By the time this post is published, CONvergence will be over. If all goes well, I will be debuting a new cosplay and improving on a cosplay I have done in the past. One of my go-to CONvergence cosplays has been Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood is a simple cosplay. It’s the red hood, a white corset shirt, a black skirt, and the basket. The basket serves as my purse for the day. It’s bulky to carry around, but it holds so many convention essentials. I thought for my next cosplay reflection post, Red Riding Hood would be fitting since it’s a cosplay I have worn at CONvergence before. Red Riding Hood has become a cosplay staple for me.

Red Riding Hood is a cosplay I rent. Through word of mouth, I found out about someone who was advertising renting costumes. They had a variety of different costumes including Snow White, Leia, Wonder Woman, and other costumes. They used to have a Facebook page created for their business, but when I went to link to it, it looks like it was deleted. One of the cosplays I would rent the most was Red Riding Hood because I knew the cosplay fit and it was comfortable. As far as cost, it would depend. It depended on whether I would wear it to multiple conventions, how long I would keep the cosplay for, and how much was I renting. It’s hard to put this into an exact dollar amount. I can confirm that I never paid more than $80 for one cosplay.

With my cosplay reflection posts, I will break down each cosplay based on a series of prompts. Why did I choose this cosplay? How easy was this cosplay to put together? When did I wear this cosplay for the first time? Do I still wear this cosplay, and would I cosplay from this fandom again?

Why did I choose this cosplay?

This cosplay was presented to me versus me choosing to cosplay Red Riding Hood. During one of my costume consults, they suggested Red Riding Hood and once I tried it on, I knew that this was what I was going to rent.

How easy was this cosplay to put together?

This is the easiest cosplay because I didn’t have to put it together. The costume and the accessories were handed to me. I didn’t have to put any effort into this and once I was finished wearing Red Riding Hood, I simply dropped it off at a designated time.

When did I wear this cosplay for the first time?

I want to say the first time I wore this was CONvergence 2023. I scrolled through my convention photos and that was the earliest photo I could find.

Do I still wear this cosplay?

Yes! As long as it’s available to rent. I usually cosplay as Red Riding Hood for both CONvergence and Gen Con. This year will be different since I’m not going to Gen Con. Additionally, I already have my pre-planned cosplays for CONvergence and Red Riding Hood is not one of them. However, it doesn’t take away from the fact that I love this cosplay. Hopefully, I can wear this cosplay before the end of the year.

Would I cosplay from this fandom in the future?

This is a challenging question to answer. Red Riding Hood isn’t a part of a fandom, really. Red Riding Hood is a fairytale, so are fairytales considered a fandom? I don’t think I can answer this with a simple yes or a no. I think Red Riding Hood has inspired me to cosplay in a different way. Cosplay doesn’t have to be creating a costume that ties back to a character from a specific medium. It could be anything! It could be putting costume pieces together and creating a new character in costume. Red Riding Hood was part of the process of cosplaying in a different way than I was used to.

Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite cosplays and it’s been nice to cosplay this over and over again. It’s also great that I can rent this costume because it leaves more room in my closet for my other cosplays. I’d highly recommend renting a costume if you can. It’s a way to be thrifty and to cosplay without costumes taking up as much space.