Feature Friday: Breezeeweezee Cosplay

Today’s feature is really exciting to me because Bree is my first international feature. Bree is a cosplayer from Canada, and she has done really well for herself in just one year of cosplaying. She is also a cosplay blogger like myself, so after you have read her feature here make sure to go check out her blog.

What is your cosplay name? Breezeeweezee Cosplay

How did you come about your cosplay name? My mom used to call me that as a nickname when I was little. It even became my first hotmail account! And then it got bugged and hacked and wrecked to no end, so it got abandoned, but it came back into my life when I had to make a twitter account for school. I ended up using the same name for my Instagram personal account which has morphed into the cosplayer account everyone knows today!

What is your real world name? Breawna Lachelle Reichert. I always made fun of Mom for giving me such a creative name and then when my younger brother was born he got Cody James. But I prefer to go by Bree, even though most people call me Breezee when I first chat with them. (Is that the longest answer ever for “What is your name”?)

What do you do when you aren’t cosplaying? —– What does that even mean? That’s like someone saying they had leftover pizza for lunch. What the heck is leftover pizza? What the heck is not doing cosplay? My brain has been solely in cosplay mode for a few months now, but I also create perler bead art! I’m slowly learning how to create bigger pieces and learn new techniques. You can see some of my creations on my Etsy store! (Insert shameless self promotion here….)

How old are you? I am the awkward age of 25. Too old to be young, and too young to be old.

How long have you been cosplaying? I don’t really know how to answer this. I have two answers. I bought my first piece for cosplay in March 2015, but I didn’t finish my first cosplay until August 2015. So one year, give or take a few months!

What made you want to start cosplaying? This question always makes me giggle because it was the most random thing. It was a combination of actually finding out about cosplay, and online dating. I was talking to this guy who was in love with Jessica Nigri – who isn’t? – and I started looking up her cosplays and who she was, and of course through her I discovered more cosplayers, characters, and styles I absolutely adored. I started brainstorming some ideas and where I would start, and I jumped straight in!

Why do you continue to cosplay? It’s been less than a year for me, so it’s hard to even call it a fad yet. I will continue to cosplay because I have so many hopes, goals, and skills to learn. It’s been an incredible journey so far. I can only be slowed down, but never stopped!

What is your dream cosplay? Uh, this is a hard one. I live very short term. I don’t have five year, or ten year goals. I just have the now. And right now, I like to challenge myself, I like to try at least one new thing with each project. My biggest most challenging cosplay will be my Annoy-o-tron build that I’m currently slowly working on. If you’re not familiar, he is an annoying little card from the Blizzard Entertainment game, Hearthstone.

How do you choose who you will cosplay? My main priority will always be cosplaying for myself. This art is for me to show my love for characters, shows, and comics that I love. I also really love doing the smaller characters, the less popular characters, like Moon Knight, and Psyduck!

Who is your favorite cosplayer? I definitely don’t have a single favorite, so I’m going to shout out Yeliz Cosplay. I’ve been following her for quite a while, and she doesn’t seem to get as much love as the American cosplayers. She is a busy human and she loves her gaming over cosplay, but she makes incredible cosplays that are so stunning and well detailed. She also posts progress pictures which really helps you learn through visuals.

What’s the hardest thing about cosplay for you? 1) Sticking with one project at a time. 2) Not procrastinating. I’m not the worst for it. I’m not up the night before a con frantically finishing up. But if I got stuff done faster, I could get MORE stuff done. But Netflix is a real big problem in my life right now.

What is the best advice you have for other cosplayers? Network! Be friends with other cosplayers. You will never have such great resources as trading tips with friends. I was so shy to meet new people when I first started cosplaying, but after I launched my blog, I started talking to people on Instagram, and joining groups on Google+ and Pinterest. I also started trading cosplay prints with other cosplayers! It’s a great ice breaker, so if you’re interested, find me online and message me and we can swap prints too!

You live in Canada. You are my first international feature. How do you think being from a different country varies your perspective on cosplay? Or do you think this is truly a craft that is a bridge between cultures? ——– I’ve never really considered where I live to have any effect on cosplay, but I feel like it’s easier for American cosplayers to gain exposure. Cosplay and conventions are huge in the states, and very populated. Canada hasn’t quite caught up to that level. I follow talented cosplayers from all of the world, and the popular ones always seem to end up touring conventions in United States. I think it just gives cosplayers another goal, something to look forward to by adding the travel aspect into the cosplay world.

America has San Diego Comicon. What conventions are considered Canada’s equivalent? There is no equivalent to San Diego Comiccon. Anywhere. Haha. In Canada, the big conventions are definitely on the east side, in and around Toronto, ON. But over on the west side, where I am, the biggest convention is only three hours away in Calgary AB (Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo) and it has two sister expos, one in Edmonton (my town) and one in Saskatoon, SK.

You also have a cosplay blog. How long had you been cosplaying before you knew starting a blog was right for you? My first finished cosplay was in August. I launched my blog at the end of November. I didn’t know I would love it so much when I launched it. I didn’t know people would read it. I just wanted a way to organize the work I did. I was getting sick of rummaging through piles of paper looking for specific notes or pictures. This way, it’s easily catalogued, and I can refer anyone there if they need build advice, or any other help.

Top 5 resources/tutorials you have found for cosplay help? I would love to shout out every single tutorial I’ve followed, but I don’t think they’d be overly helpful. I talk to a lot of other cosplayers over instagram, asking how they made something, or their process. Most people are willing to share secrets! It’s always worth it to ask. I’ve also made quite a few cosplay friends this way. Which is a huge resource to have! You can bounce ideas off each other, and learn new things! My other big one is Pinterest or Google. I like Pinterest more because I can just look at the pictures and know if it’s what I want. Even then, I won’t ever follow a tutorial accurately. I’m a firm believer in making everything my own, so I will always do something different, either to make it easier for myself, or just to make it my own. Of course I will still credit and link back to them on my blog! But yeah, I don’t have a list of helpful tutorials I frequently use.

Don’t forget to check out her website, and she also has some pretty sweet prints at her Etsy store. All her social media links are below. If you have any questions for Bree, or about Feature Friday leave them below in the comments. Do you want to be a part of Feature Friday? I already have a pretty long list, but shoot me a note if you’re interested. Don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!

Breezeeweezee’s Social Media:
Instagram: @breezeeweezee
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Breezeeweezee
Website: http://breezeeweezee.weebly.com/Tumblr: http://breezeeweezeecosplay.tumblr.com/
Cosplay Amino App: Breezeeweezee
Snapchat: just.breee
Pinterest: http:www.pinterest.com/breezeeweezee/

Photography Credit:
Bombshell Harley credits to #arkCAMphotography
Nidalee credits to BoFoto Studios
Ninetails and Moon Knight credits to Rick of Capertured Photography