The WonderCon 2025 Masquerade featured 29 entries, some as solo costumes and some as group entries, making for a total of 46 costumes presented on the stage. As usual, there was a mix of clever re-creations and fully original designs, plus a few entries that fit into both categories as they were either based on animated characters, illustrations, or new interpretations of recognizable characters. The largest group was seven members, and there were some groups of four and five. In addition to the WonderCon trophies and Honorable Mentions given by the guest judges panel, there were organizations, a company, and a pair of our judges that provided their own impressive gifts, cash, and other awards to the winners that they selected, which included an impressive sewing machine! 

A big thank you to this year’s Masquerade sponsor, returning after sponsoring our 2024 Masquerade as well. S.G. Blaise is the author of the award-winning book series The Last Lumenian and the Mythical Hunters comic book series. We appreciate her helping us and the contestants make those thousands of smiles Saturday night! She had a front-row seat for the entire show and thanked the contestants for sharing their amazing work. 

Also, a big thank you to our emcee, our guest judges, and the intermission performance groups, all of whom donated their time and talents to the event. We really appreciate them supporting and encouraging the cosplayers who put so much work and heart into their costume creations. 

Our emcee for this year’s Masquerade was once again Ashley Eckstein. Ashley is widely recognized as an actress, author, designer, entrepreneur, host, inspirational speaker, and producer. Known by many fans for originating the character of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars, she voices Ahsoka in projects such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Ashley founded the fashion and lifestyle brand Her Universe, and her designs can be found at Disney Parks worldwide. Ashley is currently co-creator, executive producer, and star of a new audio drama for Disney Publishing. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness and is a champion for the Nationwide Children’s “On Our Sleeves” movement.  

For the judging intermission, the audience was treated to an amazing modern dance performance by the talented 25 members of the Corps Dance Crew, this year with a Dungeons & Dragons game theme. Following their show was an amazing 35-person Star Wars lightsaber-filled show by the Lucasfilm-approved Saber Guild performance group and this year the Orange County chapter was joined by members from Los Angeles, Oxnard, San Diego, and Las Vegas chapters! Both of these highly talented groups perform at many conventions, charity events, and other special events, and always present terrific shows with lots of great costuming!  

Our very enthused audience was estimated at nearly 1,800. Lighting, sound, and video services, including the giant projection screens and lighting effects, were again expertly provided by the team at Show Imaging. 

WonderCon Trophy Winners and Honorable Mentions:

These winners also received complimentary 3-day badges for next year’s WonderCon!

Pinakamahusay Sa Ipakita:

“Night Sisters” was a three-person original design entry that greatly impressed the judges and audience with their impressive amount of craftsmanship, creativity, and presentation. Designed, made, and worn by Cindy Purchase, Lisa Truong, and Mia Saenz.

Pagpili ng mga Hurado:

 “Nightmare Fantasmic” was a re-creation inspired by the Fantasmic! nighttime Disney parks show, which, like the show itself, featured a clever and original onstage transformation, turning the beautiful evil queen into the scary hunched hag, partially accomplished via a life-sized puppet! It was designed and made by Kstroobz Cosplay and Daryl Storey; and worn by Kstroobz Cosplay. 

Pinakamahusay na Muling Paglikha:

“Dorian Storm” was an amazing re-creation from the popular Critical Role video game, with over 13,000 beads, steel chainmail, and hand-embossed leather, and with blue-tinted skin to match! Designed, made, and worn by BronDoesCosplay. 

Pinakamahusay na Orihinal na Disenyo:

“Four” was a lovely, fully original design inspired by the character “4” that appears in The Battle for Dream Island animation series as featured on YouTube. It was designed, made, and worn by Stage Props Cosplay.

Pinakamahusay na Pagkagawa: 

“Hatsune Miku Symphony 5th Anniversary Version” was a beautiful and elegant re-creation, bringing to life the design made by the popular Chinese illustrator Rella. 100% self-patterned, taking 253 days to complete, featuring EVA foam work, a fully reconstructed wig, and consisting of two structured dresses that utilized diverse types of corset boning. Designed, made, and worn by Gothikirby Cosplay. 

Pinakamaganda:

“Framboise Showtime” was a re-creation inspired by the amazing work of the Japanese illustrator Sakizo. Taking a costume from a fantasy illustration into an actual wearable costume requires extra ingenuity and skill, and this one accomplished that with impressive beauty as well! Worn and made by Cloudd Berryy.

Karamihan sa mga Nakakatawa:

“Fellowship of the Pumpkin,” was a four-person original design “mash-up,” meshing together Lord of the Rings and Cinderella in a very clever and entertaining way! Created with 100s of hours of self-drafting, hand embroidery, fabric painting, and a little bit of magic. Designed, made, and worn by Prue Dense, Whitley, Ryan, and Brian.

Best Young Fan:

“Predator” was a terrifying but artful original design of a re-created character from the movie and comics series. Made and worn, with very scary sound effects to go with it, by Ghost Girard. 

Also impressing the judges, but just missing a trophy win, were the four Honorable Mentions:

Honorable Mention for Best Workmanship: 

“Warhammer 40K: Lost in Time” was a five-person original design entry bringing incredible “powered armor” costumes to the stage, heavily inspired by the popular miniature-using tabletop game Warhammer 40K. Just transporting the costumes and getting them up onto the stage was an impressive achievement. Designed and made by Beyonder Joe. Worn by Joe, Michael, and Amanda Ramirez, with Michele Dickinson.

Honorable Mention for Original Design:

“Dark Skull Night,” inspired by the world of Dungeons & Dragons, this very impressive costume truly took command of the stage with his presence. Designed, worn, and made by Lord Power.

Honorable Mention for The Sweetest: 

“Strawberry Shortcake,” this charming and fun re-creation of the animated 1980s and later TV and toy character captured the look and character about as perfectly as you can get! Made and worn by Astros_Here.

Honorable Mention for Best Moves: 

“Barbie’s Dance Party” was a seven-person fun re-creation of a big blow-out party by the world’s most famous doll, featuring many outfits that Barbie fans would recognize. Worn and made by Brianna Roecks, Kie Shimokawa, Caroline Smeby, Lynleigh Sato, Ashley Brown, Wendy Colon, and Colleen Crews.

Industry and Organization awards:

In addition to the above awards decided by our judging panel, the following companies and organizations donated their own generous awards, with their representatives selecting their winners.

From The Frank & Son Collectable Show: A $500 cash award to what their representative deemed to be the audience favorite, by the amount of applause, was presented to “The Greatest Sith of All Time,” an original design inspired by Star Wars but with many unique elements, made and worn by David Silva. The Frank and Son Collectible Show, in the City of Industry, California, presents twice-weekly huge collectibles shows, including special signings and much more. They have donated generous prizes to our competitions for many years! 

The Oksana Shore Award for Excellence in Craftsmanship: Beginning at the Comic-Con International 2023 Masquerade, professional costume designer Jennifer May Nichols created the Oksana Shore Award for Excellence in Craftsmanship in honor of the passing of her dear friend and friend to many in the industry, the -incredibly talented costumer Oksana Shore. This was its second presentation at WonderCon and was given to “Dorian Storm,” a re-creation from the Critical Role video game, with over 13,000 beads, steel chainmail, and hand-embossed leather. It was made and worn by Bron Does Cosplay, who received thread sampler sets donated by Sulky, gorgeous, hand-forged, and engraved shears from Famoré, a Tamiko Creations accessory pack, a $400 Bernette B05 Academy sewing machine, and an exclusive feature on The Art of Costume series podcast! 

From The Costumer’s Guild West: Their award was presented to the entry “Elphaba Thropp,” a terrific re-creation from Wicked, made and worn by Noc Bat Cosplay. The Costumer’s Guild West, a California nonprofit costuming fandom group, presented the winner with a one-year membership to their CGW group and a full weekend scholarship and one night’s complimentary hotel stay to their annual weekend conference, Costume College®, held in July each year in Los Angeles. Costume College promotes the art of costuming by providing educational lectures and workshops on all aspects of costuming! 

The Comic-Con International Alan Campbell Award: Guest judge Spencer Williams, host of the popular The Art of Costume podcast, where he shares interviews with costume designers from all over the world, chose the winner and presented this $500 cash award to “Super Sailor Jupiter” made and worn by Missmunchee. The San Diego Comic Convention Board of Directors gives this award in memory of a long-time committee member and board member, Alan Campbell, who passed away and is sorely missed. Alan was a great fan of the Masquerade, often generously donating his own prize. This award was for the entry deemed the best re-creation from comic books or related media.

The WonderCon 2025 Guest Judges Bios: We are thrilled that these busy individuals attend our show, donate their entire Saturday evenings as our judges, and give our contestants the unique opportunity to meet with them and share their common passions for costumes. They arrive backstage hours before the show to personally view and speak to each entrant close up, listening to what the makers have to say about their costumes and crafting process. Then, after watching each entry present their costume to the audience, they sequester together to compare notes and make their decisions:  

Jennifer May Nickel was classically trained in theatre and holds an MFA in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon University. She also studied in England at Oxford University (St. Edmund’s College: Myth and Ritual in Theatre) and at East Stroudsburg University (BFA Theatre). For television, Jennifer’s costume design credits include the CW Network’s Gotham Knights, also Legacies, as well as Containment, Netflix’s Cabin with Bert Kreisher, Taylor Tomlinson: Look at You, and Quarter-Life Crisis, as well as shows for Syfy, Hulu, Nickelodeon, TLC, and The History Channel. She is a member of the Costume Designer’s Guild Local 892, the union of professional costume designers, assistant costume designers, and costume illustrators working in film, television, commercials, and other media. She has judged previously for Masquerades at WonderCon and Comic-Con International in San Diego.  

Claire Mildred is a professional costume designer, and while now creating costumes for many movies and television productions, she got her start in competitive cosplay, which grew into a passion for costume design. Following her study of Costume Design at Carnegie Mellon University, and her experience as a costuming intern for the Emmys/Television Academy, she gained many feature credits that include Et Tu, starring Lou Diamond Phillips alongside Malcolm McDowell, and Hard Miles, starring Matthew Modine alongside Sean Astin. She has judged with our Masquerades before at both WonderCon and Comic-Con International in San Diego.  

Yaya Han was an invited special guest of WonderCon for this year. She is a cosplayer, designer, and author with more than 25 years of activity in the fandom world. Besides producing over 400 costumes with her high level of craftsmanship skills, Yaya is the first cosplayer to form a bridge between the cosplay and crafting industry. She single-handedly brought cosplay-focused crafting products to mass retail, from a Yaya Han sewing machine to fabric and pattern collections. Yaya has served as a judge for cosplay contests since 2001, including the largest international competitions in the world and on the network TV shows Heroes of Cosplay and King of the Nerds. She chronicled the evolution of modern cosplay in the book Yaya Han’s World of Cosplay and is widely viewed as one of the pioneers of the cosplay ecosystem. 

Spencer Williams is the Lead Editor and Podcast Host at The Art of Costume, the popular series dedicated to highlighting the best in motion picture, television, and theatre costume design. The platform focuses not only on spotlighting incredible costumes, but also on costume designers throughout the world. He has also moderated panels featuring professional costume designers and makers both at WonderCon as well as Comic-Con International in San Diego.  

Once again, the WonderCon Masquerade team gives our great appreciation to our sponsor, S.G. Blaise, all the contestants, the judges, our emcee Ashley Eckstein, the intermission performers, and the companies and organizations that generously donated prizes. Together, we celebrated the talents, cleverness, originality, and dedication of the attendees that create and share their great costumes at the convention. Thank you for making WonderCon’s 2025 Masquerade an event full of smiles and fun. See you next year!

Pinakamahusay Sa Ipakita: "Ang Fellowship ng The WonderCon"

Itinampok ang isang 14 na tao Muling Paglikha ng mga character mula sa Panginoon ng mga singsing, na may kamangha manghang ganap na orihinal na crafting sa buong at isang mahusay na masaya na pagtatanghal. Ginawa ng Naomi@ThatTallPrincess, Chelsea@ElementOfFun, at ng kanilang mga kaibigan. Isinusuot nina Naomi, Chelsea, Arielle, Aaron, Rob, Kaiyah, Liz, Karley, Kenya, Amber, Sam, Skyler, Cameron, at Natalie.

Masquerade ng WonderCon 2023

Ang 2023 WonderCon Masquerade ay nagtampok ng 29 mga entry, ang ilan bilang solo entry, ang ilan bilang mga grupo, na gumagawa para sa isang kabuuang 40 costumes pagkakaroon ng kanilang mga turn sa entablado. Tulad ng dati ay may halo ng mga matalinong Muling Paglikha at ganap na Orihinal na Mga Disenyo, plus ilang mga entry na medyo magkasya sa parehong mga kategorya dahil ang mga ito ay orihinal na mga disenyo para sa kung hindi man nakikilala na mga character. Bukod sa WonderCon trophies at Honorable Mentions na ibinigay, may anim na organisasyon at kumpanya na nagbigay din ng generous cash at iba pang sariling awards.

Ang aming mahusay na Mistress of Ceremonies ay si Ashley Eckstein. Si Ashley ay malawak na kinilala at pinarangalan bilang isang artista, negosyante, at may akda. Sa mga tagahanga ng WonderCon malamang na siya ay pinakamahusay na kilala bilang tinig ni Ahsoka Tano sa Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, at Star Wars: Forces of Destiny. Si Ashley din ang nagtatag ng Her Universe, isang napakapopular na fashion at lifestyle brand para sa mga tagahanga. Si Ashley ay isa ring madamdaming tagapagtaguyod para sa kamalayan sa kalusugan ng isip at isang kampeon para sa kilusang "On Our Sleeves" ng mga Bata sa buong bansa.

Para sa Judging intermission, ang mga manonood ay ginagamot sa isang masayang modernong pagganap ng sayaw ng mataas na mahuhusay na 20 miyembro na Corps Dance Crew, na sinundan ng isang 20 miyembro Star Wars light-saber story performance ng grupo ng Temple Prime Saber Guild na inaprubahan ng Lucasfilm. Ang parehong mga grupong ito ay gumaganap sa maraming mga kombensyon, mga kaganapan sa kawanggawa, at iba pang mga espesyal na kaganapan sa buong katimugang California, at habang hindi propesyonal sa katayuan, palaging nagbibigay ng kakila kilabot, koreograpikong palabas na may maraming mahusay na costuming.

Ang aming lubos na madla ay magkakaiba sa laki sa loob ng 2 oras at 20-minutong kaganapan, at sa kabuuan nito ay halos 2,000 ang bilang.