Cosplay

What Is Cosplay?
Cosplay is the act of dressing up as a character or concept. People who do it regularly are called ‘cosplayers’. Cosplayers may also go above and beyond copying their character’s outfits – they might even ‘role-play’ as characters, copying their mannerisms and gestures.

Where Did Cosplay Start?
Although the term was coined in the 1980s, the practice of cosplaying has its roots in early 15th century carnivales where people dressed up as objects, concepts, famous historical figures, or popular characters from fiction or stage plays. Cosplay as we know it today (or fan costuming) started at the 1st World Science Fiction Convention. Contemporary cosplay follows in this tradition and is often done at comic or pop culture conventions, like at San Diego Comic-Con.

How Does Cosplay Work?
One of the aims of cosplay is to portray a character. You can do this ‘accurately’ by copying a character’s exact look, down to the details. You can also put your own creative spin on it! Cosplayers achieve their looks through a mixture of costumes, wigs, accessories, and props.

How Much Does It Cost To Cosplay?
Cosplay is generally an expensive hobby since you need to shell out for costumes, wigs, and more. But if you’re resourceful and a bit handy, you can save a lot of money by making your own outfits and props. You can also do something called ‘closet cosplay’ which is using clothes you already own to recreate a character’s costume or do a ‘casual’ version.

When And Where Can I Find Cosplay Events?
The great news is that there are cosplay events all over the world – even in countries where you least expect it. Most pop culture conventions like comic-con, video game cons, and more are open to cosplayers. In Portugal, Comic-Con, IberAnime, and Anicomics are just a handful of events you can check out. Some even have cosplay competitions where the best cosplays get a prize! Other kinds of cosplay events include live action-role playing events, historical reenactments, Renaissance faires, D&D game sessions, and the like.

Guide On How To Do Cosplay
1. Pick a character or concept you want to dress up as. Consider your favourite comics, TV shows, and movies. You can even dress up as a meme!
2. Choose the ‘style’ you want to do your costume in. Are you going to copy the character/concept as accurately as possible? Or do you want to do a special ‘version’ of it, like a steampunk version, sexy version, gender-swapped version, etc.?
3. Shop for your costume pieces. You can check out sites like Ezcosplay for cosplay-specific items, or you can go to your nearest mall/clothing store to build it from scratch. If you have money to spare, you can pay a cosplayer or costume-maker to make the outfit and props for you.
4. OPTIONAL: If you want to take your cosplay to the next level, practice ‘acting’ as the character. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but at least try to get their moves or poses down for the photos.

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