Otakon 2017 (It's much bigger on the inside)



Wow, what a weekend! Where do I begin?


This year, Otakon 17 has been moved from Baltimore, to Washington DC. This means bigger space and more things to see and do. However when my husband and I arrived at the Washington Convention Center, we were awestruck with what we saw. The convention center was so large compared to the BCC in Baltimore, that it was like stepping inside the Tardis from Doctor Who (bigger on the inside); in addition to the WCC, Otakon also had events running in the Marriott next door! As a result, Otakon surprisingly not crowded at all this whole weekend! 

The second thing about the convention that was new, were the bag inspections at the door. Given the recent incident at a convention in Phoenix ComiCon this past May, a lot of conventions have now taken security measures by conducting weapons and bag checks; as a result of how smooth the line moved from outside to the check in counters, things went by very fast. Speaking of lines going by very fast, throughout the day, I noticed that all of the lines were pretty fast paced and near scarce. Places like badge pick up, dealer's room, artist alley, and even the wait time for food at places like Chipotle or the little cafeteria the convention center had on the lower level. It really made me wonder how many people were actually attending the convention altogether? 

On Saturday my husband got called into work and could not attend with me, so I decided to volunteer my time to help out a couple of friends of mine with their booth in the dealer's room. To fit in with their theme [steampunk], I decided to wear my red plaid Victorian bodice with the black skirt to the convention. There were a few pros and cons with wearing this outfit. 

Pros: Not putting lining in the sleeves of my jacket was a life-saver when it came to ventilation, plus not having to wear a corset, which was a very big surprise (but at the same time something I should have followed through with anyway).

Cons: The skirt and bustle(s). For the sake of making the skirt look fuller and to give me the silhouette I was expecting, I thought it was a good idea to try adding 2 bum pads underneath the under petticoat and the black over skirt. What i didn't realize that even with the skirt being bustled, the train was far too heavy and gave me very little back support (should have worn the corset). As a result, the whole skirt and underpinnings were pulling my lower back out of whack which made it very painful. By 3pm I was ready to change out of my outfit and wear into a lightweight skirt I bought in the Artist Alley, and go to the First Aid to get a heating pad for my back; the staff there was super helpful and I cannot thank them enough.




In retrospect, I really enjoyed the convention and would love to return next year. I got to see some of my friends I haven't seen in awhile, as well as to walk around the convention center and Marriott Marquis explore. I would have loved to have gone to some of the panels and taken more pictures of cosplayers and even do a photoshoot or two, but I'll save that for next year. Otakon is just settling in its new home and there's so much to explore and so much to discover.  









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