‘Cosplay childish? I think dressing up is having guts’

Image: Erwin van Dijk

Debby Venrooij (34) loves cosplay. She is engaged to Danny (36) and they have two children: Aymée (4) and Mayson (2).

“With cosplay you take on the role of a character from a movie, book or series. For example, I have been a Viking, but also a variant of Little Red Riding Hood and sorceress Jaina Proudmoore from the game World of Warcraft. There are cosplayers who imitate certain traits and their character’s voice to make it as real as possible, but I’m just being myself.

For me, the kick is mainly in the costumes – that’s how I rolled into this world eight years ago. I saw videos on YouTube of Comic-Con, the American cosplay event where people show off their costumes, and I thought: I want to make something cool like that. I’ve always been creative. At school I got my highest grades for crafts and I worked for years as a hairdresser and make-up artist.

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A profession in its own right

My first costume was the blue dress from Daenerys Targaryen Game of Thrones. The result was not bad, but I did discover that sewing is a profession in itself. In the beginning I therefore made costumes with a lot of armor pieces, such as a shield and shoulder pieces. Later I took a sewing course and since then I make costumes with the most beautiful fabrics that are beautifully finished and much more detailed, with highlights and shadows.

“The best compliment is that people think my costume is beautiful”

I give workshops in making costumes and run a webshop with materials, such as acrylic paint and artificial leather. At events like Dutch Comic-Con and Elfia I have a stand or I cosplay there myself. The best compliment is that people think my costume is beautiful. Visitors often want to take a picture with me.

Guts

Cosplay is sometimes seen by the outside world as something childish, which means that some do not dare to express their passion. I never have a problem with it myself – if you dare to express yourself so expressively as an adult, you have guts as far as I’m concerned. And if you don’t hurt anyone with it, you should do it, right?

I want to pass on this life lesson to my children. Aymée already loves dressing up. She looked like a princess with armor pieces of all characters in the first costume I made for her Beauty and the Beast. She already has her next assignment ready for me: an outfit from Wonderwoman. That’s fine, mom will be fine.”

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