Costuming cosplay: dressing the imagination

Cosplay, short for 'costume play', has grown from its origins at fan conventions into a billion-dollar global dress phenomenon. 'Costuming Cosplay' takes us from elaborately crafted DIY costumes to online fandoms, examining how the practice of portraying fictional characters from popular culture through dress and performance has become a creative means of expressing and playing with different identities.

With an approach that ranges from admiration and role-play to gender performance, this is the first to fully examine the subculture and costume of the Cosplay phenomenon.