Salt Lake City’s annual FanX Comic & Pop Culture Convention event brought thousands of people together to the Salt Palace Convention Center on Sept. 26 to celebrate pop culture from different movies, comic books, anime and more. Cosplay is one of the ways that attendees can celebrate their love for their favorite franchise, whether it be a store-bought outfit or an elaborate costume design.
Nate Barnhurst, a FanX attendee, cosplayed as Captain America alongside Rob Bennett, who donned an Iron Man outfit with lights and a mechanical mask piece. Barnhurst’s Captain America outfit was a completely handmade cosplay he had been developing over the course of a decade.
“I love what he stands for,” Barnhurst said. “He stands for doing what is right, regardless of anything to do with country or people.”
Bennett and Barnhurst cosplay every year they attend FanX. Barnhust said they do cosplay for the other attendees. The duo put all their effort into their outfits because they enjoy seeing the enthusiasm from younger attendees and letting them have a photo opportunity with their favorite superhero.
Kayla Seim, dressed as Vin from Brandon Sanderson’s book series “Mistborn,” was working with her family at the Garb & Gizmos booth. Garb & Gizmos is Seim’s business that specializes in 3D prints and custom clothing. This was Seim’s first time working her vendor booth at FanX.
Seim chose to dress as Vin because she recently finished “Mistborn” after her husband recommended the series to her. Sanderon was also in attendance at this year’s FanX, which was another reason Seim chose to go as Vin.
“We have always come here as cosplayers, so now we are really excited to be here as vendors,” Seim said. “We are looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
With FanX being an all-day event for many attendees, the costumes can have malfunctions and become worn out. FanX provides a cosplay repair station to which people can resort for fixing any potential issues their outfit is going through.
This year’s FanX was Jasena Frisby’s seventh time running the cosplay repair station. At FanX, the repair station is a free service, but Frisby said that not every fan convention has repair services.
“We are here to support everybody,” Frisby said. “When someone comes to us they are usually stressed out, so we help calm them down and fix their outfit, so they can enjoy the rest of their day.”
