The Australian Games Awards will be held on December 19th 2018. One of the nominees for Cosplayer of the Year is Henchwench. Henchwench is no stranger to award ceremonies, having won the 2016 Australian Championships of Cosplay award. She spoke to Gamers Classified head of the Australian Games Awards about her reaction to being nominated, her costume making background and her latest business venture.
To vote for Henchwench to win Cosplayer of the Year, please click here. Voting is open until December 7th 2018.
Please note: This interview is paraphrased. These statements are not direct quotes from Henchwench.
GC: What was your reaction to finding out that you were nominated for this award?Henchwench: I was pleasantly surprised. I consider myself to be an artisan and a crafter.
GC: You’ve cosplayed as a number of characters from Blizzard games. What about these titles appeal to you?
Henchwench: World of Warcarft (WoW) is the game that made me a gamer. It changed me from a teenager who played videogames to someone who identifies as a gamer.
GC: What was your first cosplay?
Henchwench: A Jedi Knight from Star Wars when I was 16 years old. It was so awful. It was falling off me and I thought that I could hold it together with a belt. That didn’t work so 14 year old me was walking around in a costume that kept falling apart.
A lot of my working life has been spent around costumes. I worked in film and TV costume for a while and worked part-time with my Dad on Lord of the Rings part-time when I was 14 years old. I also have a degree in costume.
GC: You mentioned that you studied costume design. Has that helped you with your costume builds?
Henchwench: My costume design studies were very sewing-focussed because the [intended outcome] is to work in a costume department. I’ve learned to build a lot of the armour that I wear now from YouTube Videos like those of Evil Ted Smith. I learned a lot of techniques for my first WoW cosplay from YouTube.
GC: What was your first WoW cosplay?
Henchwench: It was two years ago and I dressed as a Night Elf Druid with Tier Five Armour. I’ve done four WoW cosplays to date and I’m working on a fifth one now.
GC: Is there anything else you would like to add? For example, thank your or shout outs to sponsors?
Henchwench: I want to say a big thank you to my partner in crime, Oarin. We do everything together including running Scrap Shop Props which makes props and costumes. If it wasn’t for him, I couldn’t do what I do. I also have a sponsor, The Hero Studio. I don’t earn a lot of money as a cosplayer and material can be expensive so it helps when they give me stock and say ‘hey, do you want to try this stuff out?’
Henchwench is active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch. You can vote for her to win Cosplayer of the Year at the Australian Games Awards by clicking here. Voting is open until December 7th 2018
