What is cosplay?

The what, why, when and where of cosplay culture explained

Cosplay is short for ‘costume play’ and is the past time of dressing up (usually) as characters from TV, film, comics, video games or the celebrity world.
As well as dressing up as a character, cosplayers often embrace that character’s mannerisms and poses etc. Some even recreate short skits from the character’s performances, while others will engage in mock fight scenes.
Cosplay evolved in the 20th century and has grown to be a global sub-culture, with millions of fans around the world.

Cosplay fans meet at cosplay conventions (cons), the biggest of which are Comic Cons. Cons range in size from a few hundred visitors at regional events, to the major cons in Tokyo, London, New York and San Diego, which attract hundreds of thousands of fans. Fans also cosplay at home and share the images on social media.
Fans of costuming might cosplay alone, with friends or as part of a cosplay group, usually either regional or genre/franchise based.

Cosplayers are inspired by a wide range of genres. Some of the most popular include sci-fi, Japanese anime shows and manga comics, and the superheroes and villains from entertainment brands such as Marvel and DC.

Click here to see the most popular genre and most popular franchise guides.

Novice cosplayers often start costuming with simple outfits and make-up, then build up to more complex regalia.

Cosplay is often most highly valued when the wearer has created the costume themselves, though many cosplayers buy pre-manufactured outfits. All-in-one bodysuits, aka Zentai, are simple and popular cosplays, from the ubiquitous Spider-Man to X-Men’s Rogue.

Fans cosplay for a wide range of reasons, including:
• to celebrate a favourite character or show.
• to be with friends or make new friends.
• to express their craft and creativity.
• as a ‘release’ in an otherwise introverted life.
• to express their sexuality/identity or to cross-dress (crossplay) in a safe and friendly environment.

Fast facts on cosplay

• Cosplay is a noun and a verb.
• O.C is ‘Original Costume’ or ‘Original Cosplay’, where cosplayers create their own costumes, often inspired by, but not a copy of, something they have seen in popular culture.
• Biggest Cosplay Conventions: New York, Tokyo, San Diego, London.
• Crossplay describes a cosplayer who dresses up as a character of a different gender.
• Genderbend is when a cosplayer changes the sex of a character.

For any media enquiries regarding cosplay, please email: info@worldofcosplay.com

---