If you have seen cosplay pictures from any American anime convention, chances are you have already witnessed the talent and beauty of Melanie Chorak, a.k.a Mistress Mel. She not only attends more conventions every year than most do in their entire lives, but also makes all of the costumes she wears herself. I had the pleasure of meeting Melanie at Otakon 2003, where she told me about this great hobby of hers that combines passions for sewing, traveling and anime, and could profit from her vast experience as a cosplayer, dressmaker, designer extraordinaire...

AA: How many conventions do you attend every year?

MM: Every year? Oh my goodness! I think last year it was around twelve. This year I'm cutting back a little because that is a lot of money, but I would probably say it averages ten conventions every year.

AA: And you've been doing this for how many years now?

MM: Anime Iowa will mark my third year cosplaying.

AA: Now the question on everyone's mind is: how do you find the time and money to attend all these cons?

MM: (laughs) It's a lot of small things like splitting room costs with as many people as you can and finding cheap airfare and cheap fabric. I have also taken some time off for myself before going to college, so I basically have all the free time in the world.

AA: Will you be able to keep up that pace for a long while?

MM: Well, I am planning to go to school soon, so I will have to slow down a little but it's going to be hard. Even though I'll be doing pretty much the same thing at school, I'm really going to miss traveling around. I adore traveling.

AA: What do your parents and friends think about all this?

MM: My mom actually wants to cosplay with me. She has a costume half-done. She is very supportive. She loves anime and she goes to conventions all the time. She actually requests particular conventions sometimes, like, "hey, let's go to this convention". If she pays for it, I never argue. Once in the convention center she actually goes off and does her own thing. She'll go see anime and panels while I'm running around doing my cosplay thing.

I have a few local friends that like to go to conventions, but they are very busy themselves with work and school so they find it a lot harder to make it to as many cons as I do. They go to, like, two or three every year… like most people. I'm a psychopath (laughs).

AA: Any favorite conventions?

MM: Animagic. I loooove Animagic. It is the best con. It is a very small convention in Lancaster, California. I forget if it's South or North of L.A. but it's in the middle of the desert.

AA: Do you generally prefer small ones?

MM: It really varies. For extravagant outfits I prefer the large convention because that's what makes them really fun. And since it takes a lot of effort do to the elaborate costumes, I save them for bigger cons where people just "wow" you. My Lulu costume, for example, takes me two hours to get into, and I don't know if that's worth it for a convention with around twenty cosplayers. But when I just want to hang out with my friends, small conventions are best since you can spend more time with each other instead of bumping into a person you know every few feet.

AA: What about Otakon? Where do you rank it in your favorite cons?

MM: Well, I like the convention itself. In general, it's a fun event, but I don't like the location. I don't like Baltimore. Last year, two different friends in different occasions were mugged and another one was assaulted in three in the afternoon. So, this city kind of scares me.

AA: Where do you spend the most time in a convention?

MM: I don't know (laughs). I mostly hang out with friends but it really varies. If I have been to a lot of panels and events in the previous convention, I'm more likely to just take time to myself and wander around the hallways and meet people.

AA: How many costumes do you usually wear during an entire convention?

MM: Normally, it's one every day. But I rarely cosplay on Sundays anymore so it's really about two costumes every weekend.

AA: What costume did you choose to wear this weekend?

MM: I already had on my Kingdom Heart Selphie costume. I was going to wear my new costume of the Otakon mascot that is in this year's T-shirt design where it looks like she's falling, but I forgot my thigh-highs.

AA: What do you get from cosplaying?

MM: It's more so that I just adore sewing. The only reward I get is the pride in what I do when I make something and I really like how it came out. Since I don't like to compete I only do it for myself.

AA: Even if you do not enjoy the competition aspect of masquerades, do you plan to do skits one day just for fun?

MM: Yeah, occasionally my friends will convince me to do a skit, but none of them have actually taken place. Like last year's Otakon I was going to be in the Final Fantasy VI skit, but they ran into too many complications and weren't able to do it at all. I was a little upset about that because it would have been really fun. I have been a fan of Final Fantasy VI even before I could even play the game and just watched my older brother play. Competition on my own is what I'm not fond of. If somebody comes up to me with a great idea from something I like and asks if I want to be a part of it, I'm more willing to accept the role.

AA: Is it at all for the attention you get and all the pictures being taken?

MM: Nah, that doesn't affect me in any way.

AA: Does the opposite ever happen when you have trouble taking a step without having to hold a pose?

MM: Yeah, that does become a little annoying sometimes. Like with my Lulu costume at A-Kon. I would move ten feet and get stopped, then move ten more feet and get stopped again…

AA: You are an extremely talented designer and do all of your costumes yourself. How much work and time do you usually put into each of your costumes?

MM: Oh God, I spend a lot of time. I'm very meticulous. I like everything to be crisp and neat. I hope to do this professionally someday. I want to go to fashion school or costume school soon. I haven't really decided yet, but I'm trying to be as professional as possible.

AA: Do you see it as practice for your future career?

MM: Yeah, very much so. I like to challenge myself.

AA: Does it get easier every time?

MM: It depends. If it's something I have never done before, it's still a challenge. But if it has a lot of elements I have done previously, I find it a little easier.

AA: What would be the hardest part of making a costume from scratch?

MM: Again, that varies. If it's an original costume, the designing aspect really is the hardest part, trying to figure out how to lay everything out without having the costume rip apart during the convention. If it's from an anime or game with reference images, the hardest part is probably the props and accessories. I like to make those myself, as well. Lately I have been getting some help on learning how to make props from one of my local friends. I love sewing so that generally isn't a problem.

AA: What about the cost?

MM: An average costume normally costs me from $150 to $200 just for the fabric and other materials, like wires and plastic. To help with the cost I look for sales and go to Wal-Mart. Sometimes you can find great stuff there. Plus, Wal-Mart is the home of the "dollar-a-yard" fabric; that's the best! I'm not really good at estimating how much I need and I usually end up with a few extra yards, but that doesn't bother me when I know I only paid a dollar for each one.

AA: You once said "race and appearance shouldn't matter when cosplaying, but the important thing is to have fun". That is a very honorable philosophy, but how far do you go to look exactly like the character you are cosplaying as?

MM: I've never done anything too far out of my range. But one of my friends at Anime Expo did Ansem from Kingdom Hearts and he bought stage makeup of a very dark, brownish color, and covered his whole face with it. I guess I would do that to some extent. If I were to do a character like that I probably would go that far, but I have never actually done anything that extreme. For my Gothic Lolita, I put on pale makeup or wear red contacts for my Lulu costume. I will go to certain extremes unless it gets too pricey.

AA: Do you always try to remain practical?

MM: Sometimes, yes. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I'm in the mood to just go all out and sometimes I feel as if I fried my mind on a previous costume so I pick a school uniform.

AA: What would your favorite character be?

MM: My favorite character is Yukari from Paradise Kiss.

AA: Because of the character itself or the costume?

AA: What about costume-wise?

MM: It's hard to choose, I have so many. Probably Freya from Chobits because it's just fun to wear. It has all these layers of fabric and I love the work I put into it.

AA: I hear it is a dream of yours to launch your own line of clothing.

MM: Yes, a friend and I were talking about it. We want to open a store on 8th street in San Francisco, and it would be a collection of his designs and my designs and we'll make them together. I think that would be a really great idea.

AA: The best of luck with that and again, thank you very much for your time.

MM: Thank you, it's no problem at all.

Mistress Mel did participate in Otakon 2003's masquerade but as a member of the judging panel, finally wearing her Hiroko-chan 2003 costume. Her judge's choice award went to the hilarious stand up comedy of Cid, who almost knocked her down while getting his prize. We can hope to see her beautiful costumes in many more conventions, and if I were you, I would keep an eye open for that store in San Francisco: her homemade, everyday clothes are a sight for sore eyes, as well.