Credits
Host: Maggie Blaha
Theme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name
It was the month before DragonCon when I visited Atlanta’s first-ever cosplay yard sale in 2017. The event gave local cosplayers a chance to rid their closets of costumes and props they’d been holding on to for years or find something new to complete their ensembles for upcoming conventions.
I talked with Cindy and Laura, 2 young women who were very active in the cosplaying community, about some of the pieces they were selling. Both of them had been holding on to most of their stuff for at least 10 years, and they expressed a desire to find their old costume pieces “good homes.” I thought this was interesting, and I wonder if it’s a sentiment that’s at the heart of all garage sales: you want your treasured possessions to have a new life with someone who will truly appreciate them.
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Episode transcript
INTRO.
Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.
THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)
Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in each episode of the podcast I’ll be checking out a garage in the Atlanta area (and sometimes outside of it) to talk to people about the things they’re selling.
In this episode, I’m going to be talking about a different kind of yard sale that I visited in August 2017. It was different in the sense that it wasn’t hosted in the front yard of someone’s home in a small, suburban neighborhood, but in 2 conference rooms of a Courtyard hotel here in Atlanta. It was also different because the rooms were lined with tables and booths that were set up by people looking to find a good home for their Japanese katanas, Wonder Woman costumes, and comic book character figurines.
I learned about the first-ever Atlanta Cosplay Yard Sale on Facebook—I believe a friend of mine indicated they were interested in attending, which is why it showed up in my feed—and I figured I’d go and see if anyone would be willing to talk with me.
It was about a month before DragonCon, which is a huge multi-genre convention that takes place every year in downtown Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, so it was the perfect time for a cosplay yard sale. The event post I found read:
It's almost time for DragonCon! Don't have your costume ready? Need to pick up a few items for the one you're working on?
Or maybe you need some extra money for DragonCon and it's time to sell off some of those pieces that you've been looking to get rid of.
This is the first Atlanta Cosplay Yard Sale. All vendors are welcomed and space is very limited!
I’ve never been to DragonCon myself, but I have a lot of friends who go every year, and I’ve been to Comic Con in New York a few times, so I know how much time, effort, and money go into putting a costume together. And for people who really get into cosplay and attend multiple events around the world, props and wigs and makeup can accumulate quickly.
Most of the vendors had racks and boxes full of clothing for sale. A few even had pictures of models wearing different costumes they were selling so people could get a better idea of what they would look like. I have to admit that the event wasn’t quite what I was expecting. For one, it was smaller than I thought it would be—a lot smaller. And I also thought it would feel more like a comic book convention, but it didn’t. It kind of just felt like any other rummage sale.
But for many of the vendors, like Cindy who spent some time working as a Vaudeville and cabaret performer, the event was a great way to make sure all the costumes they’d been holding onto for years went to a good home.
AUDIO CLIP #1
One question that’s really at the heart of this podcast is, “Why a garage sale?” As in, “Why bother having a garage sale to sell things you don’t need anymore or never needed to begin with when you’re not exactly going to make a ton of money for it?” The Atlanta Cosplay yard sale is a little different, of course, as it’s just a yard sale in name only and most vendors could get away with charging a decent amount for their costumes and props. But I got the sense that while some of the vendors were ready to let go, they still wanted to make sure that these pieces they had made by hand or went on a quest to find would continue their legacy of being worn at different nerdy conventions.
AUDIO CLIP #2
Says Laura, a young woman who’s been cosplaying for 15 years and seems to have attended every convention there is in the U.S. at least once.
AUDIO CLIP #3
AUDIO CLIP #4
That was Cindy again, telling me about some of the pieces she was selling: how long she had them for, how she found them. Turns out she’s more of a dancer than a cosplayer, but both have to put a lot of thought and work into crafting a persona.
AUDIO CLIP #5
To me, a Jane Austen fan, this coat Cindy’s talking about looks like something a brooding Mr. Darcy in any film adaptation or at any Austen festival would wear. It was Steampunk-inspired. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that uses a historical setting and features some form of anachronistic technology, like steam-powered machinery. The genre has not only influenced its own convention, but has also spread into the world of comic books. A quick Google search will pull up images of steampunk Spider-Man, steampunk Batman, steampunk Green Lantern, and so on.
One of the pieces Cindy was selling was once worn by a local Atlanta legend.
AUDIO CLIP #6
I had actually never heard of Torchy Taboo, but, then, I’m not an Atlanta native. Torchy’s had an amazing life and career as a burlesque performer. Her signature act, according to interviews I’ve read, was lighting her beaded bras on fire. I’m not sure if the bra Cindy bought was one of those bras; it didn’t look like there were any burns on it.
For both Cindy and Laura, there was a real desire to find a new and better life for the things they were selling, as though they were trying to find people to adopt a child or pet they couldn’t take care of anymore.
Well, for Laura, maybe there were a few things she was having a little trouble parting with.
AUDIO CLIP #7
I’ll just say one thing about this R2-D2 dress: This was the only thing I had any desire to buy. It didn’t look like a costume at all. It was this retro 1950s-style party dress with a full skirt that would fly through the air if you spun around in it and an adorable blue bow that tied in the back to cinch the waist.
Laura also told me about a few other really interesting pieces she was selling.
AUDIO CLIP #8
I’ve been thinking about how cosplayers tend to be, well, not taken seriously would probably be the nice way to put it. I’m not sure that I took this yard sale very seriously. I thought it was a laugh, a yard sale I could cover in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion. But I ended up meeting 2 interesting characters who helped me better understand the craft and art of cosplay.
That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift.
Thanks for listening.
OUTRO MUSIC (5 seconds)
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