Retirement did not mean slowing down for Gretchen Esplund, a former doctor turned shop owner of the creative and fun business in Wagner, called Konspiracy Cosplay. The shop offers sewing services, and sells a variety of amazing pieces ranging from renaissance costumes to hand bags to plush items to pillows, blankets, hats, and more. The shop is also affiliated with Jim’s Formal Wear. It is a family affair, as Esplund is a mother of four and runs the business with her two oldest children.

“I own Konspiracy Cosplay with my older set of twins, Wren and Puck. My younger set of twins are sometimes seen at our shop working on personal projects. I grew up in Kansas and came here (to Wagner) after medical school at Federal medical school and residency in Omaha,” explained Esplund. “My older set of twins and I own and run Konspiracy Cosplay. I do most of the mending and alterations and some of the plush and costume sewing as well.”

Esplund was known as “Dr. E” for approximately eighteen years while she worked at the Wagner IHS facility. She did not wish to leave Wagner after retiring because her younger kids were still in school. Sewing is a skill Esplund has had for a long time and her older children, Wren and Puck, are also talented in this area.

“Wren sews plush characters and sews costumes as well as doing wig work and creating most of the patterning for plush, pixel art, hats, scarves, and custom costumes. And Puck does some prop creation and makes almost all of our decor items,” noted Esplund.

The three have been in business since November of 2017 and opened a brick and mortar location in May of 2018. The name of the business is also their “cosplay handle” and the name they use when competing at cosplay competitions. Esplund defined the term cosplay as “technically costumed play”, but it means more than that to her and her family.

“We define it as recreating and wearing the outfit of an animated, cartoon, movie or television character and doing your best to become that character,” described Esplund.

The business has observed change since starting in 2017. All three owners of Konspiracy Cosplay were considered high risk when it came to COVID-19, so the shop’s doors were closed early on when the pandemic took hold in 2020. Orders for face masks became their “primary product” for sale and kept Konspiracy Cosplay operational. However, due to COVID-19 they did move out of their main street location and are now located on the highway for all to see as they pass through town at 107 W SD HWY 46/50.

Sewing, mending, and creating has been a part of Esplund’s life for a long time. She reconnected with this passion when she became a mother and the passion looks to continually grow as an owner and operator of Konspiracy Cosplay.

“I started hand sewing about the same time that I started school. I made my own doll clothes and would watch in fascination as my older sister made paper patterns for clothes. When my own children were born this was reawakened with making costumes and clothes. Then, about twelve years ago, we discovered cosplay and the challenge of recreating outfits from comic books, TV shows, and movies had us hooked,” stated Esplund.

At Konspiracy Cosplay, commissioned pieces can be done. The projects have varied over the years. They have made renaissance pieces for a “Lord of the Rings” group for Anime NebrasKon, which is an annually held convention in Nebraska. Esplund also recalled how the first locally commissioned piece was for costumes based on the popular Marvel Comic characters known as X-Men. The order included outfits ranging in a variety of sizes.

She specified, “We were challenged by each costume ranging from making an infant coat and boots to preschool Wolverine, elementary school Storm and of course the color blocking on Rogue's bodysuit and Gambit's head piece.”

Another memorable order was a commission for a Rainbow Brite costume. It involved a handmade yarn wig and striped fabric, created by Konspiracy Cosplay, to be used for the making of the boot covers and sleeves.

Shop creations and orders can take anywhere from thirty minutes to a full day or more to finish. A lot of it depends on the amount of detail required and the type of piece being created. Victorian skirts and shirts typically take less than a day for cutting and sewing, but more intricate works take longer. Boned bodices could take two days and a full outfit might require a week to complete. How detailed a piece is will correlate to the amount of time required for completion.

“It all depends on the detail of the piece,” stated Esplund. “A recent outfit required us to create a plaid effect on a pleated skirt, so that skirt alone took a week. Currently I am making a Victorian ball gown with a beaded bodice and have been working on it off and on since May.”

Esplund and her co-owners would be hard-pressed to look back and pick an absolute favorite past project because every costume is special. A lot of work and dedication goes into every creation.

Esplund admitted, “Picking a favorite piece or outfit is like picking your favorite child. So much thought, time, and energy goes into each and each contains a little piece of the person making it. We would have to say our favorite is the one we are working on now or the one we are planning out to work on next.”