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I feel silly for asking this now, because I thought I knew, but what exactly were we judged on during the Hall Costume Contest? I had assumed it was just plain old craftsmanship, but during the awards I heard a lot about personality and being in character. I'm hoping to do better next year, so should I focus more on how I present myself, rather than just how I present my costume?

Also, what do judges want to hear? I was afraid if I launched into too MUCH detail I'd run out of time, or risk wasting the judges' time, but in the end I don't think I said enough. Materials, methods, details, etc.? Do they like hearing anecdotes or are they irrelevant?

I kind of feel like I wasted the judges' time anyway because I didn't say enough. Next year, I want to do it right.

Any input?

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The hall contest is soley a craftsmanship contest. All placing awards (first, 2nd, 3rd, best of) are based SOLELY on your craftsmanship. You don't have to act like the character or be built just like them to win ..That is what the Masquerade is about! The Judges awards can be given for anything, but they are generally given for craftsmanship. They however do not count in the grand scheme of things, they will not up your division (novice, journeyman, craftsman etc) or anything. They are just a nod from the judge of "hey you were cool"

Good Hall costume/Craftsmanship contests are never based on your presentation. Just how well you made the costume and how accurate it is to your given reference material.

Some things you can do to be better in front of the judges:

-Write down what you want to say on note cards. That way you are sure not to forget anything or stumble trying to think of what to say next.

- Don't talk about how cool the series is or anything like that. Judges don't care how cool the series is, they wanna know how you made the costume and that's pretty much it!

-Bring reference! As much reference as possible! And progress pictures if you can. Taking all this and putting it in a folder for the judges to keep is always AWESOME.You're being judged partially on how accurate the costume is, and judges aren't going to know every series, nor do they have time to go look all of them up.

- Speak up! If they can't hear you, it makes it harder!

Did that answer your question or help at all? if not let me know and I can clarify for you!! <3

Edited by Patches
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Oooh, progress pictures are a good idea... thanks, that helped a lot. <3 I did bring reference, but the judges didn't really look at it... but then they've probably seen my character about a billion times haha, so I'm not really surprised, I probably wouldn't have either. And I'll definitely do the note card thing, my biggest problem when I went in to be judged was that I suddenly blanked completely on what I wanted to say... and I'd been going over it for weeks! ): So definitely note cards haha.

Thank you!

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There was a minute of deliberations between each entry, which is often the time when judges discussed the costume, looked at the reference material and the photos that were taken.

One thing that's always helped me is to start from one end of the costume and work my way from that--for example, start with the wig and work my way down to the shoes. That way you're moving in a steady direction and you don't forget anything along the way! :D

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