Cosplay
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| See also: | LARP, costuming, Cosplayers, Cosplaying, Crossplay, Costume-Con, masquerade | |
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Cosplay (short for costumed play) grew out of Japanese anime/manga fandom, and as the use of the word has spread to western fandoms, fannish drift has led to different meanings in Japan than in the US, and in anime fandoms than in non-anime fandoms.
In Japan, cosplay from anime and manga sources are still the most common, but characters from SF and fantasy movies are starting to show up as well. Cosplay is taken seriously in Japan; there are a couple of magazines dedicated to it, and the level of detail is amazing. Bishounen characters are frequently played by women; cosplaying as characters of the opposite sex is sometimes called "crossplay."
In the US, the word cosplay has started to be applied to existing costuming activity in SFF fandom (the first CostumeCon was in 1982);[1] The most common costuming seen at western SFF conventions are costumes from Star Trek, Star Wars, other science fiction and fantasy worlds, Renaissance-era characters, historical re-enactments such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, and of course, all kinds of vampires. These vary in quality and ambition, from award-winning costumes at Costume-Con to casual "hall costumes" at SF cons. Japanese-influenced amime/manga cosplay is common as well.
LARPers, Live Action Role Players, often dress like their characters when they play. This is considered cosplay, but often the costuming is very casual.
Cosplay is relatively rare at fan-run conventions that have no paid guests, except at formal masquerades or dance parties. When The Phantom Menace was a popular slash fandom, several fans showed up at Escapade wearing Jedi robes and caused quite a stir.
Some people like cosplay best for the "freaking the mundanes" aspect of it; other people are in it for the costuming; some are in it for the excuse to wear as little clothing as possible; and like any group, still others are in it for the community.
See also
- Masquerade: The Magazine of Science Fiction Costuming, a cosplay zine
