If you’ve attended any sort of Comic Con or geek convention in the last few decades, you’ll know that nerdom is populated by an array of different types who all share a common interest in dressing up as their favorite super heroes, anime characters, and more.
The word “cosplay” comes from the terms “costume” and “play”. It has, in recent years, become the center of some controversy with accusations that the practice tends towards the misogynistic: With beautiful women dressing up as sexy versions of favourite fantasy characters and making a career out of having their photo taken, the cosplayers who garner the most attention are, typically, the women.
Of course, accusations of sexism have plagued comic books and video games for as long as either art form has been existent, and those same accusations haven’t prevented the practice from exploding in the convention community. It’s worth noting, too, that the women who engage in cosplay are typically artistic costume designers with a passion for they do who, perhaps, just happen to look great doing it.
Thanks to social media, fans can follow their favourite cosplayers and check out their stunning creations without having to make a roadtrip to every big Comic Con. As the cosplay community continues to heat up year on year, the following are the twenty hottest cosplaying women to watch in 2015. They have the biggest pool of social media likes, followers, and admirers and they’re by far some of the very hottest geek girls out there.
Stella Chuu calls herself “The Anime Princess of Burlesque”, giving her a unique flair that makes her stand out from other cosplayers. With over 500,000 likes on her Facebook page, Stella first started cosplaying in high school, and in 2011 she started to focus more on her cosplay and burlesque work.
Destiny Nickelson has over 433,000 likes on her Facebook page. Costuming has been a way of life for her since she was a little girl, when her mom taught her how to sew at the young age of 6. For her whole life, Nickelson grew up making her own Halloween costumes. Destiny attended her first convention in 2003 and fell in love with the art of cosplay; she hasn’t looked back since.
Also known as Riki LeCotey, Riddle was introduced to anime and gaming at an early age. She moved from Canada to the United States to help further her costuming work, and her reputation has exploded. Not only is she a cosplayer, but she also works as a costumer for movies, and has appeared on SyFy’s “Heroes of Cosplay.”
Giada Robin is an Italian cosplayer and model who’s also an actress and gamer. Famous for her cosplay work as anime and manga characters, Giada has traveled all over the world to speak on panels and judge competitions.
Monika Lee joined the cosplaying world at the age of 13 due to her love of videos, anime, and pop culture. She considers herself to be an avid gamer and many of her cosplays depict video game characters.
Ivy Doomkitty has numerous titles under her belt including international cosplayer/costumer, model, and artist. Ivy attended numerous conventions before finally deciding to join the cosplay community as a fully committed fangirl.
Misa TW is a cosplayer from Taiwan who started cosplaying while she was in school, as a member of an anime club. An avid lover of anime and video games, Misa typically cosplays her favorite anime characters.
Adrianne Curry is not only a cosplayer, but she’s also the very first winner of “America’s Next Top Model.” Who knew that someone in the fashion world was also a major geek?
inda Le, better known in the cosplay world as Vampy Bit Me, is an American artist, costumer, model, cosplayer, and online personality. Growing up in Oklahoma and attending San Jose State for college, Vampy started to garner attention for her cosplays after being featured in a few convention books.
Maridah has been a huge fan of anime since 1999 and started cosplaying in 2001. She became well known for her Saber cosplay from the Fate/Stay Night novels. Aside from her cosplaying, Maridah works in the video game world as a community manager for a video game publisher.
Kamui, whose real name is Svetlana Quindt, is a cosplayer and costumer designer who strives to share her knowledge and skills with the public. She has written several books and regularly posts tutorial videos on YouTube, giving fans the ability to watch her incredibly intricate work.
Alexia Jean Grey is an actress and costume designer who raised the bar in terms of quality cosplaying. She started to become well known in the cosplaying community in 2012, and currently has over 193,000 likes on her Facebook page as well as regular traffic to her popular personal website on a daily basis. She has cosplayed super sexy versions of Bat Girl, the Black Widow, Poison Ivy, and Dark Phoenix, to name but a few.
Dustbunny has been cosplaying since 2003 and as of 2015 she has definitively reached the ranks of professional cosplayers. Based in Los Angeles, Dustbunny studied makeup and costume design in college and has made over 50 costumes for her cosplay work.
WindoftheStars, also known as “Mel”, has been cosplaying for the last ten years. In that time, she has created over 80 costumes for herself and others. Her cosplays originate from video games, movies, comics, anime, manga, as well as her own designs. She currently has over 176,000 likes on her Facebook page.
With over 170,000 likes on Facebook, Marie-Claude Bourbonnais is a French Canadian cosplayer, glamour model, and a designer. Marie-Claude brought cosplay to a new level when she started to win contests at Canadian conventions. Her exposure grew as members of the general public wanted to interview her about the art of cosplay and the practice’s emerging popularity in the United States and Japan.
Alodia Gosiengfiao has become one of the most popular cosplayers in the world with over 4 million likes on Facebook and 376,000 followers on Twitter. Along with cosplaying, Alodia is a Filipina model, actress, and singer.
Jessica Nigri has been cosplaying since 2009, and has become such a celebrity in the practice that she has gained veritable celebrity status. Currently, she has over 2.7 million likes on Facebook and 390,000 Twitter followers.
Yaya Han is an American cosplayer based in Marietta, Georgia with over 1.2 million likes on Facebook and 96,000 followers on Twitter. Yaya was featured on SyFy’s “Heroes of Cosplay” and is often a guest judge on TBS’ “King of the Nerds”.
Nicole Marie Jean is an American cosplayer based in San Diego, California with over 867,000 likes on her Facebook fan page and 31,000 followers on Twitter. Nicole first discovered cosplay in 2010 when she saw it at her first convention; she had no idea that the practice existed before she became involved.
Kristen Hughey is an American cosplayer and costume designer who is not only beautiful and sexy, but also a hard worker. Kristen credits her mother for getting her started in sewing, and she also started crafting when she was very young.
