What makes a "good" cosplay?

Different people have different feel.

Here is what I thought:

Yes, cosplay is about being happy and having fun and being proud of what you made/put together. This is a good cosplay. Race, gender, weight, etc. shouldn't be a reason not to cosplay.

BUT. There is such thing as an objectively great cosplay. There are certain things that literally anyone can do to improve the quality of their cosplays. I wouldn't look at someone's handmade armour they worked weeks on and say it's as good as someone's un-hemmed, poorly fit cosplay.
Here's a few things that really help make a cosplay "great":
- Hem the edges. Unfinished edges look sloppy, and risk fraying.
- Press the seams. This helps your cosplay look put together and overall better.
- Iron the fabric! Don't want your silk skirt looking like it just came out of a plastic bag.
- Don't cut corners! Don't use hot glue to sew fabric together, don't half-ass your wig styling, etc.
- Use a wig. It's pricey but so worth it. Real hair doesn't respond or look like wigs do.
- Wear make-up, even if you're a dude. Even out the skin, define the eyes, match the eyebrows to the wig, etc.
- Don't rush!!!! Don't stay up till 3 am on the night before your convention to finish a piece.

Don't get mad at the fact that there's such thing as a good, great, and greater cosplay. Literally every hobby has this. There are knitters who knit life-sized swans, and knitters who knit scarves. There are people who collect coins as they get them through regular change, and those who dig through buckets of old coins in vintage shops to find the one coin from the one year they don't own yet. There are those who like cosplay for the fun, the friends, the community, and the general making/wearing of the cosplays, and there are those who like cosplay for the challenge of bringing characters to life, and strive to develop their skills. There's good, and there's great. Good cosplayers aren't bad, they're just focusing on different aspects of the hobby. Great cosplays aren't made with fun and joy, they're made with hours/days/weeks spent slaving over a sewing machine/worbla/etc. and developing their skills. Not everyone does that, and that's okay.

Good cosplayers shouldn't feel as though what they do isn't good. If you want to cosplay a character in a simple outfit, and you have fun and are enjoying what you do, then that's great! That's a good cosplay.
Great cosplayers shouldn't look down on other cosplayers. Producing a great cosplay should be for your own joy, and not for showing off how much better you are than everyone else. If someone cosplays in a light up Iron Man suit that they handmade, and another cosplays as casual Voltron, then neither of them is more of a cosplayer than the other. One made a great cosplay, the other made a good one. That's just based on quality, detail, etc. That's all it boils down to.