As cosplay becomes more and more popular, cosplay competitions and contests have grown to be a more important and exciting aspect of conventions across the country. The national cosplay championships ready finalists for the world cosplay summit, where they get to represent their countries with their hard work and talent. However, it's come to our attention more and more lately that there appears to be a bias in the cosplay community towards costumes made up of armor or armor pieces. Because this medium is newer, and things like EVA foam and worbla are exciting novelties, we seem to be seeing a higher and higher percentage of appreciation and admiration for cosplayers who make and wear armor. This is wonderful, of course. No doubt about it, the community can and should expand into as many mediums as it can, and it's wonderful to see. But it gets to a point where we need to consider: if the community and its trends are changing, maybe the rules should start to change too.

Here's what we propose: separate the armor construction and sewing contestants into two separate categories. For example: Beginner Armor, Beginner Sewing, Intermediate Armor, Intermediate Sewing, Master Armor, Master Sewing, and so on. 

Comparing these two mediums is like comparing apples to oranges. They're both fruit. They're both forms of cosplay. But they're undeniably different. They require wildly different skill sets, materials, and experience. One cosplayer may pour hundreds of hours into embroidery, beading, hemming, and hand-sewing, while another may put in the same amount of work into dremeling, glueing, hand painting, and airbrushing. When we pit these two cosplayers against one another, we risk undermining the work of one because the other is newer or bigger-- literally, bigger. Armor tends to take up space. As conventions are held and cosplay contests proceed, the trend continues: armor wins out over sewn garments 99% of the time. It's time to make a change. We can separate these categories and appreciate the talent and dedication of more cosplayers, while showcasing how many wonderful and different ways there are to cosplay to begin with.

Let's stop making unfair contests with too much room for bias, and start honoring the incredible members of this community for all the amazing different things they can do.