We were lucky to catch up with T and E Team Whatever Cosplay recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi T and E, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

We both took sewing classes and Teresa went on to Tailoring and Pattern Drafting from Johnson County Community College. After that it has been years of trial and error and experimentation to achieve the costume looks we are going for.

Sewing skills are a must. The techniques we learned are applicable to other forms of crafting like pepakura, 3D-Printing, foam armor crafting, etc. Being able to take a flat pattern and turn it into a 3D design works for so many things.

Many of the obstacles that once stood in our way have disappeared since cosplay has become more popular and accessible. Fabrics, craft materials, wigs, thermoplastics, costume makeup, and tools can be easily found locally where before inferior versions of these products were only available in big cities. Now there are also thousands of videos online of tutorials on how to acquire and perfect the skills needed to make amazing cosplays.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We met in high school almost 20 years ago and bonded over being incredibly nerdy and our love for crafting and making art. At the time we both had rudimentary sewing and crafting skills and it has been really fun watching how much we have changed in what we can accomplish. Our early costumes were cobbled together from bedsheets and hacked apart halloween costumes. It took several years after our initial meeting to create what would be known as Team Whatever Cosplay. The name came from a comic made by a friend about a group of superheroes designed after ourselves (did I mention we were incredibly nerdy?) that called themselves “Team Whatever Our Name Is”. We decided this was a bit wordy and shortened it to Team Whatever.

Nowadays our creations are less limited by access to materials and ability. We try to learn and implement a new skill set on almost every cosplay we make. We want to strive to make ourselves better cosplayers and not just rest on our laurels. We’ve been on a winning streak since 2010 and have been blessed that our cosplays have snagged a major award at every competition we’ve entered since that time. We have slowed down to help staff and judge cosplay contests since 2019, but fully intend on continuing to compete and perform at future competitions.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

A big part of what Team Whatever Cosplay does is the performance aspect of cosplay. While we absolutely love the creation part of our costumes, being able to wear them and embody our favorite characters is what we really enjoy. We have gone out of our way to go to conventions and shows where we are allowed to perform along with showing off our craftsmanship. We are both theater kids at heart and the showmanship is where we really shine.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Shortly after we reached Master level we were taking commissions for costumes, props, and wigs. At the time it seemed like the best way to reach and interact with our audience. Unfortunately we both also had full time jobs and were trying to spend our free time also making our own costumes and it was difficult to balance making things for others and ourselves. Eventually it got to the point where we just wanted to focus on our own cosplays and competitions. We still love helping with friends and family’s costumes, but do not take commissions for profit.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: TeamWhateverCosplay
• Facebook: TeamWhateverCosplay
• Twitter: WhateverCosplay

Image Credits
Melon Pop Stormcloud Photography Justin Teel