Costume play: Passion and livelihood

Etymologically, the term “cosplay” that we know today is a Japanese portmanteau of the English words “costume” and “play.” The term itself was coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi, a producer, after he saw a fan in character costume at the 1984 Worldcon in LA. He then wrote an article about it. The term might be considerably recent, but not the activity itself.

Masquerade balls have been a defining feature of the Carnival season in Europe since the 15th century. We can see the remnants of it in Venice, where costumed festivities became one of the city’s most notable events since the 16th century. The trend carried on to the 19th century, where guidelines for party costumes from the period can be found. The guides were already referring to fictional characters, such as The Three Musketeers.

However, cosplay today has gone beyond “playing.” For some, it became a profession as they earn a part or most of their living by cosplaying their way to the top. Enako, one of Japan’s top cosplayers, could earn more than $100,000 per day from merchandise sales alone in 2018. Presumably, this is the result of the cosplayer’s rising fame as well as growing fan base and earning potential.

Enako’s case implies that although it appears niche, cosplay is indeed a bigger industry than meets the eye. However, even when it could be one’s way to earn a living, costume playing always involves passion in its making. At least, it doesn’t sound like something you can do professionally without it inhabiting a special place in your heart.

Image: Pinky Lu Xun cosplaying Naotora Li from Samurai Warriors

Pinky Lu Xun (@pinkyluxun) is one of the Indonesian pioneer cosplayers. She has been active since 1998, back when she was an avid gamer. In the beginning, she jumped into the bandwagon just for fun. “It sounds fun to me that we can dress up like our favourite game characters and act like them,” she recounted, “but as time goes by, I found out that the costume-making process is what I love the most about cosplaying.” Pinky admitted that challenges in costume-making are exciting because she could explore every method possible using every accessible material to bring fictional garments into real life.

On the other hand, Yukitora Keiji (@yukitora_keiji) was not that drawn into game, anime, or manga fandom culture when she first started cosplaying. She admitted that cosplay is in a way more intricate than what she used to do before, which included but not limited to modelling, singing and dancing. “Cosplaying requires you to make your own costumes, acting...it’s like a whole package,” she said. Still, she finds it exciting.

Both Pinky and Yukitora’s popularity as cosplayers rose following their active participation and victory in cosplaycompetitions. Their presence became noticeable, and slowly, their fan base grew. They gained recognition for not only their performance as cosplayers, but also their craftsmanship.

There are indeed many ways that a cosplayer can obtain their costumes. In Indonesia, as soon as cosplay gained traction, hobby shops started selling manufactured costumes with a wide range of quality. There are even groups that offer costume-making using the P.O. system. There are also imported ready-to-wear costumes of popular characters made in China. When you see Attack on Titan’s Survey Corps crop jackets or Naruto’s orange jackets, chances are that some of those are imported.

However, costumes you can get in these places were made rather uniformed. This is where craftsmanship becomes very important in the making of a cosplayer. “People who cosplay competitively can nonchalantly wear these ready-to-wear products, but those who cosplay for a living will be judged for the craftsmanship of their costume,” Yukitora explained.

She shared that in international competitions, cosplayers are often questioned about the making of the costume they wear. In some instances, they even have to provide videos of the production process.

Pinky shared similar thought about this. For her, cosplaying was a hobby that at one point became a side job as she is mainly an architect, but a job is a job, and she aims to deliver professionally by all means. “I would be using the best materials for our costumes, perform our best, arrive on-time, paying attention to the accuracy in the costume we wear, acting faithfully to the character we’re representing, and so on.”

As a profession, there is so much more beyond being a cosplayer. By participating in and winning competitions,cosplayers would make their name in the industry and their fan base would grow. Cosplay-related events would start inviting them, who are expected to also bring their fans, as guest stars. As their reputation and credibility grow, they will have higher prospects of being judges in competitions.

We could see that albeit subtle, there seems to be acareer path for cosplayers. However, Yukitora noted that now, competition isn’t the only way for the making of a professional cosplayer.

“In this digital era, people become so good at manipulating backgrounds so they could produce more exciting visuals,” she explained, “they’re probably what we can consider cosplayer/influencer.”

There are also other things cosplayers can do to earn income. Back in the days, Pinky and Yukitora scored contracts as the brand ambassadors for games and comics. Yukitora explained that some game companies may choose an official cosplayer as their brand ambassador as part of their marketing strategy. Of course, just like how any other brand when they choose their KOL, these companies would prioritise top cosplayers with big fan base.

Read part 2 - Cosplay and the fandom