Costume College vs. Con

[gwendolyngrey]

 To begin at the beginning, I REALLY wanted to go to Costume College next year. I knew there was no way I could afford it this year, what with the England trip, and I'll be graduating in 2009 and will have to be worrying more about paying off student loans and going to grad school (or getting some sort of job to pay for grad school) then having fun at costumey sort of things. 2008 is the only year I can see in the near future that  will work out for this sort of thing.

I've heard SO many wonderful things about Costume College that I felt secure that it wouldn't be a waste of money to go all the way to California for a long weekend. Now that Costume College is no longer an option, I've started thinking about Costume Con instead. The only thing is, I haven't heard much firsthand about it, and I don't know if it would be worth the money to fly out to San Jose (I think that's where it is). And I wouldn't want to go all by myself and then NOT know anybody.

I guess what I'm really wondering is who here on LJ is planning to go to Costume Con next year, and if anyone who's been would honestly recommend it as a viable Costume College alternative.

Comments

[demode.livejournal.com]

I'll be there, as will many other LJ people. Off the top of my head -- trystbat, sarahbellem, bast_kitten, bbscaife, ithilwyn, koshka_the_cat, I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

As to being a viable alternative to Costume College, I think it is. The one previous Costume Con that I went to didn't yank my chain quite as much as College, and that was because of A) the panel format (instead of classes - lectures/demos/workshops - it's more a selection of people talking about a given costume-related topic in a chattier format) and B) the focus on scifi/fantasy/media costuming (I'm more historical). However, knowing many of the people going and the Bay Area costuming community (which rocks!), I think this one will be fabulous, and I believe there will be more panels of interest to me. The other big difference between College and Con is the masquerade (costume competition) at Con. That was very fun to watch,a nd I think would be fun to enter. There are at both tons of opportunities to dress up and socialize. So come!

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what Kendra said. This CC is on GBACG turf, so there's going to a bigger historical costuming focus than in years past (where the historical masquerade often included more fantasy with a historical flavor than anything else). So, if that yanks your chain, then San Jose is the place to be in April 2008.

Personally getting to know the people running this Con has made me feel pretty good about the prospects for fun and frivolity. :)

[jubilima.livejournal.com]

Con was pretty well pimped to me while I was at CC, so I am totally leaning toward going. Plus, if we room together, that's a headache taken care of already. :)

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

How about this: if you decide to go to CC26 for sure, I'll go too (and as you said, the horrible roommate search would be taken care of).

[bauhausfrau.livejournal.com]

What they said above.

I'm planning on going to costume con. I usually go to both. College is more social and class oriented and Con is more panel and competition oriented. I think it will be a nice con for you to go to in lieu of C College.