It would be REALLY nice and convienent if there were a room for cosplayers to come in to change into their costumes. Sometimes we have to change into different costumes during the same day and having a room to change in would be great. Just divide up the boys and the girls side, or two separate rooms for boys and girls. And possibly a mirror in there too. The bathrooms are small and not a very hygienic place to bring costumes. AnimeLA has a costume repair shop, but a bigger con like Fanime needs a changing room.
Haha what if someone put one of those mini cameras into the lightbulb? o_o
if they did put in one of those cameras, i would be very mad :o
I just found it convenient to just change in my hotel room
If your talking about multiple outfits during the day its just all about planning and the bathrooms are probally a good place.
also you got to consider privacy not all people like to be in one room to change. Decency man decencyyyyyy
Quote from: Miyori on May 24, 2006, 03:51:52 AM
It would be REALLY nice and convienent if there were a room for cosplayers to come in to change into their costumes. Sometimes we have to change into different costumes during the same day and having a room to change in would be great. Just divide up the boys and the girls side, or two separate rooms for boys and girls. And possibly a mirror in there too. The bathrooms are small and not a very hygienic place to bring costumes. AnimeLA has a costume repair shop, but a bigger con like Fanime needs a changing room.
see, a costume repair shop is a better idea than a changing room. using your hotel room is easily the best, and safest way to change your costumes, and having a changing room on the convention grounds brings about a few liability issues(figure out what they are, and you will see why its not the best idea)
its a good idea, but it probably doesn't have any good chance of happening soon. Now, about that costume repair shop.....
the changing room idea is actually a pretty good idea. Not everyone has a hotel room, and walking around or heading to the convention in costume isn't always great.
Quote from: PyronIkari on September 08, 2008, 01:40:51 AM
the changing room idea is actually a pretty good idea. Not everyone has a hotel room, and walking around or heading to the convention in costume isn't always great.
I would imagine it would be a bit difficult for a person who's wearing a dress/cape with a train to actually wear that and walk to the con without anyone stepping on it... Especially if they stayed at Montgomery or something.
Well it has it's pros a cons. Becuase what if something gets lost? I bet the staff wot want to deal with that. Plus is there really any rooms available? They seemed pretty packed and stretched last year.
Quote from: Rei-Rei on September 08, 2008, 07:47:31 AM
Quote from: PyronIkari on September 08, 2008, 01:40:51 AM
the changing room idea is actually a pretty good idea. Not everyone has a hotel room, and walking around or heading to the convention in costume isn't always great.
I would imagine it would be a bit difficult for a person who's wearing a dress/cape with a train to actually wear that and walk to the con without anyone stepping on it... Especially if they stayed at Montgomery or something.
I think it is harder to walk in the con itself than outside the con with a long train. Try walking with a 10 foot train in a crowded con and tell me what you think.
I would personally just change in the bathrooms. I can see how it would be useful for some people who do not have a hotel room (they live fairly close and just head back home for the night, they are only going for a day, etc.), but as was said, there would be a lot of issues involved with it that would be difficult.
I do like the cosplay repair shop idea, though. :D
Quote from: Oniko on September 08, 2008, 09:01:33 AM
Well it has it's pros a cons. Becuase what if something gets lost? I bet the staff wot want to deal with that. Plus is there really any rooms available? They seemed pretty packed and stretched last year.
They have lost and found, but outside of that, if this idea were implemented, why shouldn't people be responsible of their own belongings? They are for the rest of the con.
It'd be extremely convenient if this were to work, but I highly doubt it would. Not only would Fanime not have the space for it, I don't think it'd be very possible trafficking it at all. There are thousands of cosplayers that attend Fanime at a time, and many of them would try to take advantage of an on-site dressing room. And lol, we don't need anymore /cgl/ dramu.
There may be huge drama as another poster mentioned. Since I doubt there will be any sort of storage space for the people who change at the con, either they'd have to carry their make-up/change of clothing/stuff with them or be forced to leave their stuff in that room...
They could also walk to their rooms to put the stuff away, but that'd be defeating the purpose of having an at-con changing room.
Not to frighten people, but I do think that it is a fairly workable idea as long as there's appropriate security and policies in the rooms too, such as with photography policies and the likes(especially if the room is going to be used by people under 18). You never know what kind of sickos with cameras are there. lol. Hopefully if the room does get implanted, it won't be in the middle of a random hallway or something.
And I think it would decrease the number of people relying on bathrooms to change. It's not bad changing in the bathrooms or anything, but if there's huge lines for people who need to use them, it would be convenient to weed out the changers so that people who need them could use them. I doubt bathroom lines have or will ever matter for Fanime, but with attendance rising each year, it will hit that bump in the future. It probably sounds weird coming from me, but yeah it's a thought. lol.
I do think that having a costume repair station(s) would be very helpful though. It's not uncommon to see cons with these types of things. Perhaps have a few of these kits near info desk or something...
Again, just my two cents.
Here are several problems to this idea.
1) Creeps, Perverts, Peeping toms, etc. would know exactly where to go to find victims. Don't even get me started about the assholes this year.
2) To prevent that, you would need a heavy security presence to deter them. Which requires more manpower than the safety department currently has.
3) I can't think of anywhere in particular that has adequate room for multiple people to change in, where there can be privacy screens, and stuff like that.
4) You would probably need to consent to some kind of waiver or agreement in which Fanime is not responsible for blah blah blah. Something like a sign that says "By using this, blah blah blah, you agree blah blah blah". The liability wouldn't be something to ignore.
It's a good idea, but it would need to be logistically set up right so that everyone is safe using it as well as preventing traffic jams and other various issues.
Creative, and not a bad idea! But I would have to say that a hotel room or a bathroom would work better.
The smallest rooms we have are fairly large - meaning, no matter how it happens, there would have to be partitions installed. That means "pipe and drape", which is less secure and useful for changing than a bathroom.
Do that many people walk around carrying extra costumes with them...?
Quote from: Tony on September 10, 2008, 10:03:59 AM
Creative, and not a bad idea! But I would have to say that a hotel room or a bathroom would work better.
The smallest rooms we have are fairly large - meaning, no matter how it happens, there would have to be partitions installed. That means "pipe and drape", which is less secure and useful for changing than a bathroom.
Do that many people walk around carrying extra costumes with them...?
I don't think so because I'd assume if you were dress up in something fancy... Like you worked on a costume for 100+ hours, you probably wouldn't want to ruin the costume by dragging along a luggage or a big tote bag or anything else that's unnecessary... Not to mention it's also inconvenient.
I found this out the hard way while walking 5 blocks to this place for lunch....
I think the changing room + repair area suggestions are excellent ideas and I'm glad they've been suggested!
Of course having a nearby hotel room is best, but a lot of people have rooms blocks away or don't have a room period. Experienced cosplayers may book Marriott/Hilton rooms in advance or bring around sewing kits to make life easier, but there are plenty of cosplayers, especially first-timers, who don't prepare for those cosplay inconveniences at all. A few years ago I had to march between Fairmont & the con center multiple times a day just to pick up a prop or change; even with rooms in the Marriott, it can still be tedious for me to have to run back to my room for an extra button or something. I know the Cosworx booth in 07 was extremely helpful for providing "emergency" supplies.
The changing rooms would also be great. I don't think they'd have to be a huge booth or anything; a handful of low-key stalls behind the repair booth could be enough. And this is just me rambling, but a mirror & small stand or chair in each stall would make a sufficient changing room.
As for perverts, peeping could be prevented even without the police surveillance -- you could have the stalls located behind a staff table (where staff would regulate the line etc), enforce a 'one-person-per-stall' rule & duck-tape the curtains/walls to the floor.
I don't know if any of my suggestions are efficient or realistic, but I hope they help. :]
The convention center heavily frowns on duct taping anything.
Logistically, it "could" be implemented...maybe.
Out of both ideas given, the cosplay repair area/station is the one idea which has the most going for it; just set aside a small room in the con center, some tables/chairs, a few tiny sewing machines, some other various repair tools, and you're set.
Quote from: otakuapprentice on December 01, 2008, 04:58:25 PM
Out of both ideas given, the cosplay repair area/station is the one idea which has the most going for it; just set aside a small room in the con center, some tables/chairs, a few tiny sewing machines, some other various repair tools, and you're set.
Most likely Fanime can only go so far as to offer a room and seating. Tools and the like will need to be provided by cosplayers themsleves. The best deal may be to find a dealer that would offer those services.
A dealer would work, or maybe do something similar, like an artist alley, but instead of people selling their artwork, they could be selling their skills and time to help fix other people's costumes, maybe that would work?
Of course the services would be a lot smaller than the artist alley, maybe make it limited somehow?
I can see the benefits of this, but I can also see the horror. Example at Sac Anime at the Scottish Rite Temple had a lot of the cosplayers used the bathroom.. (the womens bathroom) because it had a lounge area in it. Suffice to say that room was trashed with garbage and
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
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Embarrassing and disgusting.. good times -_-;;;
At this past con, the bathrooms always seemed to be packed with cosplayers needing to change. If it were plausable and if resources were available, I think a changing room would be nice to offload a lot of the bathroom traffic. But there are a lot of issues that would be difficult to resolve as people have mentioned (security, pervs, space).
The repair station sounds completely feasible though. +1 for cosplay repair station.
Quote from: Tony on September 10, 2008, 10:03:59 AM
Creative, and not a bad idea! But I would have to say that a hotel room or a bathroom would work better.
The smallest rooms we have are fairly large - meaning, no matter how it happens, there would have to be partitions installed. That means "pipe and drape", which is less secure and useful for changing than a bathroom.
Do that many people walk around carrying extra costumes with them...?
Not likely a room will happen. As for a repair station, members would need to contact a dealer for this, or have someone in the artist alley get such a table.
Last year one of the clothing dealers had a pop up tent just big enough for a person to change in. Something like that would eliminate the threat of pervs or peeping toms. Setting up a booth in Artist Alley sounds like a good place for it. It might be good to promote the idea and see if anyone (artist or dealer) would be willing to host such a booth.
Quote from: Kyra_Maverick on January 06, 2009, 12:01:59 AM
Last year one of the clothing dealers had a pop up tent just big enough for a person to change in. Something like that would eliminate the threat of pervs or peeping toms. Setting up a booth in Artist Alley sounds like a good place for it. It might be good to promote the idea and see if anyone (artist or dealer) would be willing to host such a booth.
It sounds great for like a single person to change in, but how are you going to be serving a con of 13000+ people who may want to use that? It goes back to the logistical issues that we would be facing with something like that.
probably the best way would be to set up two large communal dressing rooms within one room(one for each gender). I have seen this in bridal dress wholesalers. and the room would have to be for dressing only, no storage. Limited hours as well(let's say 8 to 8). and to thwart peeping, the cosplayer should have on something like a bodysuit. I usually wear something under my cosplay when I go to an event where I am unsure of changing rooms. so I can quickly get out of it and not worry about flashing someone.
I agree that bathrooms are not the best place for changing. Once at an event in the san francisco japantown, I got something smeared onto the bottom of my skirt cause I had to change in a bathroom
If I didn't have a room at the con I would love this idea. I prefer my hotel room because it takes me forever and alot of makeup and room. I have had a room at fanime every year since 2002 since in 01 I got into an accident on my way home from the con one day.
we can consider it, but remember the con would most likely need to pay for these rooms per day and have staff of the appropriate gender sit there to watch the room. Gain vs. cost, such an arrangement is not very viable. So don't get your hopes up.
Quote from: ewu on January 06, 2009, 10:05:45 AM
we can consider it, but remember the con would most likely need to pay for these rooms per day and have staff of the appropriate gender sit there to watch the room. Gain vs. cost, such an arrangement is not very viable. So don't get your hopes up.
I totally agree. The gain may not be enough to warrant the cost. It's just an idea.
it is conveniant but do you REALLY want to carry your cosplay around? why not change in the privacy of your hotel? or house or where ever your staying?
Maybe they could model the cosplay change room like a middle school/high school locker room.
There's a little decency but if they made that, wouldn't it ONLY be for fanime? other event are held there.
:/
I'm very doubtful of changing in a bathroom if I needed to change, especially considering that bathrooms are about the last place you'd expect hygene, especially on the floor.
Great idea! I just finished posting something similar to this.
Check it out:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,12590.0.html (http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,12590.0.html)
-AJ
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on September 08, 2008, 11:01:04 AM
Quote from: Rei-Rei on September 08, 2008, 07:47:31 AM
Quote from: PyronIkari on September 08, 2008, 01:40:51 AM
the changing room idea is actually a pretty good idea. Not everyone has a hotel room, and walking around or heading to the convention in costume isn't always great.
I would imagine it would be a bit difficult for a person who's wearing a dress/cape with a train to actually wear that and walk to the con without anyone stepping on it... Especially if they stayed at Montgomery or something.
I think it is harder to walk in the con itself than outside the con with a long train. Try walking with a 10 foot train in a crowded con and tell me what you think.
I would personally just change in the bathrooms. I can see how it would be useful for some people who do not have a hotel room (they live fairly close and just head back home for the night, they are only going for a day, etc.), but as was said, there would be a lot of issues involved with it that would be difficult.
I do like the cosplay repair shop idea, though. :D
Haha. But she is right. Having a costume with a train isn't very practical for con at all. And if you do have one, you better get yourself a hotel room because that isn't something you can take easily to and from con.
Going to con in costume is really not that bad as long as you can ignore strange stares. The issue is more being stuck in costume. You are better off just dressing at home than carrying your costume around. The latter is just bulky and has risks such as wrinkles and losing the bag. D:
Bathrooms are fine enough by me. I was stuck commuting by train last con and had to bring my costume one day. I just went into the handicap stall because that has a lot of space.
@lyricaldanichan: The bathrooms at fanime are not that bad. In addition, there is plenty to choose from if one is terrible.
The costume repair shop is a good idea but do we have enough costumes breaking down to warrant one? Tons of people bring sewing machines and stuff with them too to their hotel room. If it is a pay to use room, people may just find an alternate route if its is a lot.
Quote from: ewu on January 06, 2009, 10:05:45 AM
we can consider it, but remember the con would most likely need to pay for these rooms per day and have staff of the appropriate gender sit there to watch the room. Gain vs. cost, such an arrangement is not very viable. So don't get your hopes up.
How about charging someone if they are going to use it. like $3 to use it throughout the con or something? I'm not sure about this but at some conventions in japan, you are not allowed to wear you're cosplay to the con. you must change at the con for some reason. So they would have changing rooms and would charge people about $3 or something. i'm not sure about it though. but i'm sure i read it somewhere.
Changing in the restroom is a pain. For people who are changing and for people who need to go . lol. i had to go and i had to wait a bit in the restroom since cosplayers were changing. then i had to wait like 2-5 minutes until i could wash my hands since everyone was standing in front of the sink in order to do their make-up and wig. Changing rooms are also a good idea because not everyone has a room. I live in SJ so it would be odd to get a room in a hotel when i could just sleep at home.
as cool as this idea is.. there are two hotels that are attached to the convention center.. lol why not just go back to your room and change. you'd be able to refresh yourself and snack in your room while you're there as well.. o.o and in your own privacy and whatnot..
and like someone else mentioned, who would wanna carry around their cosplay anyways>? xD
Quote from: Vensy on August 04, 2009, 01:56:04 PM
as cool as this idea is.. there are two hotels that are attached to the convention center.. lol why not just go back to your room and change. you'd be able to refresh yourself and snack in your room while you're there as well.. o.o and in your own privacy and whatnot..
and like someone else mentioned, who would wanna carry around their cosplay anyways>? xD
not all of us have a room. lol. i live in SJ and it only takes 10 minutes by car to go to the convention. it's kinda of a pain to get my parents to drive me all the way home to change and then come back. for me a hotel room is a waste since i can sleep in my own house for free.
Quote from: ayame_nguyen on August 04, 2009, 03:03:45 PM
Quote from: Vensy on August 04, 2009, 01:56:04 PM
as cool as this idea is.. there are two hotels that are attached to the convention center.. lol why not just go back to your room and change. you'd be able to refresh yourself and snack in your room while you're there as well.. o.o and in your own privacy and whatnot..
and like someone else mentioned, who would wanna carry around their cosplay anyways>? xD
not all of us have a room. lol. i live in SJ and it only takes 10 minutes by car to go to the convention. it's kinda of a pain to get my parents to drive me all the way home to change and then come back. for me a hotel room is a waste since i can sleep in my own house for free.
very true~ I'm just too used to staying in a hotel everywhere.. even at Anime Expo. I also live only 10 minutes away from Anime Expo, but I always stay in a hotel anyways just cuz I like to stay there the whole time.
like I said before, it just seems it would be a pain to carry around the cosplay, unless there were places to like check in your stuff, but then that would require the Fanime staff to dish out more money and more staff, plus they can't be completely responsible if anything happens to your cosplay or if anything gets stolen. personally (if I didn't have a hotel room) I would be too paranoid of checking my cosplay stuff, haha.
I don't know that it's the easiest solution for anyone, but I changed in and out of my cosplay at my car last year. My hotel was about a 5 minute drive from downtown and if I had left, I would have lost my parking space. The bathrooms were full already, so it seemed like the best solution. I always wear something under my cosplay that is appropriate for when I take the top layer off. Then for whatever else I take off, I crawl in my backseat and hide under a blanket while changing. A car is also a great place to store your cosplay when not in use. Again, I know it's not a solution for everyone and it can be a bit risky what with being possibly exposed in public, but as long as you can cover up while changing without exposing yourself, it works.
just like mobility and being able to see is a consideration when designing and creating a cosplay, as should the ability to change in and out of it in whatever condition you will likely find yourself at con.
If you do not have a hotel room, plan your cosplay accordingly
Simplest solution if you don't have a hotel room yourself, make friends and meet new people that have a hotel room, or plan only 1 cosplay per day.
Quote from: Kertus on August 05, 2009, 10:58:17 AM
Simplest solution if you don't have a hotel room yourself, make friends and meet new people that have a hotel room, or plan only 1 cosplay per day.
Yeah... I usually try to plan only one cosplay a day. >.> I don't see how some people can do like four cosplays a day. xDD
Quote from: Vensy on August 05, 2009, 12:26:57 PM
Quote from: Kertus on August 05, 2009, 10:58:17 AM
Simplest solution if you don't have a hotel room yourself, make friends and meet new people that have a hotel room, or plan only 1 cosplay per day.
Yeah... I usually try to plan only one cosplay a day. >.> I don't see how some people can do like four cosplays a day. xDD
A Few Bottles of Energy Drinks and some dedication.
Quote from: apsykes on August 20, 2009, 05:06:25 PM
Quote from: Vensy on August 05, 2009, 12:26:57 PM
Quote from: Kertus on August 05, 2009, 10:58:17 AM
Simplest solution if you don't have a hotel room yourself, make friends and meet new people that have a hotel room, or plan only 1 cosplay per day.
Yeah... I usually try to plan only one cosplay a day. >.> I don't see how some people can do like four cosplays a day. xDD
A Few Bottles of Energy Drinks and some dedication.
I'd rather dedicate a full day to a cosplay.. o.O Get as many pictures in as a I can for that cosplay that day.. oh well.
I like to cosplay according to what plans I have like gatherings and photoshoots; that is when I can change out about two cosplays per day. Not only that, having a hotel room is most likely a must if you live close by. Not only a place to sleep/nap, but privacy when changing out, putting your stuffs away, and/or hang out. I can say that it is all in planning and do it according what you're cosplaying too.
I mean, I'm sure most of us saw Bumblebee at Fanime 09 and having that change in like a restroom is not a good option. It is a good idea, but I am seeing most of cons over pros of having a cosplay changing room beside getting or sharing a room with someone. Last thing anyone needs are accidents where props and other items are left on the floor while changing or having their costumes dirty.
I like the idea of cosplay repair table though.
Quote from: Kertus on August 05, 2009, 10:58:17 AM
...make friends and meet new people that have a hotel room...
this :D