Halloween is seemingly the one time of year that anyone and everyone can dress up in funny costumes and parade around the streets pretending to be something they’re not. It’s a holiday where everyone can be anyone they want to be. But is halloween the only time of year you can dress up as a vampire, baby, or whatever the hell else you want to dress up as?
Well, simple answer, no. You can dress up as some fantastical creature or something whenever you want to because you have freewill. Still, most people never even consider the possibility that one day they can wake up and just decide to dress up as their favorite superhero on a random Tuesday. However, there are people that do this, and these people are called cosplayers.
Simply put, cosplay (short for costumed play) is when someone dresses up in costume and has fun in said costume. This term was coined by individuals in the Japanese anime/manga scene, but slowly seeped into western fandoms over the past 10 -15 years. However, costumed play was a thing far before the term was ever thought up. Some of the earliest cosplays can be seen during the 1960s at science fiction and fantasy conventions. Historically, cosplay was a thing in Japan far before it ever reached the west, but in the 1980s & 1990s, individuals in fandom spaces were able to communicate with one another via the internet.
Modern day cosplay and fandom culture is much different from that of the 20th century. In the 2000s & 2010s, fandom, and by proxy cosplay, really picked up due to the creation of social media. Cosplayers and non cosplayers alike were able to see other people’s costumes and how they made them (that is if they made them.) It opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for fans to share their creations with other fans. From this, conventions became more frequent and popular, allowing many fans to gather within the same space and befriend one another. Some of the most popular conventions include Comic-Con and AnimeExpo, both of which happen in America, and are some of the oldest conventions in their respective fields.
Cosplays can be found frequently at conventions, as there are often costume contests that happen during them where participants are judged by anything from craftsmanship to time and effort put into the costume. Some of these contests even give out prizes to the winners, and are held year-round.
However, sometimes the cosplay community can brew hatred and discomfort. Sometimes, cosplayers report harassment from people (usually men) who believe that they are entitled to photos, interactions, or even worse just because the cosplayer is dressed as their favorite character. Despite this, the cosplay community continues to grow and spread to new and different fandoms.
Ultimately, cosplay is currently something that dominates fandom communities, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Now, next month I will recount my experience as a first time con-goer and detail the ups and downs of the convention!
Fandom Fun Fact III: Cosplay came from the term コスプレ, kosupure in Japanese!
If you have any questions or suggestions for things I should talk about, or want to share your own fandom-related stories, feel free to email me at [email protected] with any inquiries you may have!