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The term “cosplay” is formed from the abbreviated costume play. It means bringing to life the character of a fictional work, whether it is book, movie or anime. Cosplay is called “the art of transformation”. If during the masquerade you need to change into another person, in cosplay you have to merge with the character: copy the manner of speech of a hero, his facial expression, use the same words and phrases, react in a similar way. A cosplayer should look as similar as possible to the depicted hero, but he is not obliged to make cute kawaii clothes with his own hands. He can sew an outfit if he knows how to cope with a sewing machine and sows well, but if he is not able to hold a needle in his hands, then the best decision will be to contact the Asian fashion shop. Now there are many shops where you can buy suitable clothes for this event.
Firstly cosplay appeared in 1939. Two American fans, Forrest Ackerman and Myrtle Jones, appeared at the first world science fiction Convention in New York, dressed as heroes of Space Opera. Ackerman and Jones made a splash among the visitors. Everyone liked the idea so much that at the next Convention in 1940 there was a masquerade ball. Masquerade became a tradition that continues until present day. At first, the costumes were quite simple and were created more out of a desire to be shown, rather than for the prize.
By the early sixties the situation began to change. People began to approach to creation of dresses more and more seriously, spent on them more and more time and money. Among the pilots of spaceships and evil aliens increasingly appeared superheroes and elves. Not only the costumes, but also the ways of their presentation became more and more creative.