Volunteer Valley Comic Con Craftsmanship Contest Rules and Guidelines
Craftsmanship Judging involves having your costume looked at up-close by our panel of cosplay judges.
This competition is best for those who want to improve their costume-making skills or want to compete
against others for awards and prizes.
If you are interested in participating in the cosplay contest without competing, we recommend entering
under the Runway category instead of having your costume judged for craftsmanship.
No real weapons.
Costume Rules
Volunteer Valley Comic Con welcomes cosplays from all genres, such as: Animation, gaming,
movies, comics, film, etc.
All private parts must be fully covered and not visible. Family friendly please!
Your costume cannot contain any hateful, offensive, or provocative symbols, designs or text.
Guests and / or their +1 cannot enter the craftsmanship contest.
Pre-judging starts at the designated times (see schedule). Late entries will NOT be accepted.
Plan accordingly for your travels to the convention.
In order to qualify for craftsmanship judging: Your costume must be handmade by YOU.
In order to have your costume judged for craftsmanship and to compete for craftsmanship awards, your
costume must be 70% handmade. There is a 30% leeway that allows for found parts, or modified
existing items that you did not make entirely.
Burlesque Rules
All burlesque costumes must remain appropriately covered before and after the event, with the exception of when participants are actively on stage during the costume contest.
Costumes that are not considered family-friendly must remain fully covered at all times outside of the contest segment.
Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in immediate disqualification from the contest and removal from the premises.
Just like with our normal contest all private parts should be fully covered at all times.
Found Parts:
Any costume item that was pre-made, such as a pair of boots or a shirt. As a guideline: when competing
for craftsmanship, it is best to alter any found parts rather than using it as-is. For example, sewing trim
onto a dress shirt or painting a pair of boots.
Purchased Costumes:
Purchased costumes will disqualify you for costume craftsmanship awards. For example, purchasing
your costume from Amazon, Wish, or an online cosplay store are not permissible in this contest. You are
more than welcome to participate in the runway division.
Small pieces such as jewelry or accessories that are character-specific that are ready-made are okay to
be worn for judging.
Wigs are okay, as most wigs typically are not pre-styled when purchased. If no styling or work was done
to the wig after purchasing it, it will fall into that 30% category of non-handmade parts of the costume.
Commissioned Pieces:
As a general rule, using commissioned pieces is frowned upon and can disqualify you for craftsmanship
awards. We will accept small, commissioned pieces to be entered with your costume, so long as they are
not the centerpiece of your costume, and you make it clear what parts of your costume were made by
who during pre-judging. Otherwise, it should be an item that can be set aside or omitted from judging. A
commissioned wig, small accessory, or prop is acceptable. However, things such as a large headpiece,
armor or garment would not be allowed.
References
Please provide reference material to your judging session. We suggest and recommend reference
material printed on paper in case it is left or lost. Failure to provide a reference will result in a 0 for
“Accuracy” (see below for Judging Criteria)
Good references include:
A turnaround (at least a front and back view) of your character’s costume.
Screenshots of different views of your character.
A folder or binder (or stapled printouts) including the above reference photos and any photos
you have of the construction process. If you are submitting a video for online pre-judging, you
can include some progress photos in your video.
Artbooks, figures, and other physical references of your character are fine to bring. However, we are not
responsible for reference material that is lost or damaged. Any items left behind during judging will be
left at Lost and Found / Con-Ops at the end of day.
Judging Criteria / Awards
We judge costumes on the following criteria:
Construction
How neat and clean is your costume construction? What do the seams look like?
Were any corners cut, or shortcuts taken? Were the proper materials/supplies used?
Attention to Detail
How much effort was put into the minor details of the costume? Was focus
put on the accessories, props, wig styling or other components of the costume that weren’t
sewn? Were all components of the costume equally focused on?
Accuracy
How close is your costume to the source material (within reason/reality)? Were
reference photos provided? Original characters will receive 0 points for this automatically. An
original design of an existing character can receive a maximum of 5 points for this, as long as the
design is clearly derived from the original concept and is clearly recognizable as the character.
Creativity
How creative were you when finding solutions to your costume? Maybe you learned
a new craft specifically to make it?
Overall Presentation
How do all the parts of your costume come together to create an overall
polished look?
Suggestions and Guidelines
Original Characters (OC) are hard to judge for accuracy. We will not turn away these types of
costumes for craftsmanship judging. However, be aware that if you want to enter a completely
original costume, you may receive a low score or a zero for accuracy (20% of your score). We
recommend most people entering an OC / fan character to sign up under exhibition. Exceptions
are often made for original designs based on historic origin, mythology, literature, or any other
costume that is not based on an existing character. Examples might include a samurai or geisha
based on paintings.
We do not judge the physical appearance of the cosplayer for accuracy. Cosplay is for everyone.
During craftsmanship judging, we are focused on judging your costume. Please leave in-
character acting and improv for the hallways and/or stage. Please come to your judging
appointment in-costume but as yourself to answer questions so we can give you the best score
possible.
Be positive and talk-up your costume. Try not to focus or linger on any negative parts of your
costume.
Write everything you’d like to tell the judges on a notecard and bring it to your judging session!
Sometimes when under pressure, our minds can go blank.
Glitter bombing the judges is an auto-disqualification.
Be a gracious winner and loser.