Costume Contest

Sunday April 22nd

Costume Contest

We are very happy to see how much our Costume Contest has grown steadily in the past few years and how many wonderful and creative costumes have been showcased. In honour of that growth, we are pleased to announce that this year Sci-Fi on the Rock will be implementing the International Costumers Guild (ICG) guidelines for our Costume Contest which will, in future years, bring it up to the level of other Masquerades at conventions across Canada and around the world.

The Masquerade is an amateur competition, so while purchased, rented or bought costumes may be showcased, they are not eligible for awards. Please see the Out of Competition division guidelines for more information.

Judging Divisions Information

The following divisions are based on the ICG guidelines. All costumes entered in these divisions, with the exception of the Junior division, must be self-made.

A contestant may enter into any division above their current awarded division, but if they win in that division they must continue to compete in that higher division. A contestant may not compete in a division lower than their awarded division.

The categories are as follows:

Junior Division (Also known as the Young Fan Division)

Any contestant 12 and under at the time of this competition may compete in this division. The costume may be either self-made, adult-made or bought.

Novice Division

Any contestant 13 years and older who has not won any major awards in a costume contest at another convention or conference may compete in this division.

Journeyman Division

Any contestant 13 years and older who has won an award in the Novice Division is eligible to compete in the Journeyman Division. A contestant may compete as Journeyman and win up to three awards in this division before moving up to the Artisan Division.

Artisan Division

Any contestant 13 years and older who has won three awards in the Journeyman Division is eligible to compete in the Artisan Division. A contestant may compete as Artisan and win up to three awards in this division before moving up to the Master Division.

Master Division

Any contestant 13 years and older who has won three awards in the Artisan Division or has won a major award at WorldCon, CostumeCon or a major award at a nationally recognized convention is eligible to compete in the Master Division.

In addition, anyone who is a professional in a costume-related business must compete as a Master. For the purpose of this competition, a professional is defined as making 50% or more of their income in the costume-related business.

If there are not sufficient Artisans or Masters competing to fulfil this division, those entries will be judged in the Journeyman or Artisan divisions, respectively.

Out of Competition Division

This is an amateur competition. Purchased or rented costumes may not be entered in the competition for awards. They may be shown on stage in the Out of Competition Division.

Costumes made for business purposes, theatrical and professional events are not eligible for awards but are also able to be showcased in this division. In addition, anyone who would prefer to show their costume in this division may do so.

Workmanship Judging

Workmanship judging will take place backstage before the start of the competition. These awards are for excellence in construction. You may be judged on your whole costume or just a specific piece or prop. Quality is quality, no matter the division. Any beautiful job deserves recognition. Workmanship judges will look for technical skill, handling of fabric and materials, fit, finishing, etc.

Workmanship judging is for any and all components of a costume, from clothing to props and accessories and makeup. Please specify which element you would like us to judge on your entry form.

Workmanship judging is optional in all divisions with the exceptions of Artisan and Master, where it is required. Out of Competition entries are not eligible for workmanship judging. Please indicate on your entry form if you would like to participate in workmanship judging.

Makeup divisions

In addition to the costume divisions, we will be introducing three divisions for makeup judging this year. These divisions are independent of the costume judging divisions, so regardless whether you’ve bought or made your costume, you may enter the makeup divisions, which will fall under the workmanship judging.

The divisions are as follows:

Beauty makeup

This division would include anything that enhances your natural appearance. Anything from regular day makeup to runway makeup would fall into this category.

Theatrical makeup

This division includes more stylized and specialized looks. For example; face painting, extreme contouring, and other non-natural looks would be judged in this category.

Prosthetics

This division would include anything applied to the skin. Horns, muzzles, scars, wounds, full face prosthetics or robotic and cybernetic elements would fall into this category.

Documentation

We encourage any contestant to submit documentation of their costume for the benefit of the judges. This can be any pictorial reference of your costume. Please provide copies only, no originals. We strongly recommend that you provide documentation if your costume is a recreation or based on a specific character if you feel the judges may not be familiar with your particular character.

If you are entering your costume for workmanship judging, please bring two copies.

Attention Costumers: If you are planning on wearing any sort of replica weapon or large prop (staff, etc.) at the convention you must read the complete Weapons and Large Props Policy It is your responsibility to understand this policy and abide by it.