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Cosplay Superstar Interview: Lindze Merritt
How comfortable are the costumes that you wear? A lot of the characters you dress up as have tight, form-fitting leather pieces to them. And the Silent Hill nurses have full face masks to them… Could you see much through those?
Most of my costumes that people know me for are very uncomfortable and cumbersome. Its just not fair that the coolest things are the least comfortable ones.
Do you have much mobility in them? Is there risk of a “wardrobe malfunction”?
Morrigan especially is in constant danger of indecent exposure. The actual character has a VERY skimpy top–I’m thoroughly convinced that succubi have no nipples–and there is a lot of hardware holding things in place under my bodice in that costume. The Lust costume is much more simple, and has actual under-wire cups, like a bra, so its pretty secure. I’m surprised honestly I haven’t had any Britney Spears/Paris Hilton-type photos taken of an errant nipple at a con yet. *knocks on wood*
The Silent Hill nurses have full head masks, made from prosthetic-grade rubber, much like a store-bought kid’s mask would be. We didn’t want visible eye holes, so we made tiny holes for our eyes, nose and mouths, in grooves of the twists of ’skin’. needless to say, we could breathe little, and see less.
Our mobility was fine in them, other than the sight issues. We had to have ’seeing-eye-friends’ of sorts. But the dresses/shoes were surprisingly comfortable.
Do you take any requests for characters? Because I think you’d be a perfect candidate for Mia Fey from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
I do get costume requests on occasion. Some of things I like, and some not so much. But I just have to stick to making the ones I’m dedicated to already, with all the money and time involved. The exception being when some of my fellow cosplay friends talk me into doing groups with them… Cosplay peer pressure!
And I thought about Mia Fey! I have had a few people say the same thing. Maybe someday!
It appears these days that you’ve gone into cosplay retirement… Is there a story behind that?
I wouldn’t say I’m fully retired… The addiction runs too deep! But I pared it down due to a couple things: One, being my business. GenkiHats.com is very much a part of the convention/fandom scene, and if it weren’t for cosplay, I would have never fallen into that job.
I used to still wear costumes while working my booth at cons, but as the business grew, that became harder and harder. Most of the big cons I went to, I barely could sit down or rest, we’d get so busy, so being in costume just wasn’t practical. Eventually I just quit doing cosplay at cons I worked at, and saved it for my “vacation” cons, like Anime Expo and Dragon*Con.
The second blow to my cosplay was having my daughter, Zella Riot. Obviously, unless I want to cosplay as the baker’s wife from Kiki’s Delivery Service, you can’t cosplay a whole lot when pregnant. (Ok, that’s not entirely true. I was a guest at TNT 14 in Mexico City, wearing Morrigan & Lust while 2 months pregnant and noone knew!) But I knew after I had her, the small amount of free time I had would be more limited by my new role as a mom, so I sold off a lot of my costumes before I had her. I kept all my favorites, cuz I do still hope to wear them again someday.
Now days, I reserve my costume fun for once a year at Dragon*Con, which is local for me. It will never be the whirlwind hobby I had before, but I still enjoy it, and the trade off was for a wonderful daughter and career, so I’d say it was a good deal.
That’s sweet, becoming a mom! Does your husband (sorry, fellas!) share your cosplay passions? Do you imagine involving your daughter in cosplay as she grows up?
My husband, Brad, is definitely not a cosplayer. Although…I did manage to get him to dress up once in costume, as Kankuro from Naruto. And I have to say (and everyone who saw him agrees) he made the absolutely best Kankuro ever. But it was a one-time engagement!
As for Zella, I would love to make her costumes while she’s little, and I confess I’ll probably subject her to being my dress-up doll at conventions when she gets a bit older. But as for her being older and cosplaying, I’m torn about it. I see a lot of young girls getting into cosplay and when they dress up at cons and get lots of attention, it can be intoxicating. There is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes with someone so innocent, they don’t realize that wearing that super short cat girl costume and bending over on request for a guy with a camera is, if not dangerous, just plain gross, for a lack of a better word.
I want my daughter to grow up confident and not afraid of her sexuality, but at the same time, knowing the difference from inappropriate attention before she’s ready to deal with it.
I know some people will see that as hypocritical with my costumes, but try to understand–I’m all for being sexy…just not at 13.
On a similar note, a few of your photo shoots are a bit on the dark side. Like the Silent Hill nurses and “Dead Hooker in the Bathtub”. Will it be a while before you share that with your daughter? I imagine that those will be the photos that you pull out of a trunk in the attic 50 years from now. “Here’s where your mom/grandma was a bit more artistically adventurous…”
Ha! Yeah, you brought up another facet of why I sold a lot of my costumes, and why i got rid of my old homepage, Lindze.com. I am not comfortable with my daughter growing up with images like that readily available to her. My personality is one of honesty and exuberance, so its not like my…tastes…will be unknown to her, growing up. But that doesn’t mean I have to frame the dead hooker photo on my mantle, either!
But I look forward to sharing myself in ALL my hooker-glory once she’s more mature.
The professional photo shoots that you’ve done (like The Baroness, Silent Hill nurses, Lust, etc.)… Where were they done and by whom?
I am extremely lucky to have amazing photographers as some of my closest friends. A lot of my shoots were done by two amazing girls, and fellow costumers, Jenny Barclay and Allison Rose, of Pixelette Studios. Most of my best shots are from them, and I got into my makeup work from working with Allison on her professional shoots, as well. There are also a lot of awesome cosplay photographers out there, like Kyle, from Cosplay.com, and Lionel Lum, who I am friends with and have been fortunate to do shoots with at conventions.
Speaking of your makeup work, it’s great that you’ve been able to turn your passions into a career! What are the typical types of gigs that you and your company take on? Is it more for stage or photo shoot?
Lindze Merritt working her magic!
Well I work a lot with Allison, who is a full time photographer. She recently opened a studio storefront and I will be working with her on lots more photo shoots. She specializes in family and senior portraits, with a high fashion touch to it.
Overall, I don’t do a lot of costume/cosplay shoots with my makeup. its mainly high fashion, and I work with all sorts of photographers. Some see my portfolio and the shots of my cosplay and want to do something funky, and that’s fine by me. But I really would like to steer more towards high fashion and commercial work with that.
And cosplay has led me to LOTS of careers. My online company, Genki Hats, sells world-wide, and we’ve been in numerous stores, including Beehive Co-op in downtown Atlanta, which has been featured in lots of magazines, including Lucky and Cookie magazine.
So, thanks cosplay!
Tags: anime, Cartoons, Comic Books, conventions, cosplay, darkstalkers, Girls, Robot Punch, Street Fighter
[...] My interview with Lindze Merritt went up last Friday and as far as I can tell, it’s been well-received. It’s since undergone some editing, in case anyone has not yet given it a read. [...]