I didn’t always like cosplay. In fact, for many, many years I thought people who did it were a bit odd. Then in September 2015, my friend Miriam encouraged my long-suffering husband Bruce and I to join her and her brother Mike that November for PopExpo ’15. She wanted us to cosplay as Doctor Who characters. Thinking myself a proper smartass, I said, “I refuse to go unless I can be a fashionista Dalek!” Miriam thought it was a great idea. Oh, crap, I inwardly lamented. Now I have to figure out how to be a fashionista Dalek!

My favourite part of this story is when my husband and I got lost at the end of the day at PopExpo, looking for Miriam and Mike. We ended up in a place in the exhibition hall that we hadn’t been to before and someone shouted, “Hey! I like your costume!” That was…