Sexy vs. Slutty: A Cosplay Conundrum

Greetings bloglings!

As Halloween crawls ever closer, it seems appropriate to take a moment and discuss an ever growing problem amongst fangirls and fanwomen alike. Halloween is many fanfolk’s favorite holiday due to the sheer fact that we can all find a great communal excuse to cosplay, which is awesome. It’s a huge part of most Cons it’s a fun way to express nerdom.

But ladies, ladies. We have hit a point where cosplay has gone a little too far. Now, to understand the starting point where I am coming from with this, please view the instructional video below…

As a chick I totally understand the importance of asserting one’s sexuality. Thanks to the 90s, the miniskirt has become a symbol of female empowerment, which is awesome! Especially for girls who want to go out and feel confident by looking hot, it’s totally understandable why Halloween costumes have gotten sexier and sexier. But there is a big difference between these two images below….

Or even worse….. this image.

You can thank Google for that last one.

So how do we fight the desire to be a total slut for Halloween? Again, super difficult. Guys are very pro-slut in this day and age (as the line between real life and porno grows ever thinner). So if you’re a single lady going out this holiday season, how can you compete with Dog Collar/Leash Girl and crotch splitting Wonder Woman?

Well if there’s one thing we at Fangirls: the Blog are partial to, its class. You can still be a classy, sexy, smoldering individual without having to resort to being a slut. Granted dear reader, anything can be made slutty if you wish hard enough, but there will be tons of girls running around with their tits hanging out and their cooter on display, so what will draw the eye to you is the fact that you still look and feel amazingly hot and you don’t NEED a costume that makes you look like a tramp to get attention. It’s about being confident and classy. So here are a few ideas from us here at Fangirls for fun nerdy Halloween costumes (that can easily cross over into cosplay) that are still sexy, easy to do yourself, and not slutty. Unless you REALLY want them to be.

1. Laura Croft

This is a kick ass costume for gamer girls. Shirt and pants you can find in a thrift store, combat boots and a couple of “do if yourself” gun holsters leads to a pretty neat conversation costume. With the movies that came out, people wont be totally oblivious to the character (which can be difficult for nerds at  times), and even if people don’t recognize it right away, you look like a sexy jungle adventurer regardless. Its nothing you wouldn’t wear on a hot summer day, jazzed up with a spike of superhot because of the dangerously sexy nature of the character.

2. Princess Peach

Wanna be a princess without being a Disney princess? Peach is a great, fun, and elegant way of getting to put on a gown and feel like royalty. If a gown is a little too hard to find, a knee high pink dress gives an air of allure without looking skanktastic. The gloves add a touch of elegance and sexiness (there’s something very burlesque about them) and the jewelry is super easy to acquire or even make yourself. It’s cute, its fun and its easy. You can dress it up or down as much as you like. I recommend adding the parasol for extra cuteness. Also this can become a great group costume if you’ve got any friends who can dress up like Mario, Luigi or Yoshi.

3.  The Women of Star Trek TOS

I can personally attest that this costume works like a charm. The TOS dresses are super short, so be aware of that, but since the rest is long sleeved and it doesn’t have your chest hanging out everywhere, it’s still about to keep away from slutty while looking super hot. Nurse Chapel, Yeomen Rand or Lt. Uhura make great iconic costumes (I’ve also seen some really cool female Kirks wearing the gold colored dress). Worn with sheer black stockings and knee high black boots, this costume is also keeps you warm in the Fall weather which is always a plus. Also the new costumes from the new movie is pretty hot too, though it only comes in red. Also this costume gives for great chances to experiment with awesome hairstyles (If you’re feeling super ambitious I say go for Rand’s crazy coif).

4. The Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter

Now this costume is for those of you who want to go a little more risky. The beauty of the burlesque style is that the more you cover with a costume like this, the sexier it actually is (its psychology! science rocks!). Watchmen is one of the best graphic novels ever and thanks to the movie, this won’t be an unknown character. If you actually follow what she wears in the film, a black strapless leotard undernieth everything and if you keep the skirt to about mid-thigh, you can really have something spectacularly va-va-voom without feeling uncomfortable. Like the peach outfit, this is worn with long black gloves which add to the allure as well as thigh-high fishnet stockings and black high boots. If you don’t feel like making it, there is a really classy version of this costume being sold with the new Watchmen costume series which isn’t totally trashy.

5. Harley Quinn

Never underestimate the power of full body costumes. If you keep to cloth and stay away from vinyl the slut factor magically disappears and sexy reigns supreme. This is a great duel colored costume that just oozes sex if you feel confident in it. The white accents around the wrists are great ways to really make the costume pop. Also something that can really spice it up is if rather than wearing the whiteface makeup and headpiece, do up the blonde hair in pigtails and don the red lipstick for an unmasked Harley. Its a great way to keep warm in Fall and since everything is covered spectacularly you can really shake it without having to worry about anything being overly exposed. With all the Joker costumes floating around since the Dark Knight movie, this costume is sure to turn heads and be a great conversation starter.

So this year, when you go to pick our your Halloween costume, or as you get ready to start designing your stuff for Con, keep these little tips in mind, if not these costumes. When a costume is also sold in the roleplaying section of your local porn store, maybe you should consider something else. You can be that confident, awesome, sexy fangirl this season while still maintaining sexual dignity. If you still want to dress more provocativly, who am I to stop you dear reader. I’m just trying to tell you all, there is a middle ground between sexy sexy aaaannd frog. Make them work for it. Don’t give it all away for free.