When Lower Hutt woman Cass Flintoff first signed up for dating apps and had to upload photos to show potential suitors, she chose images of her wearing pink contact lenses and adorned with twisted demon horns. After all, the 30-year-old loves to dress up.
While she works for the Department of Corrections by day, switching between stints in the office and as a prison guard, evenings and weekends are all about cosplay for the anime enthusiast.
“I don’t want dates to meet me and be like, ‘Why are you wearing pink contacts?'” laughs Cass, chatting to Woman’s Day about her passion for costumed role-playing. “I like to go out dancing and cosplay is my regular outfit, so I’ll often wear a wig and contacts with some crazy makeup.
“You get into the feeling of that character and people don’t recognise you, so it’s kind of like having a disguise!”
DC Comics’ Power Girl.
Fifteen years ago, after attending her first Armageddon Expo event in Auckland with a then-boyfriend, Cass fell in love with the creative world of costumes and characters.
She felt instantly at home amongst her fellow cosplaying peers, dressed as popular anime model Misa Amane from the Japanese manga series Death Note.
“I’ve always had a big imagination and loved dressing up. It made me happy. But it was difficult between intermediate and college because those are the awful, awkward hormonal years,” recalls Cass, whose other hobby is the gym, where she can lift a whopping 100kg.
“I liked dressing up emo and goth. I wore a top hat or bowties with fishnet gloves and tights. I got bullied a bit and stopped expressing myself for a few years.”
These days, she attends Armageddon every year,where sci-fi, gaming, anime and comic lovers combine for one giant dress-up. Cass loves talking about her hobby any chance she gets and has even shared stories of her pastime with inmates while working as a prison guard.
“Cosplay is completely alien to them,” she says. “I think they pictured Halloween parties or something because I couldn’t show them pictures since we’re not allowed phones in the prisons. They said, ‘Oh, wow, that’s so weird!'”
Cass has dressed up as many characters, including half-demon Inosuke from the series Demon Slayer, who has blue hair and wears fur. Although he appears wild and masculine, he has a pretty face when he pulls off a pig mask.
“I ended up buying a pretend pig head online, then I got a big piece of black fur that I cut down to size and sewed onto some blue pants. Then I painted shoes in the same colours and made swords,” enthuses Cass, who also loves Future Diary character Yuno Gasai. “Yuno has pink hair and pink eyes. She usually wears a schoolgirl outfit with a little phone and goes around killing people. She’s quite a crazy character, but she has a big heart. I can definitely vibe with that one!”
Getting cosplay-ready takes Cass around two and a half hours per event, including makeup, which she has taught herself from helpful YouTube videos. She also has plenty of inspiration at home in the form of anime figurines, masks, posters and swords, including one she handmade out of garden rods, thick paper, foam and spray paint.
Cass as Yuno Gasai from the anime series Future Diaries.
Thanks to browsing thrift shops and finding cheap stores online, the most Cass has spent on a cosplay costume has been a couple of hundred dollars. She encourages beginners to start off simple
by ordering a pre-made outfit, and describes the community as welcoming, supportive and non-judgemental.
“It’s all about having a good time and expressing yourself,” explains Cass, who shares regular cosplay updates on her Instagram @casplay.fitness.
“The events can be over-whelming because they’re packed, but it’s fascinating seeing so many different cosplays, and people in what looks like full armour, LED lights and robotics.
“I’ve always had a big imagination,” says Cass, whose looks can take over two hours to put together.
“Now that I’ve been in the scene for a while, I get a lot of people coming up to me asking for a photo with them and I love that! It always tickles my pickle.”
Although she hasn’t found love online or at a cosplay event just yet, when she does, Cass won’t be expecting her partner to share her hobby. But she does hope they’ll encourage her imaginative lifestyle.
“We’re a whole bunch of awkward nerds, so dating at events doesn’t ever really happen,” laughs Cass, who’s attending this December’s Armageddon as a male Poison Ivy. “I really should organise
a cosplay speed dating. Imagine it – Harley Quinn sitting across from Superman. That’d be awesome!”
