By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Having been a costume player for six years, Ricah Baltazar admitted that costume play or popularly known as “cosplay” has influenced the way she dresses today.

Baltazar, 21 years old, considered her black punk outfit during the interview as an everyday wear. Being an anime fan influenced her to join cosplays.

“From anime, na-introduce ang cosplay. Then, from cosplay, na-open up ang iba’t ibang klase ng fashion sense [Cosplay was introduced through anime characters. Then, cosplay opened opportunities for other fashion],” said Baltazar.

One of the fashion styles that influenced Baltazar was Gothic Lolita. Japanese Lifestyle defined Gothic Lolita as a Victorian style fashion sense among Japanese adolescents and noted that the style is a subculture that began in 1997 and was later turned into a clothing genre in 2001 as it became available in major department stores.

At 15, Baltazar began joining cosplays. She remembers saving up P3,000 for a costume. But now that she is working, she spends P6,000 for a tailor-made costume.

“Kung maraming details, mas mahal. I am a very detailed cosplayer kasi kaya as perfect as close to the character as possible. [If the costume has a lot of details on it, it’s more expensive. Since I’m conscious with the details of the costume, I want it to be close to perfect to the character as possible],” explained Baltazar.

Dressed up like an anime character or wearing a gothic Lolita outfit with red hair — which she dyed a number of times for 4 years — Baltazar said she still gets mixed reactions from people she meets.

“Minsan unkind yung mga comments like stereotypes, emo, fantaserye. Some of them are friendly. Depende na rin un sa kung alam kasi ng tao ‘yung ginagawa namin. The more exposure, the more that they know, the more that they will understand. [Sometimes, I receive unkind comments like I am being stereotyped as an emo or a character in a fantasy series. Some are friendly. It depends whether the person know what we’re doing. The more exposure that costume players get, the more people will be informed. Hence, they will understand.],” said Baltazar.

For six years since Baltazar started joining cosplays, she has collected 11 costumes, two gothic Lolita outfits and six wigs.

Cosplay is about having fun and making the characters come to life, added Baltazar.

“We just want to have fun. We enjoy cosplay, copying characters. Just a hobby really,” stressed Baltazar.