The 10^th annual Dragon*Con Masquerade was held Sunday night in the Hyatt’s Centennial ballroom and simultaneously broadcast on DC*TV to all five host hotels.  Grant Imahara emceed the evening’s festivities, while the judges included professional costumer and costuming track regular Chris Mueller and New York Times bestseller Sherrilyn Kenyon.

The children’s category was up first, where cute kids with little talent are normally being trotted out wearing costumes in which they have little interest.  Conversely, older children with a spark of talent, albeit generally unfocused, have costumes that lack creativity.  This year, however, it was quite the opposite.  This year each of the children’s entries were both wonderfully costumed and—save for one little girl who practically flew across the stage—uniquely talented.  The large Adipose from Doctor Who, the little girl in the Dalek Dress, and Kid Cyber and the Easy Bot were among the more memorable of the children’s entries.

In the adult category, serious talent came out to shine.  There was a duo with a practically larger-than-life Totoro and Satsuki, where Totoro’s inner frame was made of collapsible PVC pipe.  It was obvious by the way the person inside Totoro was moving that it was difficult to maneuver the creation.

In addition to Totoro and Satsuki, there were numerous creations with wings, most notably Best in Show winner Chloe Seachord and her Steampunk wings, which were controlled by a button she pressed on a wrist bracer.  As a laugh, she allowed Imahara to press the button extending her wings, since he is a special effects artist and was visibly quite impressed by how easily and quickly the young lady’s wings unfurled.

Among the more humorous acts of the entire Masquerade, and hands down of the past couple of Masquerades, was a Dalek cosplaying the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who, complete with the iconic multicolored scarf.  There was even a skit with the Dalek talking and accusing people of interrupting his cosplaying skit.

All in all, this year’s Masquerade was the best—both from a talent and from a costuming perspective—that this reporter has seen in the last several years.  Fitting, I think, considering this was the Masquerade’s 10^th anniversary, that the participants brought their A game to this year’s festivities.

(Check out pictures of the winners in our other Masquerade article.)