Leo Nocedo : How did you discover cosplaying?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I always dressed up for Halloween and looked for any excuse to dress up! Themed parties were my favorite, and I always went all out for Spirit Week at my high school. I attended my first convention in 2012 and went thrift store shopping to find all the pieces for Doctor Who costumes for myself and my dad. In 2014, I wanted to learn to sew in order to make princess costumes that fit properly! Shortly after I learned the basics of reading a sewing pattern, Frozen’s adult size costume patterns were made. Even though I had only just begun to sew, the instructions from the Simplicity patterns, along with a blog post from the pattern maker herself, guided me through my first cosplay sewing project and everything just kind of…snowballed…
Leo Nocedo : What was your first cosplay?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf :Amy Pond from Doctor Who.
Leo Nocedo : What are your next 3 cosplay plans?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wanda’s 50s outfit from WandaVision, and a Star Wars-inspired Harley Quinn.
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever been in a cosplay contest?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I have a theory that if you enter a cosplay contest, the worst case scenario is you have your picture taken! I do cosplay contests regularly at my local cons just to have fun.
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer sewing, armor making, or wig working?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Sewing!
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer to do photoshoots at cons or at specific locations?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I feel that I get better photos at locations that best suit the character I am cosplaying.
Leo Nocedo : Is there a type of character you cosplay frequently?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Princesses, time travelers, and clowns.
Leo Nocedo : Do you have any favorite cosplayers?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I love Ash and Bryan of Always Believe, as their love for their fandoms (predominantly Star Wars and Disney) radiates just as strong as their love for each other! I look up to Joanna Lynn Bert and Lady Thera both as fellow Princess Anna cosplayers and princess performers. Sisters Fairwind Cosplay and Aurelian Cosplay are beautiful both as princess cosplayers and as activists for equal rights. I also greatly admire Nikita Cosplay for her craftsmanship and inspiring others to learn to sew costumes as well.
Leo Nocedo : What’s the most detailed cosplay you’ve ever done?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Princess Anna’s coronation ballgown from Frozen.
Leo Nocedo : What are your top 3 craftsmanship tips?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : If you want to sew your own cosplays, practice making a pillowcase first to learn the basics of a sewing machine.
I recommend Simplicity patterns because their instructions were written well enough that even a beginner cosplayer was able to make the Frozen dresses from scratch!
Also, iron-on fusible web is very useful for making custom appliques.
Leo Nocedo : What is your favorite cosplay you’ve done?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Princess Anna’s coronation ballgown from Frozen.
Leo Nocedo : What is your worst cosplay “horror” story?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : All I’m gonna say is, if someone asks you to be a cosplay guest, panelist, and also to help with marketing only the cosplay portion of a larger event, make sure the event already has its funding, a secured venue, trustworthy and honest organizers, and at least some sense of teamwork between the cosplay and gaming divisions. Without going into detail, this story ends with the original event splitting in half like the Titanic and sinking just as hard. I then joined a close friend in rescuing the already planned cosplay panels in a new venue and creating a different one-time event for the local cosplay community. In the end, I ran two panels, judged the cosplay contest, designed a logo, website, and graphics to announce the panels, guests, vendors, and sponsors, AND ALL WITH THREE WEEKS TILL THE ORIGINALLY POSTED EVENT DATE!!!!!! Our “IncrediCon” went off without a hitch and we made a lot of cosplayers really happy that day. I learned a lot from the entire experience and used it to ensure the next con I helped plan would succeed, and it did!
Leo Nocedo : What’s your funniest cosplay story?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Splendid Teapot Racing is an activity held at steampunk events in which a teapot is attached to a remote control car and then driven through an obstacle course. Bribery of the judges is also allowed in the form of gifts or performances! At SWFL SteamCon 2017, the teapot race host brought along a few extra racing teapots just in case someone who has never heard of teapot racing before would like to try. One of these was decorated like Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast, and I was cosplaying as Belle, so I signed up for the event. They were kind enough to let me practice before the race started, where we discovered that the remote control car used could not make turns!!!! HOWEVER, the teapot can be moved by the racer by hand up to three times in the obstacle course AND this teapot came with its own bribe for the judge in the form of a parody song about teapot racing set to the tune of “Be Our Guest”. I sang for the judges and audience, then proceeded to drive my faulty teapot through an obstacle course. I even won the “Most Dastardly Driver” ribbon for the most entertaining cheat!
Leo Nocedo : What’s the best in-character interaction you’ve ever had?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Hosted by Donate 4 Kidz, Princess Day is a charity event for girls in foster care or adopted through foster care to be treated like the princesses they are! Their day starts with picking a dress, followed by professional hair, make-up and nails! Then they are off to a royal dance party with the Disney Princesses, and I got to be a part of this as their Princess Anna. My most cherished memory is when the DJ played Let It Go and handed “Elsa” a microphone asking her to sing. This quickly turned into us passing the microphone around to each girl to have us all sing the popular song together.
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever cosplayed with a family member?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : My dad cosplayed as the Doctor with me at Florida SuperCon 2012, my first ever convention!
Leo Nocedo : What is your favorite cosplay photo of yourself?
Leo Nocedo : What are your go-to stores for cosplay materials/full cosplays?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Joann Fabrics or MicCostumes.com
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer to buy pre-styled wigs or style your own?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Pre-styled.
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever had someone mistake you for a different character?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : YES, at every event, and always by adults! I could go on for days detailing just how often the Disney princesses get mixed up with one another, but nothing will ever top how a dad accompanying his child at a Spiderman-themed birthday party where a friend and I were performing as Spiderman and Spider Gwen, saw us walking in and screamed out “Hey look! It’s Spiderman! AND ELSA!!!”.
Leo Nocedo : List all the cosplays you’ve done.
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : ALL OF THEM??? I’m just gonna list the characters, or I’ll be here all day…
Princess Anna (Frozen)
Cinderella
Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
Giselle (Enchanted)
Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Peter Pan
Mary Poppins
Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
Charlie (Top Gun)
John Connor (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)
Rey Skywalker
Daphne (Scooby Doo)
Eleven (Stranger Things)
Claire Dearing (Jurassic World)
Amy Pond
Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Hermionie Granger (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Scarlet Witch
Black Widow
Spiderman
MJ
Spiderling
Spider Gwen
Captain Marvel
Harley Quinn
Batgirl
Wonder Woman
Erika (Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper)
Clara (Barbie in the Nutcracker)
Kairi (Kingdom Hearts 3)
Link (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
Zelda (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Evie Frye (Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate)
Princess Peach
D.Va (Overwatch)
Viktor (Yuri on Ice)
Lucy (Fairy Tail)
Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)
Various members of the Ouran High School Host Club
Chance (Halloween Horror Nights)
Jack Goodman (An American Werewolf in London)
Annabelle (The Conjuring)
Parzival (Ready Player One)
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice)
GHOSTBUSTERS
The Queen of Hearts
A Nuka Cola girl from Fallout
Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones)
Leo Nocedo : What’s the biggest con you’ve cosplayed at?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Orlando MegaCon
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer cosplaying characters with props, or characters that you don’t need to carry a prop around all day?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I enjoy cosplaying characters with props. Most of my props are plush versions of my characters’ sidekicks, so it makes for fun interactions with kids.
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever lost a cosplay piece at a con?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : A black and white striped sock from my Nightmare Before Christmas cosplay went lost in a hotel room at Holiday Matsuri.
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever bought a cosplay piece at a con?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : One of my wigs came from a vendor at Tampa Bay ComicCon.
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer to cosplay solo or in a group?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I love group cosplays! There’s something magical about fandoms bringing people together and I love being able to express that through cosplay. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of my best friends through Harry Potter and the Avengers, and several of my bridesmaids have at some point been the Elsa to my Anna.
Leo Nocedo : If you had a chance to meet your all-time favorite cosplayer, what would you say to them?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I’d tell them how much I love seeing their content on Instagram and how they truly embody the princesses they portray!
Leo Nocedo : Have you ever done a cosplay panel?
Yes, I have been part of several cosplay panels ranging from Cosplay 101 to how I use cosplay to combat my disabilities to Disney Singalongs!!!
Leo Nocedo : Do you prefer to buy or make cosplays?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I prefer to make them if the character design is within my skill set.
Leo Nocedo : If you could tell your past self anything about cosplay, what would you say?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I know you’re staring at those dresses thinking they’ll be something you make way into the distant future. You have the skills you need for them now. Just go for it! Also, don’t use Party City brand face paints for Joker and Harley. There are so many better options.
Leo Nocedo : What is your ultimate dream cosplay?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I want a transforming Cinderella dress like in the stage productions.
Leo Nocedo : What’s the most difficult cosplay you’ve ever done? (Craftsmanship, wearing of, ect)
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Coronation Anna might be the most involved, as there were over 500 individual appliques that had to be traced, cut, and ironed onto the skirt panels. I wouldn’t consider it difficult, but definitely a lengthy process which became somewhat zen after a while.
Most difficult to wear lends itself to the massive blisters I get from Claire Dearing’s high heels each trip to Jurassic World. Most days I wear her to Islands of Adventure, I wear sneakers now!
Leo Nocedo : What’s the most difficult character makeup you’ve done?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Jack Goodman from An American Werewolf in London. I woke up at 5 am to layer toilet paper and liquid latex across my face, then had a friend carefully cut the claw marks into my newly built fake skin.
Leo Nocedo : What, in your opinion, makes a cosplayer a “pro” cosplayer?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : Being able to make a career out of cosplay and costuming.
Leo Nocedo : What is your favorite part of cosplaying?
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : I love the joy it brings others when they see their favorite characters come to life! That in itself brings me that same joy.
Leo Nocedo : Make up your own question!
Caitlin Jayne Wolf : OKAY! …Has one of your cosplays even gone viral online?
I posted a photo of myself as Cinderella with my diabetes DexCom sensor on my arm, along with a message of self-love about not wanting to hide my diabetes when in cosplay. I was soon met with tons of positive responses from other diabetics and parents of diabetic children who were ecstatic to see a Disney Princess facing the same obstacles as them. Several diabetes instagram pages have shared this and I’ve found a sense of pride for both my cosplays and my diabetes at the same time. It makes me happy that through cosplay, I can bring the hope I wish I had at a young age to others.
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NocedoPhoto Media Group is an innovative and creative consortium that unites photographers, writers, cosplayers, event promoters, vendors, costume and prop makers, and other creatives under one roof to use their collective skills to maximize their distribution and presence on digital media platforms. Their goal is to create a well-rounded and successful network for all involved.
