{"id":308,"date":"2019-08-24T19:08:29","date_gmt":"2019-08-24T17:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cosplayers.gr\/?page_id=308"},"modified":"2025-10-25T01:39:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T23:39:54","slug":"greek-cosplay-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cosplayers.gr\/en\/greek-cosplay-history\/","title":{"rendered":"WHAT IS COSPLAY & THE HISTORY OF GREEK COSPLAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF GREEK COSPLAY<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
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WHAT IS COSPLAY?<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"\"<\/a> <\/strong>The term “Cosplay<\/strong>” is an abbreviation of “Costume Play”, a kind of visual art where a person faithfully represents a, usually imaginary, character through the use of appropriate clothing and accessories, which can be decorative up to giant weapons of all kinds, as well as armor. At the same time, if chosen, one tries to get into the role of the character by impersonating the character’s behavior in public. The closest example  a person unrelated to the subject  could think of to easy understand it is carnival. The difference of “Cosplay<\/strong>” is that, contrary to carnival, a person tries to faithfully imitate a specific named fictional character and, optionally, his role, since it’s not about vague non-named characters or vague character categories. “Cosplay<\/strong>” is an art that combines sewing, crafts, makeup \/ body painting, wig styling, roleplaying and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"Various Greek Cosplay Groups ( Athens & Thessaloniki )<\/p>\n

WHAT CHARACTERS DO WE SEE IN COSPLAY?<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/strong> The characters<\/strong> portrayed by Cosplayers originate from Japanese and Western animation (anime & cartoons), comics, manga, movies, series, videogames, books, and other sources. It is a common occurrence for a person to represent a character of a different sex. The term used frequently to describe this occurrence is “Crossplay<\/strong>“. Correspondingly, in cases where someone changes the sex of the selected character, giving one’s own version of the opposite sex, the term “Genderbend<\/strong>” is frequently used.<\/p>\n

\"\"Various Greek Cosplay Groups ( Athens & Thessaloniki )<\/p>\n

HOW CAN I TAKE PART IN COSPLAY?<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/strong> Cosplay could be described as a collection of many <\/strong>artforms<\/b>, where the vast majority of people sew their costumes and create the accessories they use themselves, something which is the biggest part of the art and most of its meaning. Alternatives include commissioning a dressmaker or Cosplayer ( the so called commissions <\/strong>) or buying them from websites. This solution is preferred in cases where a person doesn’t know how to sew or craft or is bored to create the costumes one wants to wear. A different solution is to choose character outfits, which are just everyday clothes, where no special knowledge or expense is required. However, unlike what one might think, it is not as difficult as it sounds, since everyone is forced to start from scratch, observing existing attire and clothing and gradually improving their skills and knowledge on creating Cosplay through practice. The important thing is to use imagination during the creation process, finding various creative ways of making use of available materials, be patient, despite the setbacks that will arise, and above all, enjoy it so that it won’t be a chore. This way one will realize that everything is possible and no great production is unachievable, especially when there are people willing to help and thousands of online videos to solve all questions that might arise.<\/p>\n

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HOW DID COSPLAY CAME TO BE?<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/strong> Cosplays first appeared in 1908<\/strong> in Ohio, USA<\/strong>. Those were Mr. Skygack<\/strong> and Miss Dillpickles<\/strong> from the comic “Mr. Skygack, from Mars<\/strong>” at a masquerade event. In 1910<\/strong> another Cosplay from the same comic appeared at a masquerade event in Tacoma, Washington<\/strong>, USA, before the 1st appearance of the Cosplays at a convention in 1939<\/strong>, at the 1st “World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon)<\/strong>“, with the number of Cosplays present there increasing yearly, numbering more than 100<\/strong> in 1974<\/strong>, and reaching their peak in the middle of the 80s<\/strong>.  The first Cosplays in the UK<\/strong> appeared in 1955 <\/strong>at the 1st “Cytricon<\/strong>“. With the rise of science fiction conventions in the USA ( Star Trek<\/strong> etc ) during the early 70s, Cosplays’ appearance at multiple events also rose. In 1978<\/strong> we have the appearance of the first Cosplays in Japan<\/strong>, at “Ashinocon<\/strong>” in Hakone<\/strong>, followed by the expansion of Cosplay at multiple conventions around the country, with the main one being the huge “Comiket<\/strong>“. The first Cosplay only convention, “Costume-Con<\/strong>“, took place in 1983,<\/strong> in San Diego<\/strong>, USA. With the massive intergration of Anime<\/strong> and Manga<\/strong> during the 90s in Japan’s daily life, Cosplay expands dramatically, while the expansion of Anime<\/strong> and Manga<\/strong> in the West<\/strong> during the same period lead to the revival and expansion of Cosplay in the rest of the world <\/strong>as well, which in particular had begun to decline after one point during the 80s in the USA. Over the next 2 decades<\/strong>, greatly facilitated by the expansion of the internet<\/strong>, Anime<\/strong> and Manga<\/strong>, Cosplay expands worldwide with an ever growing audience, events and interest from people around it. Among them is Greece, where it made its organized appearance in Athens in 2006<\/strong> at the “Carnival Cosplay Meeting 2006<\/strong>” ( some solo Cosplays had appeared already earlier ). In 2003<\/strong>, the first worldwide Cosplay Contest<\/strong>, “World Cosplay Summit<\/strong>“, is held in Nagoya<\/strong>, Japan. Today, there are hundreds of events, photoshoots, competitions and anything imaginable all over the world related to and including Cosplay as their core element.<\/p>\n

\"\"USA ( 1908 \/ 1910 \/ 1912 ) – Newspaper Articles – Photos by kotaku.com.au<\/p>\n

\"\"USA ( 1939 \/ 1979 ) – 1st Western & Japan Cosplays at a Convention – Photos by japandaily.jp & japanpowered.com<\/p>\n

\"\"UK ( 1955 ) & Japan ( 1978 ) – Photos by fiawol.org.uk & futurelearn.com<\/p>\n

\"\"Greece ( 2006 )<\/p>\n