AITA for turning a Wedding Dress into a Cosplay rather than letting my Cousin have it for her wedding?

A Reddit user shares a dilemma regarding a wedding dress she transformed into a cosplay costume. After discovering the vintage dress in a charity shop during a thrift outing with her girlfriend and cousin, she decided to repurpose it for a cosplay of Sarah from Labyrinth, a project she had been eagerly working on.

When her cousin, who initially dismissed the dress for her own wedding, later expressed interest in buying it back after seeing the transformation, tensions flared. The user firmly declined, leading to a family uproar, with relatives criticizing her for not supporting her cousin’s wedding plans. Now she is left wondering if she made the right choice or if she should have prioritized her cousin’s wishes.

‘ AITA for turning a Wedding Dress into a Cosplay rather than letting my Cousin have it for her wedding?’

I (27F) am an avid cosplayer, my girlfriend (28F) and I go to all conventions we can and have a lot of fun making our costumes together and prepping for the year. Three Months ago I, my girlfriend, and my cousin (30F) went around charity shops looking for pieces we could turn into cosplays.

My cousin isn’t a cosplayer but she tagged along as she likes a good bargain hunt. In the third shop we went to we found in the window an old school wedding dress, it had a few stains and minor rips but all in all was in good condition.

My Girlfriend and I joked with my cousin that she should buy it for her wedding but she turned her nose up at it stating she wanted brand new and she’d not be caught dead in an old fashioned dress.

We let it go and my Girlfriend was the one to point out to me if we did some alterations it’d be a perfect dupe for Sarah’s ballgown in Jim Hensons Labyrinth which is our favourite movie. I realised she was right and asked her if she wanted to make this our next major matching costume. She agreed for the convention season of 2025 we will be Jareth and Sarah.

I bought the dress and my cousin made a few jokes about it but we heard nothing back from her, not until two days ago. I’ve been posting progress of my dress on social media and it’s finally done and looks amazing.

My cousin told me she’d not found a dress she likes and i’ve done wonders with this dress, that she’d changed her mind and she’d be happy to meet the price i’d paid (£150) and even throw in an extra £100 for my time fixing it up. I laughed and asked if she was joking, she told me she was deadly serious and I told her that wasn’t happening.

This led to a fight and I was getting annoyed, my girlfriend took the phone at this point and told her she had her chance to get the dress, and that it’s a cosplay now not a wedding dress.

We’ve since been bombarded by my family trying to get in contact, some pleading, some trying to cajole and others straight up berating us for not letting my cousin buy the dress or even better yet being a good cousin and *gifting* it to her, that I shouldn’t turn a charity shop wedding dress into a costume as it stopped brides who really needed it having it.

I’m getting stressed and upset with this and my girlfriend is currently fielding any calls we get and telling them off for upsetting me. She’s a wonder and I am so grateful to have her with me for this.

AITA though? I am starting to worry because of the widespread reaction. This is the first time i’ve bought a wedding dress to convert like this but it was already damaged and i’ve brought it back to life surely it’s better than it being ignored like it was?

See what others had to share with OP:

SuspiciousZombie788 −  NTA. She thought the dress was u**y and didn’t want a thrifted dress for her wedding. She didn’t see the dress’s potential.

After all your hard work and additional time and money, she realizes she made a mistake and now she wants a cheaper option for her wedding. Tough. She missed her chance with this dress. At most, I’d offer to go thrifting to find a new 2nd hand dress she can use. Assuming there is still time.

Apart-Ad-6518 −  NTA. You bought it & spent time fixing it up. Plus, she made it clear in pretty strong terms she didn’t want it.
We’ve since been bombarded by my family trying to get in contact, some pleading, some trying to cajole and others straight up berating us for not letting my cousin buy the dress or even better yet *being a good cousin and gifting it to her*.

They can b**t out. What is it with grown adults running to their families & getting them to b**ly people. As well as expecting to benefit from someone else’s money/work. Your cousin is an e**itled immature A H.

Mental-Currency8894 −  NTA – I’d be questioning the story she has told the family too, has she told them that she wanted the dress and you bought it out from under her?

AnalogyAddict −  Y T A for not sharing pictures of the dress. But the rest? NTA. People are so ridiculously e**itled. 

Super_Reading2048 −  NTA how many hours of work did you put into the dress when she made her generous offer? You offered to let her buy it, and she passed, end of story.

firefly232 −  NTA. There are plenty of wedding dresses in charity shops, this wasn’t the last dress on earth.
Tell your family that your cousin was offered first refusal and she said she didn’t want a damaged and secondhand dress.. Just get the message out there.

CinnamonBlue −  “Cousin was very explicit that she wanted a brand new dress and wouldn’t be seen dead in the one I bought. I’m only holding her to her word and wouldn’t want to traumatise her by having her wear second-hand tat.”

Proper_Sense_1488 −  NTA. an i bet 200 extra doesnt even begin to cover your labour cost.

stropette −  NTA. Your dress, you put the time and effort into it, you do what you like with it. Cousin Dearest can get her own, and possibly reflect on the fact that if she hadn’t been such a stuck up arsehole there might have been a different outcome.
Seriously. Don’t give in to this child.

Ratchet_gurl24 −  She didn’t want it until you spent time and money, making it better. Now the thinks she deserves it more. Oh, that’s not how it works. Those saying you should gift it to her can jog on.