Dare To Cosplay: What We Learned From Dare’s First Anime Convention
September 28, 2025
Renaissance. Steampunk. Goth.
…Anime?
Yep. Our tops and dresses can do more than just make you feel good — you can also use them to whip up a last-minute cosplay!
We, Andressa (Dare Production Manager), Vivian (Dare Intern) and Carmela (Dare Intern), challenged ourselves to put together some quick cosplays for Anime Impulse, an anime convention in Santa Clara. We also wanted to see if we could embody the characters we wanted to cosplay using tops and dresses from Dare Fashion — in other words, cosplays you could put together in a pinch!
It took some hard work (and some serious styling!), but we managed to assemble some really nice outfits. After recovering from post-con depression, we gathered our thoughts about our first time wearing Dare Fashion at Anime Impulse.
Carmela as Yor Forger from SpyxFamily
Q: Was this your first time at an Anime convention?
A: Yes! I have been to other Kpop events and Renaissance Faires but never an Anime Convention.
V: I’ve been to a few before, but this was my first time at Anime Impulse specifically! You’ll usually find me waltzing around markets/craft fairs or KPop events instead.
C: No, I’ve actually been to a couple of cons in the past but this was my first time at Anime Impulse.
Andressa as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service
Q: What did you think of the event?
V: It was really nice! With two other events going on (K-Play Fest & Collector’s Expo), I was amazed at the variety of people and vendors there. One of my favourite things to see when I’m at a convention are different cosplay versions of a specific character when I’m roaming around the venue, so it was really nice to experience that while I was here!
Vivian as Mira from Kpop Demon Hunters
Q: Did you cosplay? How did you come up with and prepare your outfit?
A: Yes, I did!! Since I have really short hair at the moment, I started to think of characters I liked that also have a similar haircut. I made small collages on Canva of 5 different characters. In the end I decided to go with Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Mavis from Hotel Transylvania. I matched each character with Dare pieces that I could incorporate and started planning. It was very fun to try everything on and find accessories to complete the looks!!
V: Yep, I sure did!
When planning out my cosplays, the main feature I wanted to focus on was my glasses. At that point, I had just watched KPop Demon Hunters and remembered that one of the characters, Mira, had a civilian look that included glasses, so I knew she was someone I wanted to bring to life. I then thought of some popular anime and remembered Jujutsu Kaisen. Maki, who had glasses and a dark high ponytail, was someone who I felt I could cosplay as using some of the pieces from Dare Fashion’s collection. I had cosplayed before, but it was my first time planning a cosplay that was more inspired by clothing rather than replicating a character’s outfit.
C: I did cosplay! Coming up and prepping for the cosplay was all super last minute for me so I tried to find characters that were easy to cosplay since I was avoiding buying any extra props for my cosplays. I created a Pinterest board of characters that were well known as well as easy to cosplay and in the end I ended up going with Yor from SpyxFamily, Mima from Perfect Blue, and No Face from Spirited Away.
Carmela as Mima from Perfect Blue
Q: How did you feel in your costume?
A: I felt so cute and girly as Kiki, because I had a big bow on my head and the Renaissance Dress. It was so flowy and airy, which helped with the heat. I felt pretty comfortable in my Mavis cosplay. The Angel top has a lot of fabric around the waist, which allowed me to relax. It also has short sleeves so I was still dealing nicely with the warm weather. A funny thing that happened was that I forgot my phone in my car at one point, and had to run back to the parking lot. Good thing that the top is so stretchy, because I could run faster and still feel the breeze.
V: To be honest, I felt GREAT! Besides the fact that I had successfully put together cosplays using Dare Fashion, I had a wonderful time wearing the pieces I chose. This was the first time I modeled Dare Fashion and I was shocked at how good I looked and how comfortable I felt!
As fun as cosplaying is, one thing I disliked when I had done it previously was how uncomfortable I would feel walking around a convention with it. With Dare’s tops and dresses, however, I was able to cosplay and look cute while being super comfy — yay! I can’t wait to wear Dare in the upcoming Renaissance Faire!
C: I felt amazing in my costumes! I feel like I especially felt confident and comfortable wearing Dare Fashion tops with all three of my cosplays. From my experience of cosplaying, lots of cosplay garments aren’t made to be comfortable. I had a completely different experience this time around at Anime Impulse when incorporating Dare tops with my cosplay. I felt like I freely move with no restrictions.
Andressa as Mavis from Hotel Transylvania
Q: What did you do there? Did you see anything interesting?
V: When we got to the convention, Andressa, Carmela and I all went with a plan to take as many photos as possible with our cosplays. We were able to find some backdrops and take plenty of videos and photos of ourselves, and we had so much fun with it too! In between “photoshoots,” however, we had to take the opportunity to look around the different booths. The artwork, the merch, everything — there was just so much to see! Fortunately for us, K-Play Fest was right next to Anime Impulse, so I was able to sprint over to the KPop Random Play sessions and dance to a few songs. I was still wearing Dare Fashion too, so I’ll be the first here to say: it’s dance-proof!
Vivian as Maki from Jujutsu Kaisen
Q: Is there anything you would have done differently?
C: Bringing a small rolling suitcase along with some water would’ve done wonders for me. There was a point when my shoulders and arms were getting tired because I had to carry my two other cosplays along with a pair of boots so over time it became overwhelming to carry. Planning out our outfit changes in advance would’ve been helpful too instead of doing it randomly.
Carmela as No-Face from Spirited Away
Q: Did you purchase anything?
A: Yes! I got some stickers, a button for my ita bag, acrylic keychains and a small plushie keychain. I was very happy with my purchases!!
V: I tried to discipline myself and not go wild with my wallet, but I did end up getting a few small trinkets. There was an Indomie booth filled with different flavours of Indomie along with some merch, so I ended up buying those too (for a good price, I should add!). What can I say — I love a good deal!
C: I got a phone charm and a t-shirt that had me go way over my budget! However, I love the stuff I got there and I think it was so worth it.
Carmela in the Renaissance Dress as No-Face from Spirited Away
Final Thoughts
A: Overall, I had a very fun experience! I will definitely be dressing up anytime I go, because I think that was one of my favorite parts. Planning, then building the cosplay, then finally wearing it and seeing other people enjoying it too! I recommend it, especially for those who have never been, since this is on a smaller scale, it’s the perfect con to get started! I plan to go again next year, for sure! So not bad for my first anime convention. Not bad at all!!!
V: It’s been a while since I had cosplayed, so doing it again while having to keep in mind the objective of this project/event was a good refresher for me. The best part of this was that these cosplays were budget-friendly and for the most part used items we already had.
As for going to Anime Impulse, definitely! If it’s a similar format to the one we went to then I highly recommend it, especially for people who have multiple interests and hobbies (i.e. anime and K-culture). If I had friends to go with me, I’d probably consider going next time for sure!
C: I had such a wonderful experience at Anime Impulse! It was my first time ever going to a con with friends and I was accompanied by the two best people: Andressa and Vivian! My favorite part about my experience was the planning of our cosplays, which Dare tops to wear, what booths to check out, etc. Seeing our plans and ideas come into fruition was wonderful!
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