New York Comic Con, Getting There One Stitch At A Time

Riverside resident Katrina Lovett has been a vampire, a spaceship engineer, an elf, a princess, a superhero and a mermaid.

She part of a growing phenomenon of costume play, or “cosplay”—a performance art in which participants, called “cosplayers,” wear costumes and accessories to represent a popular culture character, often creating a subculture in venues away from the stage and screen.

One such venue was last weekend’s New York Comic Con, an annual convention in Manhattan where cosplayers gather to show off their costumes, see celebrities, buy merchandise and attend panels. Ms. Lovett was there all four days of the convention, which saw record attendance with more than 167,000 fans of comic books, superhero films and anime. She said the community that she has been part of for more than a decade has allowed her to cultivate friendships and even gain confidence—by expressing herself on herself.

“I have friends that I see, and sometimes I don’t even recognize them, because they’ll be in a different costume than I’ve seen them in before,” she said, laughing. “Or I’ll friend them on Facebook and be, like, oh, you’re a blonde under that!”

In her day-to-day life Ms. Lovett, 38, works as a marketing specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension. Even in her professional life, hints of her passions peek through—a Tardis from the television series “Doctor Who,” a Darth Vader action figure, and a Mr. Potato Head all sit in her office.

Ms. Lovett is the treasurer of the Eastern Long Island Knitting Guild as well, but her fellow knitters have no idea about her cosplay side.

“There’s a woman in my knitting guild that doesn’t know me, other than seeing me in the knitting guild,” she said, giggling. “Apparently, I dress creatively enough on an everyday basis, she’s, like, ‘Oh, I always love coming to see what you wear.’ Little do you know! I guess I’m always a little bit loud in my attire.”

Ms. Lovett has bright apple-red hair that cuts off just below her shoulders, a petite build and an infectious laugh. In her home she sported a T-shirt with Spiderman on the front while she carved replica knives from foam for one of the four costumes she wore to the convention. She wielded the knives when she dressed as Tauriel, an elf from the film “The Hobbit.” “I’ve always been really into arts and crafts,” she said, cutting into the foam. “Kids go to Toys ’R’ Us and pick out their favorite aisle—I’d be the arts and crafts aisle.”

On Friday at the convention, Ms. Lovett stood on the red carpet of the main vendor section smiling pointy ear to pointy ear. Her auburn wig was carefully braided on either side of her head, with two strands of hair hanging down from her carefully-positioned elf ears. Her long, forest-green corset dress hung all the way down to her ankles on the sides, and angled up in the middle, revealing her simple brown boots. Underneath she wore a fitted long sleeve green shirt with silver cuffs that covered both of her forearms.

Despite being crammed into the Javits Center with thousands of other fans, Ms. Lovett gleefully walked around to see what all of the vendors were offering. Comic books, necklaces, stuffed animals, flasks, props and collectibles surrounded her on either side. Ms. Lovett said she doesn’t mind when people ask to take pictures with her—she welcomes it, noting it is important to her to stay in character.

“That’s part of the fun,” she said. “I love when the kids ask me. If you’re dressed up as someone they recognize, you don’t want to spoil the illusion. It really makes me feel like I’m bringing something to life.”

At the rest of the convention—in addition to her elf persona—Ms. Lovett dressed as Samus Aran, the main character of the video game “Metroid”; Kim Possible, a crime-fighting children’s cartoon character; and a ballerina version of Wonder Woman.

“I’ll find something, see something or think up something that ties into what I like,” she said about mixing popular culture with her years of ballet training. “I make a spin to it to make it unique. I also realized if I had a platter tutu, it would give me some personal space at the convention.”

Those are just four of the costumes she has created, borrowed or collaborated with other cosplayers to finish over the years. She said her favorite, by far, was a vampire version of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” character, Willow, which she dressed as with full face makeup distorting her features.

She always had a love for comic conventions since she grew up in San Diego, the home of San Diego Comic-Con—the largest convention of its kind in the world. While volunteering at that convention, Ms. Lovett slowly started to dress up like characters, which eventually led to her making her own costumes. She moved to New York for college, meeting her now husband and decided to stay—more than a decade ago. The two just celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary, but through the years he has not gotten as involved with costuming as she has, Ms. Lovett said. She added that even though she loves making costumes and going to several conventions a year, it is a hobby, not something she sees as a possible career.

“I feel like anything you do as a full-time job, it loses some of the fun,” she said. “It’s a creative outlet. I like to use clothing as a way to express my creativity.”

Now that New York Comic Con is over, Ms. Lovett has to start preparing for other upcoming conventions for next year, including Dragon Con in Atlanta, which she describes as “Mardi Gras for nerds.” Her next big challenge? Making an armor costume.

“It’s been a learning process,” she said about making her own costumes. “It’s always when I’m driving. I think about what I want to do. I always have new costume ideas in my head!”