History of cosplay The term "cosplay" is formed from the abbreviation of costume play - "costume game" or "costume play".It means the embodiment of the image of a character from a fictional work, be it a book, comic book, movie or anime.
The cosplayer should look as similar as possible to the depicted character, but should not make their own costume. The word "cosplay" was invented by the Japanese who love abbreviations, but, contrary to the misconception, it did not originate in Japan.
A man dressed up as a comic book character Mr. Skygack from Mars back in 1908. But he had no followers. Cosplay in the modern sense of the word appeared in 1939.
Everyone liked the idea so much that at the next convention in 1940, a masquerade ball was held, among the participants of which a competition for the best costume was held. The masquerade has become a tradition that continues to this day.
How costumes are created
Initially, the costumes were quite simple and were created more out of a desire to stand out and fool around than for the prize. For fantastic outfits, there was a term of its own - "futuristic costume".
In the early sixties, the situation began to change. People began to approach the creation of outfits more seriously, spent more and more time and money on them.
And although the composition of the masquerade participants was diverse - fans, artists, and even famous writers came to the World Science Fiction Convention in costumes - celebrities and professionals began to appear in this business.
Costumes ceased to be strictly futuristic. Among the pilots of spaceships and evil aliens, superheroes and elves began to appear more and more often, for example, overwatch commissions where you can order your favorite costume to your taste. It was not enough for the contestants to just walk the catwalk - they sang songs, arranged dances and acrobatic performances.
This stretched the duration of the event so much that the time for each performance was reduced to a minute. But despite all the tricks, in the mid-seventies, the masquerade turned from a friendly party into a strict competition with a crowd of spectators and a picky jury. There were a lot of people willing to portray their favorite characters, showing their talent of actor and fashion designer.