WhimsyCon 2021 Costume Spectacular Guidelines
WhimsyCon aims to be as true to the spirit of the ICG Fantasy & Scifi Guidelines as we can;
our focus is on happy costumers enjoying the chance to put on a great show. We welcome all
costumers of every skill level and style to take the stage. If you have questions, please send
an email to info@whimsycon.org.
Ready To Enter? Apply Here: https://forms.gle/hofNgEBnc1iQfc1N7
Stage Rules
1. No jumping off the stage. Use designated entrance & exits only.
2. No pyrotechnics, no confetti or glitter bombs, no water guns or blood splatters, no
projectiles. Don’t make a mess.
3. If it comes onstage with you, it must go offstage with you. Take this into consideration
with all costumes, accessories, props, or set pieces.
4. Do not interact with the emcees.
5.Violating any of the Stage Rules will result in automatic disqualification from event
and possibly expulsion from the convention itself.
Preparing to get on and off stage
1. Participation in a costume contest can require an hour or more of waiting in the
staging area, in addition to the planned hour-long show.
2. The staging area is NOT a secure location. Belongings must remain with you or your
handlers at all times.
3.Volunteers will be available to guide you on and off the stage, but if you think you’ll
need more attention than that, please engage a handler or assistant. Be sure to
include them on your registration form to ensure staging area access.
4. You have limited time on stage, so if you have an elaborate prop that takes work to
set up, that’s time away from your performance.
Sound and Music
We strongly encourage and enjoy entries with sound, but can happily provide limited
audio options for you. We recommend pre-recording and previewing your sound,
especially dialogue.
1. Please provide a single track MP3, edited to your needs. All prerecorded audio will be
screened for and may be altered.
2. If you do not have your own audio, we’ll provide! Just ask!
Tentative awards structure
Judges have final say dependent on attendance, division numbers, or other factors.
BEST IN SHOW
Best Presentation
Best Craftsmanship
Best Cobbled & Collected
Best Youth & Family
Best Recreation
Best Original Design
Judge’s Awards
FAQs
Q: I’ve never been in a costume contest before, what do I do?
A: Try it! We think WhimsyCon is a wonderful place to enjoy your first costume contest
experience. First-timers are usually considered novice or beginner because… “The Novice
division is to encourage beginners!”
Most costume contests consist of participants waiting in a ‘green room’ or backstage area
until showtime, when they’re queued backstage in the order arranged by a stage manager or
cosplay coordinator (or one of their volunteers). You might have an entry number. The
emcees will announce your entry and play sound or music as you ‘present’ or move across
the stage. You can do something as simple as a fashion show catwalk, a brief dance,
pantomime, or stage versions of martial arts.
Q: Can I wear a costume someone else made?
A: Absolutely! Purchased or otherwise not-made-by-you costumes are not eligible for
craftsmanship awards unless the fabricator is present/part of your group, in which case you
are the ‘model.’ Your presentation (your walk-on or skit) can be awarded as well! Please see
#14 under F&SF Competition Definitions below for details.
Q: Our group has lots of skill levels; what level are we?
A: “The level of the people playing a major part in the design and making of the costumes
determines the level at which a group competes.”
Q:What are divisions vs skill levels?
A: At WhimsyCon, divisions are ‘what kind of entry are you’ while skill levels are ‘how
experienced are you’. Craftsmanship, Cobbled & Collected, Exhibition, and Youth & Family
are our divisions and help determine your eligibility for awards.
Craftsmanship: You’ve handmade all or most of your costume yourself. You may
have accessories you purchased, like wigs & shoes. This category is eligible for any 2021 WhimsyCon Costume Spectacular Guidelines
and all awards from Best In Show to judges awards, including those for
presentation/performance.
Cobbled & Collected: You purchased the majority of your costume pieces and put it
all together to make something great! You are eligible for presentation & judges
awards, but do not quality for craftsmanship awards.
Exhibition: No pressure and no awards here, you just wanna get on stage and have a
good time!
Youth & Family: Got kids 12 and under in your group? This is for you! All Y&F entries
receive a participation award (and kids get treats, if it’s okay with guardians).
Skill levels include Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced for those seeking craftsmanship
judging; please see “F&SF Competition Definitions” for details and how to know where you fit.
Q: What level am I?
A: Continue reading the International Costumers’ Guild Guidelines to help you decide!
International Costumers’ Guild
Guidelines for International-Level Masquerades or Competitions
(Adopted May 24, 1992, amended February 21, 1994)
1. The intent of these guidelines is to encourage equitable competition in a diverse group of
people. The division system is designed to promote fairness and recognize differing
experience levels. The goal of awards at a masquerade is to recognize excellence. Please
remember that these are not rules but guidelines developed to help costumers, judges, and
masquerade directors alike.
Costumers are reminded that it is the masquerade director’s prerogative to choose his own
rules, which may be under the constraints of the sponsoring organization. Masquerade
directors are reminded that these guidelines were evolved through experience and are
approved by a majority of costumers.
Everyone is reminded that these guidelines should be interpreted both compassionately and
sensibly.
2. An international competition shall be defined as one that has been voted such status by
the ICG and whose competitors are regularly drawn from a wide international base.
Costume-Con and Worldcon masquerades are currently accepted as international level.
F&SF COMPETITION DEFINITIONS
3. The Fantasy and Science Fiction masquerade is a masquerade for costumes that reflect
speculative, fantasy, science fiction and/or mythological ideas.
“Junior/Youth” [“Youth & Family”]
4. Anyone younger who has made his/her own costume. There is no guideline for the age of
such persons. There is no guideline for the name of this division. It is suggested that a child 2021 WhimsyCon Costume Spectacular Guidelines
model an adult-made costume either out of competition or at the adult’s level. Directors are
encouraged to place entries containing younger participants near the beginning of the
masquerade regardless of what division they’re entered in. A “Junior/Youth” is encouraged to
seek counsel when deciding what adult division they should enter in.
Novice [“Beginner”]
5. The Novice division is to encourage beginners. You may not enter if you are a
professional, or are above Journeyman in regional competition, or have accomplished any of
the following in international competition: have won in a higher division, have won “Best-in-
Show” or have won in the Novice division a number of awards to be determined by the
masquerade director. There is no guideline on the number of Novice division awards a
person may win and continue to compete in this division.
Journeyman [“Intermediate”]
6. Journeyman is an interim division to allow further development of costuming skills. You
may not enter if you are a professional or have accomplished any of the following in
international competition: have won three times in the Journeyman division, have won in
Master, or have won “Best in Show.”
Master [“Advanced”]
7. The master division is an open class. Anyone may enter.
Supplements Applicable to All International Competitions
8. Award names or quotas must not be mandated. Excellence deserves award.
9. Any major award given in international competition counts towards moving up. Minor
awards include Honorable Mention. Minor awards do not include such other awards as
“Honored for Excellence”, numbered places such as “second”, etc., and awards such as
“workmanship” that are not given by an entire panel of judges.
10. Counting minor awards is left to the individual costumer’s discretion. Seeking advice is
encouraged.
11. A costume that has won a major award at the international level is no longer eligible to
compete at any level. A win at international level should be taken into account when
determining your regional status.
12. Costumers are encouraged to, and may always, enter at a higher level if they so wish,
including “Junior/Youth”. A person who chooses to compete up a level and wins must then
compete at that level. However, if a person competes up and does not win, in the future they
are free to compete at their original level.
13. The level of the people playing a major part in the design and making of the costumes
determines the level at which a group competes. The group should decide ahead of time how 2021 WhimsyCon Costume Spectacular Guidelines
credit for a win is to be awarded. If you are eligible to compete at a lower level than the group
is competing at, and the group wins, you may apply it as a win at your normal level or as a
win at the higher level, at your discretion.
14. The creator of a costume gets the credit for a win, regardless of the age of the model. If a
child modeling an adult’s costume wins, it counts on the adult’s record.
15. REPEALED, February 21, 1994.
16. Multiple wins for the same costume at the same competition count as one.
17. A costume taken from at least one visual source is generally termed a recreation. A
costume that extrapolates from a recreation is encouraged to seek advice on where to enter.
18. A professional is someone whom the masquerade director judges to be a professional.
There is no guideline for determining “professional” status.
19. A member of the immediate family (or moral equivalent) of a competing costumer shall
not be eligible to judge [a competition in which the member appears]. A major contributor to a
costume entry shall not be eligible to judge [a competition in which it is entered]. A person
should allow a year cooling off before judging an ex.
20. A masquerade director of an international competition may choose to use other than
these guidelines, either by his own preference or because of outside constraints. Though, of
course, a costumer always has the right not to participate in any competition, costumers are
reminded that attempts at any large-scale boycotts hurt both ourselves and the art of
costuming.
21. Individual costumers are encouraged to refer to these guidelines when trying to establish
where they stand after a win in an international competition that does not follow these
guidelines.
22. The masquerade director is the human on location who provides the sensibilities,
compassion, and special judgment that a list of rules or guidelines cannot have. The
masquerade director, whose decision is final, resolves questions on these guidelines.
Swank, Sandy. “Welcome To The Greater Delaware Valley Costumers Guild Home
Page.” GDVCG ICG Guidlines: Guidelines for International-Level Masquerades or
Competitions, www.costume.org/dvcg/guidelines.html. Accessed 7/29/2019.
Ready To Enter? Apply Here: https://forms.gle/hofNgEBnc1iQfc1N7