Forum - View topicAnswerman - When Did Cosplay Start?
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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I'm delighted to have found out that cosplay has been around for decades earlier than I thought.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11415 |
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@MidoriUma: I'm still not buying it as cosplay based solely on that photo, which is what your sources seem to have done. It's hard to take it seriously when it says, "However, for some reason the decision was made not to photograph the bridge itself," right beneath a postcard photograph of the bridge itself.
My guess is that they were part of the entertainment hired for the event, like mascots or parade figures (except apparently a sumo match in this case - perhaps it's more a precursor to puroresu?). That seems postcard-worthy. If random people just decided to show up dressed in cosplay, it might've gotten a line or two in the daily paper, but probably not a commercial postcard. Either way, everyone is just guessing about what that photo indicates, and we'll probably never know, unless some contemporary who understood it wrote a journal entry that someone finds someday. |
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addiemon
Posts: 93 |
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Well, to be fair, if you call these costumes "cosplay" then any costume of any historical or folkloric(/biblical/mythical/etc.) would be "cosplay" as well. Which isn't to say that it would be wrong to go that far- I read a very interesting piece recently pointing out that much of Renaissance art and writing could be called fan art and fan fiction or fan theory based on the Bible, right? But for more practical conversation, I think "cosplay" could be better defined as the wearing of costumes from or outfits inspired by media properties. I selected the last two words with the intention of conveying the commercial and consumption aspects of the hobby, which help distinguish it from, for example, an attendee at Catherine di Medici's 16th-century costume ball dressing as a Greek deity. |
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#857564
Posts: 1 |
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There was a club in San Diego, that is still around, called S.T.A.R. San Diego. Within this group of fans were a number of sub groups. One of which was the Battle of the Planets Fan Club. The local members of the BotPFC did costumes from the show and attended July 1979 S.T.A.R. meeting and the 1979 San Diego Comic Con in those costumes. And a number of other conventions in Southern California. The group was myself, James Long, Rebecca Long, Dennis Schamp, and Russell Ketteringham. We were regularly attending the Cartoon Fantasy Organization in LA. The first out of town members to join CFO. We did our anime costumes just before others in S.T.A.R. We never wore them in any masquerade though.
Barney |
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AnimeLordLuis
 Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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If you ask me it doesn't really matter how Cosplay started or where all that matters is that it's hear today and is more popular than ever.
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Herald Of JOJO
 Posts: 144 Location: Malaysia |
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If only I had a better body build, I'd be more daring to cosplay.
 I absolutely love the practise though. A day ago, I saw photos of cosplay of Killer Instinct characters, Hisako and Mira, and they(the cosplayers) looked amazing. Arggh, so jealous!
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koinosuke
 Posts: 271 Location: Fukushima, Japan |
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I'm sorry, but this really does not seem to be what we'd consider "cosplay" at all. It's just people in costumes -- and if just being in a costume is the same as cosplay then people from all areas of the world have been doing it for thousands of years. |
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NearEasternerJ1
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay#Cosplay_in_Western_culture Nope. Wrong. |
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MidoriUma
Posts: 130 |
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Fans of a certain popular story in costume in a nonprofessional capacity, presumably homemade (they don't look to be commercially bought, and in any case the internet wasn't around back then) posing for photographers. And yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. People have been cosplaying for ages.
How do we define media, though? Electronic? Printing press? I don't see why it needs to be tied towards a particular form of media. Ultimately, depending on your personal definition of cosplay vs whatever else, we can argue either way. I personally define cosplay as someone creating and/or wearing a non-everyday outfit of clothing portraying a character other than themselves for their own enjoyment and/or that of others. In that regard, this totally qualifies.
Pointing to a wikipedia article doesn't make you right. It makes you lazy. That's just someone's opinion, and I'm pretty sure wikipedia can be edited by anyone. Frankly, I bet that's where answerman got his information; it almost seems like he paraphrased the very article you just linked to... |
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koinosuke
Posts: 271 Location: Fukushima, Japan |
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Of course the costumes weren't commercially bought; it was 1911! There wasn't exactly a Donki down the street with a whole floor devoted to halloween costumes in the Meiji Era. And what makes you think these people were dressed up for the their "own enjoyment?" This was for an official ceremony and they were put on a postcard. Seems like they made money one way or another. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure "cosplay" as term refers in some way to some sort of fandom, and I think most people would agree that these people were probably not a part of some Momotaro fanclub. Dressing up as culturally ingrained folkstory characters for an official event does not constitute cosplay in the way we think of it at all. It's just being in costume, which is not the same thing, and if the term does have such a hugely broad scope as you imply - why even have a term like cosplay? |
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Hektor6766
 Posts: 25 |
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From Wikipedia:
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11415 |
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Btw MidoriUma, what led you to believe that two of those people were women? The old woman character could easily be a man in drag (as you pointed out, men played women on stage all the time), and the bird's clothing is so bulky you can't be sure there either. I presume the two doing sumo were men.
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Lady Multi
Posts: 675 |
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Did I say they did? No I didn't. I just said that they were a thing in the 1970s and that cosplay has been around for a long time. |
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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I think it's cute that someone thought people wearing costumes was invented in America in the 1990's.
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2439 Location: Germany |
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Skygack,_from_Mars Thank you wiki. Is this the oldest photographically recorded cosplayer? Come on time detectives, we can solve this! @Tempest Someone never wanted to be a Hero of the Beach. |
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