What is cosplay? 🤔

A little basic knowledge and history ... ℹ️ 🔍

When I first started with this form of expression, I didn't have the idea to look up a "real" definition of the word cosplay. Perhaps it's because this art form is so new and present in pop-culture, and is constantly evolving through its practitioners that, in the end, the word is mostly defined by the people who practice it. In my opinion, it is the representation, in costumes, of a fictional character from a video game, movie, ... that you create yourself (at least to me the last point is important).

Many people I deal with in the scene describe this hobby as the following : the main idea is that people play a role from a character, in all its aspects. For a while, they are the physical and mental embodiment of the fictional character. Their appearance, their tics, their behavior, sometimes their voice, their intonation, even "their" music! A given character is celebrated, in a sense. 

But what exactly does the word "cosplay" mean in its etymology? It's a crossword. It is made up of the two words "costume" and "play", which logically results in the word "costumeplay". 

And where does cosplay come from? What is known, however, is that the word "cosplay" was first used between 1983 and 1984 in a Japanese magazine by Nobuyuki Takahashi, the founder of Studio Hard. He had visited the 42nd Worldcon in Los Angeles and talked about this visit and his impressions of the costumes in the magazine My Anime, where he used the term "kosupure", itself an anglicism in Japanese, from which the word cosplay was later derived. (source : Cosfans. Cosplay meine neue Leidenschaft.) That's where all started!

What does cosplay mean to me? 🛠🖌

So now you have an idea where cosplay comes from and what it means. But it's much more than just role-playing or dressing up. For me there is something much more valuable behind it...

For me, cosplay has a very artistic aspect. Since I was little I have always had a pen in my hand to draw something on a piece of paper. Crafting was also on my agenda and wanted to give free rein to my creative mind.

Over the years I have improved my drawing skills until I could create a realistic portrait. At some point, however, the attraction was gone. It became boring at some point only to draw on a paper for me and thus my creativity declined more and more. And then one day I discovered through a friend cosplay and knew immediately: it became the passion that I have never sought, and yet so needed!

People often ask me what I love so much about cosplay. Well, I can completely live out my artistic abilities! I often draw my own costume creations, build them. I think if I had to choose one point why I do cosplay, my answer would be very clear: I create something out of nothing with my own hands. My brain, hands and fingers have the ability to create a piece of art, something that you can touch and "live". Something that really exists what you did all by yourself. We, human beings, have the ability to create! Isn't that something wonderful? 

However, there is one more important point : when I show my work on the social networks or I go in cosplay at conventions, I am considered exclusively as an artist. People are interested in my work and do not judge me as a person. It wasn't always like that.

In my childhood, like many others, I had bullying problems. Was laughed at because of my body and never had many friends. That has shaped me a lot. When I wear my cosplays I just bubble with self-confidence that I lacked so much over the years. I am not seen as Dominique, but as the character I represent at that moment. Escape from reality for a moment and dive into another world. That too, my dear readers, is cosplay for me.

I hope I could bring some of you a little closer to the world of cosplay and show this fantastic artwork through my eyes.

Best wishes from the last Dodo on belgian land! 🇧🇪❤️