Why costume fandom’s distinctions from cosplay matter: Costuming’s craft, histories, and motivations

Abstract

Costume fandom is defined by intense affect for costumes and for the creative processes and material practices of designing, crafting, and displaying them. I differentiate costume fandom (emphasizing craft) from cosplay (emphasizing identity). I also highlight costume fandom's discourse about itself during the underexplored 1939–1984 period, including its numerous innovations. Autoethnography supplements discourse analysis on why fans historically and currently participate in costume fandom. Costume fandom discourse recognizes multiple overlapping motivations, including practicality, creativity, aesthetics, gaining or improving craft skills, identification, and other costume fans' creations or praise, as well as more problematic factors.