Today we’d like to introduce you to Yasmin.
Yasmin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I first cosplayed back when I was in high school. My friends we part of an anime club and they would have cosplay hangouts at a small local park. This was my first introduction to the cosplay world and I loved every second of it! However, I was soon starting college and sadly didn’t really have time to cosplay. Fast forward to after graduating college, I went to my first anime convention, Anime Weekend Atlanta, and I fell back in love with cosplay! I loved seeing everyone’s cosplay and I was fully inspired to do it myself. I came home and started planning to design my first “official” cosplay. I’ve only grown and improved with each new cosplay since then. The challenge of creating something out of nothing really keeps me inspired.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Even though cosplay is a hobby of mine, it’s not a smooth road all. Cosplay is an expensive hobby. I work a full-time job which allows me to be able to afford doing cosplay. But since I work a 9 to 5 job, I only really get to work on stuff at night after work and on the weekends. But I think the biggest challenge I personally face is social media. The cosplay community has developed into more of a popularity contest in seeing who can get the most followers or likes, rather than supporting each other in what we love to do. I do not have a large following and that’s okay by me. I rather surround myself with friends, fellow cosplayers, and cosplay fans who will support me whether I hand sew details or repaint a Spirit Halloween prop.
Please tell us about Yasmin Nich Cosplay.
I don’t really think I specialize in just one thing. Growing up, I did a lot of different hobbies and sports, I got bored too quickly and always wanted something new to do. When I started to cosplay, I signed up to be a tailor, a makeup artist, a prop maker, a wig stylist, my own photographer, videographer and so much more. I loved learning all these different skills. I get burnt out doing one thing I can easily switch to working on a different part of my cosplay. I am most proud of myself to be able to wear all these different hats and even if I’m not perfect at one skill, I’m willing to try to improve!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have liked to start cosplaying a lot sooner. I enjoy it so much now and a lot of what kept me from starting was my own insecurities and self-doubt. I felt like my body type and height wasn’t right for cosplaying the characters I wanted to cosplay as. Also, I didn’t know if my parents would support or even understand what cosplaying was. But today they are my biggest supporters and they even come to cons with me!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminnich/
Image Credit:
@amandaswansonphotography @momstressfull, @worldofgwendana
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