Cosplayer Spotlight
MEET CADE!
1. What's your name?
Cade Grimm
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2 Where are you from?
Grand Rapids, Michigan
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3. What comic-cons have you been to?
ACE comic con Chicago, soon to be ACE comic con Boston,
C2E2, Grand Rapids Comic Con, Tulip City comic con, and JAFAX.
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4. How many comic-cons have you been to?
I’ve been to 12 conventions.
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5. Which comic-cons have you cosplayed at?
Grand Rapids comic con, Tulip City comic con, and JAFAX.
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6. Who is your favorite person to cosplay as?
Loki
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7. Who have you cosplayed as?
Bellatrix, Tom Riddle, Jack Frost, and various versions of Loki.
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8. Which cosplay that you made was your favorite?
Loki from Thor: Ragnarok
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9. What materials do you use to make your cosplays?
My favorite material to work with is Aves Apoxie Sculpt. That’s what I primarily use when making armor and other props. It sculpts like clay, but dries with minimal shrinking and zero cracking. It’s only downfall is that it is heavy and relatively fragile. My second go-to material to use for armor and props is Worbla. It’s very easy to use and it isn’t going to break if dropped like Apoxie often does. The fabric that I use is most often from Joann Fabrics, but if I want to use genuine leather for screen accuracy, I often repurpose leather from old coats that I find at thrift stores, or I purchase scraps from Tandy Leather.
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10. Can you walk me through making one of your cosplays?
The first thing that I do is research. I gather as many reference photos as I possibly can. Once I feel confident that I have enough reference material to work with, I then begin to make the pattern by pinning pieces of plain white cotton fabric to a dress form. I do this so that I can draw the pattern on the white cotton and then take the fabric off of the dress form and cut out each piece in the shape that I've drawn. I can then trace the pieces onto whatever fabric I want the finished costume to be made from and sew those pieces together to make the finished base for the cosplay. I also use my dress form to sculpt whatever armor I need by covering it in thin plastic sheets and sculpting directly into them in the shape that I want. I’ve also sculpted directly onto myself in order to have the armor 100% fitted to the shape of my body.
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11. Do you have any future cosplay plans?
My current plan is to make Loki’s costume from the first Avengers film. I’ve been wanting to make that costume since 2012, and I finally feel confident enough in my abilities to get it done.
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12. What does cosplay mean to you and why do you cosplay?
Cosplay allows me a sort of escape from reality. I can, for just a moment, pretend that I’m someone else. It also allows me to socialize with people who share similar interests without feeling so pressured to “fit in”. Being transgender, I often feel uncomfortable interacting with new people because I’m always afraid that they’re not perceiving me as I want to be perceived, but my costumes give me a sense of security when I’m wearing them. No one is really concerned with what my gender is. They just care about what character I’m cosplaying as, which is often a relief.
13. What is your favorite part or aspect of cosplaying?
My favorite part about cosplay is the creating aspect of it. I love working on the details and I feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I create something new that I’m happy with.
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14. Do you have a cosplay inspiration?
I feel inspired by the characters that I cosplay as. Some of them because I simply like the costumes that they wear, or because I connect with the character that I’m cosplaying. I also feel inspired to continue cosplaying by other cosplayers that I have met and whose work I find incredible.
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15. Do you have any advice for aspiring cosplayers?
My advice would be to keep going, even if you’re feeling discouraged. Some costumes are very difficult to make and they’re going to take time and tears before you’re happy with the outcome. Just keep trying until you succeed, even if it takes a long time. If you’re really passionate about the project, then you’ll get it done eventually and then you’ll feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
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Follow Cade on Twitter! @CadeRGrimm
Follow Cade on Instagram! @spacegrackle
