Sometimes I see and glamour and I’m fixated on it, or it’s something that I think will be a really fun challenge to do. The High House Bustle is kind of both. I wanted any excuse to make historical garments, but also make it video game-relevant, and that was a fun challenge to do some background reading and studying about this genre. But for other projects like the Vanya robe or the Thavnarian outfit, it’s more, “I really like this outfit, let me make it IRL because I love it in-game so much I want it now!” So it’s kind of both.

You cosplayed the miqo’te starter set back in 2015. That’s fairly early in terms of FFXIV cosplay. Has cosplaying FFXIV changed at all for you since the community – including the XIV cosplay community – has grown exponentially since then?

BoB: I love how it’s getting more popular and more people are recognizing it, and I also like how it’s getting more accessible for people. People are able to buy the au ra or miqo’te sets now and not have to figure out how to pattern these insane things. Being more accessible, more people can find it and fall in love with it and start learning. I’ve never had a bad interaction with any of the FFXIV fans in real life because they just want to gush about the game, and that’s one of the most fun parts of the community. 

That’s what I’ve heard from pretty much any cosplayer I’ve met. It’s really a feel-good kind of community where there’s a lot of support. And I’m glad to hear you say it’s exciting to see it being made more accessible, rather than taking a gate-keeping stance that is popular in a lot of cosplay circles. For FFXIV cosplayers, it’s more, “Welcome, anyone can cosplay these things if they want to!”

BoB: Exactly. You don’t have to be able to make an armor set, you can buy some of these sets online now and you can show it outwardly more easily. And if you like it, then people start getting into it more and more with making things, and that’s where the fun comes in. 

It’s also such a niche game, in a way. FFXIV cosplayers instantly recognize each other. If you don’t play the game, you might know it, maybe some of the more notable characters, but for something like the High House Bustle, probably not as recognizable if you don’t play the game.

BoB: I mean, most people will notice a white mage outfit, because it’s pretty traditional from game to game, but some of the more niche stuff is more unusual and if you do play the game, it’s like, “I recognize that, I don’t know the name for it, but I know you,” and that’s part of the fun.

Does that make it different from some of your other cosplays that come from a more commonly recognized IP?

BoB: I don’t think FFXIV being more niche is a bad thing; it’s actually pretty nice. Because when you’re doing any of the top, say, superheroes or cartoon or anime characters, you have people who like the character, or maybe they like the outfit, but they don’t necessarily know more than that. People who recognize FFXIV are like, “This is the game. I found another person here who likes this game!” And I think it’s sometimes a little more wholesome.

Is there anything we haven’t touched on that you’d like to mention, either about cosplay or FFXIV in general?

BoB: I’m currently super excited to see new content in FFXIV. I’m going back to level my blue mage so we can grind out blue mage mounts and I’m curious to see the new four-part raid coming out. I’m just so excited because this whole expac has been a slam dunk with amazing content and I’m just really geeked to play it!

Thank you so much for your time and insight into your work! If you don’t see Kate as Elise Sohn on Faerie (Aether), check her out on Twitter and Facebook!