Where did the fashion for Cosplay come from?

2021-12-15

The media has been spreading about something like cosplay for several years now, always calling it a "new fad." Meanwhile, however, cosplay itself has existed in the world for almost a century, and it is practiced both professionally and for profit, as well as purely as a hobby. But what exactly is it and where did it really come from to Poland? We will reflect on these two things in our post today.

What is cosplay anyway?

Cosplay is the art of resembling characters known from the wide world of pop culture. We are talking here primarily about the characters:

movies and series;
anime and manga;
books and novels;
comic books and their adaptations;
computer and console games.

It therefore takes under the microscope all characters that could be associated by someone. The most important task of the cosplayer is to reproduce the appearance of the character as closely as possible - one that takes into account the features of his appearance, so first of all the face and other body parts visible to the naked eye, but also the costume that is most characteristic of the character. In cosplay, tremendous attention is paid to detail and the lion's share of all time is usually spent on polishing them. Cosplay, however, is not just about appearance. It is also an effort to replicate the behavior of a particular character and its most distinctive character traits.

Cosplay is primarily used for events closely related to computer games, movies, anime. In a word: anything that has some connection with pop culture. Very often, however, it is left in the privacy of a more private place. Then it becomes the subject of all kinds of photo shoots or video footage work. It is perceived as art in itself - unjustifiably so, since it bears many of its hallmarks.

The history of cosplay in a nutshell

Cosplay is in no way associated with Poland - at least as far as its roots are concerned, as it is incredibly popular there in its own right. Delving into its history, we could reach 17th century China. Even then, it was popular in Asia to dress up as well-known literary figures, imitate them and treat it as art. At that time, however, it was still treated as part of a theatrical play, not as an art form in its own right. Especially since its use was quite different, and also the method of preparation - much different from today's cosplay.

In fact, cosplay as it is known today and most widely used precisely in modern times can be most identified with the United States, which as early as the end of the 19th century (or rather, at its turn of the 20th century) began to like characters straight out of science fiction novels, but especially in comic books with superheroes in the foreground. Already then there were the first mentions of all kinds of themed masked balls, to which we can confidently attribute the beginnings of cosplay. It took its more prominent form in 1908, when William A. Fell went to a skating festival dressed as a character from a comic strip popular at the time.

However, cosplay did not take its most prominent form until 1939, at least in its documented and known form to the world. Surprisingly, its first full-fledged form is not attributed to the great popular person. We're talking about Myrtle Rebecca "Mo-ro 'yo" Douglas Smith Gray Nolan, who - then 35 years old - had a career in all kinds of magazines devoted to science-fiction literature. She was also a recognizable figure in what was, for those years, a niche topic. It was she who, in the aforementioned year, together with her partner, went to a convention of fantasy lovers. The couple was the only one who decided to go for it in custom-made outfits and a make-up created with this in mind. It made a real furore, thus contributing to a huge leap in the popularity of the art, which was later called cosplay. Although the initiators themselves did not live to experience the heyday of this phenomenon, they have written themselves into the pages of its history.

This heyday came in the 1960s. i 70. of the last century, and only today is gaining steam and becoming very media-savvy. It is the current decade that has been overly friendly to cosplayers, as well as welcoming them wherever appropriate.

Summary

While it might seem that cosplay is something young and recently available, the reality is quite different. After all, this one is more than a century old, although indeed it is recently much more widely spoken of in our country. It is worth knowing at least a little of its history and what it actually is. Especially as his importance in the art world grows over time. So is the number of people actively practicing it. This can be seen, for example, by the interest in the services of stores dealing exclusively with it. Such places as Cosplay Craft have enjoyed enormous and unflagging popularity for many years, and there is no indication that this will change in the coming years.