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bronies before honies
August 6, 2013

Style Tribe: The Grown-up Kids of BronyCon

By Amy Lombard and Stella Bugbee

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Photo: Amy Lombard

My Little Ponies, the candy-bright plastic horses with exaggerated haunches and anime eyes, have been captivating little girls since Hasbro introduced them in 1983. Many kids of the eighties and nineties spent huge swaths of their childhoods combing and braiding the toys’ flowing, nylon manes, or watching the popular cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. But after all these years, as the toy continues to be popular with children, a new and less expected fan base has emerged: grown men who endearingly call themselves “Bronies.”

This past weekend in Baltimore, thousands of fans of Pony-style convened for the fourth iteration of “BronyCon,” a safe space where enthusiasts can congregate in all their rainbow-haired glory. The three-day event included BronyPalooza, a twelve-hour concert with 33 musical acts in a variety of genres from ska to rock to rave, as well as plenty of vendors selling pony-phernalia and loads of costumed young people dressed in some form of cartoon likeness. If it sounds like your idea of awesome, you can start planning for the next one. In the meantime, the Cut sent photographer Amy Lombard to capture the spiraling unicorn horns, knee socks, contact lenses, and stubble at this year’s event. Click through our slideshow for some of our favorite portraits of the crowd.

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1 / 24 Photos
Genevieve Theriault  Photo: Amy Lombard
Keenan Tamblyn  Photo: Amy Lombard
Chiara Scuro  Photo: Amy Lombard
Sean Murphy  Photo: Amy Lombard
Autumn Wallace  Photo: Amy Lombard
Amanda Koch  Photo: Amy Lombard
Ryan Rosensweig  Photo: Amy Lombard
Steve Streza  Photo: Amy Lombard
Josh Jacobson  Photo: Amy Lombard
The Haidet twins  Photo: Amy Lombard
A group of men playing My Little Pony board games in the game room Photo: Amy Lombard
Cara Ficocelli, Paul Korade Brony couple Photo: Amy Lombard
Morgan Cook  Photo: Amy Lombard
Joseph Raab  Photo: Amy Lombard
"Hung Like A Brony" shirt for sale at Bronycon Photo: Amy Lombard
A young woman blows bubbles on the floor of the Baltimore Convention Center Photo: Amy Lombard
Dylan Burke  Photo: Amy Lombard
A bronycon attendee wears My Little Pony knee-high socks with running shoes Photo: Amy Lombard
Justin Owens  Photo: Amy Lombard
Paul Varghese  Photo: Amy Lombard
Olivia Licha  Photo: Amy Lombard
Julia Merkel  Photo: Amy Lombard
Brony manicures/nail art available in the brony cosmetic booth Photo: Amy Lombard
James Connolly-Weinert  Photo: Amy Lombard
1 / 24

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  • my little pony
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  • bronycon
  • bronies before honies
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