When Cinderella went to the ball, she wasn't greeted by the Joker and didn't dance with Darth Vader in a bow tie.
But, she wasn't in Tucson for the Renegade Masquerade Cosplay Ball, an event created to inspire fancy, ridiculous fun this Friday at Club Congress.
This isn't your typical, stuffy ball. Strange combinations — as long as there's an element of fancy — like superhero costumes and top hats or tiaras, will be all the rage.
The event, hosted by the Renegade Rollergirls of Tucson and Constant Con, will feature live music from local bands, red carpet photography and costume contests for best cosplay and best couples cosplay with prizes provided by Constant Con, Renegade Roller Derby and Hotel Congress.
Admission is just $5 and will help keep RROT and Constant Con afloat, said Suzi Berrie, who is the founder of the Renegades as well as a skater on the team.
"R.R.O.T. is a roller derby league that does not charge athletes to be a part of our organization...This makes buying uniforms for our team and travel hard sometimes, but with help from the community we’ve been able to do this for 5 years now," Berrie said. "Constant Con is a new creative store made up of over a dozen local artists and cartoonists that put together lots of fun events for the community every month from classes to parties, podcasts and video game nights...Continuing financial support keeps them entertaining us all with their art, knowledge and super fun events."
What is cosplay?
Katherine Dresser poses in a Mega Bloks display on Preview Night at the 2015 Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center Wednesday, July 8, 2015, in San Diego. The pop-culture event runs July 9-12. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP)
Cosplay, in short, is about dressing up in costumes, said Frank Powers, founder of Constant Con and an announcer for Renegade Roller Derby.
"It's a costume party, that's what it is," Powers said. "It is usually very character centric. Mostly pop culture characters. Super heroes, anime and video gaming are huge."
Deadpool, Harley Quinn and Joker are all expected to be popular costumes at the party, Powers said.
What to expect
Frank Powers, founder of Constant con, plans to host the Renegade Cosplay Masquerade party as the Joker.
Powers is playing host at the event, in a full Joker costume.
Attendees will receive "red carpet arrival," with photo backdrop and photos by Lucky Mint Cosplay Photography and will be able to buy nice photos right on sight, Powers said.
"We will have some retro video games, additional selfie spots, raffle tickets, two live bands — The Mission Creeps and Boogienauts," Powers said. "We are ecstatic to have The Mission Creeps involved."
Each person will get a raffle ticket upon entry to win fun swag bags. You'll also receive a goodie bag on the way out.
Powers and Berrie are expecting the masquerade ball to be pretty popular and are hoping to host another one in the future.
"I think that that the masquerade ball could honestly join Yacht Rock for an annual event," Powers said. "It's the middle of summer and its far enough from Halloween...People take time to do cosplay, so I think it's worth it to be able to do it more than once."
Have fun with your costume
Thrift shops are great places to snag costume pieces for the cosplay masquerade ball. In this recent photo J.Z. Belexes, 28, and Helen Hope, 24, look at the outfits at the thrift shop. They were also looking for costumes for Tucson Comic-Con.
"It's about dressing up. It's not about being Darth Vader. It's Darth Vader with a bow tie," Powers said. "Let's be ridiculous. Let's be Deadpool in a ball gown...It's not just your usual costume. You're not just Iron Man. You're fancy Iron Man. I think it's gonna be a hoot."
Berrie is going as her favorite comic book character, Rebecca Buck, aka "Tank Girl."
"You can dress up as a ritzy version of your favorite hero or villain, or even create your own character," Berrie said. "You can dig up that old Superman costume and throw on a top hat and monocle if you so choose, wear a shnazzy corset and a long flowing skirt and hot glue a Batgirl patch to it, even just throw a bowtie on and put a mask on your face. You can be as creative as you want to be."
Powers recommends dollar stores and thrift stores for costume pieces, such as simple masquerade masks, bow ties, tiaras or top hats.
"You can come in your underwear and a bow tie," Powers said. "Just anything that adds a touch of class to your average outfit."
