thatSHITcrae

Sailor Melanin was actually born from an Instagram post on my personal account. I decided to wear two puffs in my hair to work, some glittery makeup and wood moon earrings. I took a picture and captioned it “Sailor Melanin”. My friend was like, “ooh. That would be a cute cosplay!” I agreed, but didn’t think about it until I was in Joanns and walked past some kente fabric.

I bought a body suit from capezios and made the skirt and collar from fabric I bought from Joanns. I actually struggled a bit because I tried to use a pattern I bought…and it was waaaaaay undersized. Numbers lie.

I was super surprised by the response at the con. It went over way better than I thought. I had never been stopped for so many pictures! People told me they were inspired by me, and I was shocked. I inspire people? That was a crazy thought to me. I just thought it would be great to present the idea that there are black girls who grow up with magical girl dreams too. 

I met my best friends through cosplay. I am relaxed and most at peace when sewing a cosplay. Cosplay brings my family together. I found confidence I didn’t know I had, pride that was dormant and a way to physically advocate the things that matter to me.

I don’t care who you are, cosplay is for everybody and EVERY BODY. Never do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable just to meet a standard. Cosplay the characters you love because you love them:)