This week, the season finale of our whirlwind tour around the globe searching fandoms far and wide. This week, we've left the globe to ascend to the _stars_ to talk about fans... of cosplay!
Next week? Who knows! Season 6 is right around the corner.
## Where can I learn more about Lumpy Space Cosplay or SMZeldaRules?
If you enjoyed our chat with these two fantastic cosplayers, you can learn more about them below!
**Lumpy Space Cosplay**
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/lumpyspacecosplay
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/lumpyspacecosplay
**SMZeldaRules**
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/smzeldarules
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/smzeldarulesartandcosplay
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**Origins:**
Cosplay, a portmanteau of the words "costumed play", is a hobby where people, known as cosplayers, wear costumes to represent a specific character. Cosplay is quite diverse: cosplayers may create costumes, be part of photoshoots, attend masquerades, get 'into character', 'genderbend' characters, mash up known characters with other genres or intellectual property, or much, much more.
**Fandom Origins:**
The origins of cosplay are fascinating because of how it has changed, evolved, and traveled. The act of fan costuming predates the term cosplay: In 1939, Myrtle Rebecca (Morojo) and Forry Ackerman work some of the first fan costumes, "futuricostumes" at Worldcon 1939 (The world science fiction convention):
> Morojo was the person who single-handedly brought fantasy into real physical space when she created and wore her own costume. Given modern cosplay’s intense focus on individual creativity and craft, it’s bizarre that Ackerman is the one most often credited as being the O.G. cosplayer in fan literature. Morojo, who made the futuristicostumes, deserves the bulk of the credit. To crush the next few decades of history into a single sentence: the idea of dressing up like your favorite fictional characters caught on and gained traction. After 1939, costume contests became an annual tradition at Worldcon, drawing more and more participants with each passing year.
>
> — [Fanlore - Cosplay](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Cosplay)
It wasn't until much later that the term was coined, and the coinage varies in terms of who it is attributed to. Some sources claim that "cosplay started after a Japanese fan, Nov Takahashi, attended the 1984 Worldcon in Los Angeles and reported on the costuming activity there in Japanese SF magazines" ([Fanlore - Cosplay](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Cosplay)), however Nov Takahashi was using the term cosplay as early as June 1983, and there are other instances of fans in cosplay outside of North America.
In any case, regardless of the origin of the term, because of the growing popularity in Japan and things like anime and manga becoming popular in North America during the 1990s, cosplay was re-imported to North America, assumed to be Japanese in origin.
**Most Active:**
[Google trends data](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F014ht3) gives the impression that cosplay has been increasing in interest since 2004, but has some waviness to it: Overall, interest has increased, but it we seem to be in a local lull in interest.
More than many of the other fandoms we've covered, the data is, unsurprisingly, periodic: There is a spike every year around July-ish that persists until October (which roughly corresponds to convention season).
(Google trends data was attempted using 'costume' as the search, but the data was too noisy, a much different magnitude than that of 'Cosplay', and spiked every year in October.)
**Fan Demographics**
In an unexpected twist, [Cosplay Calamity](https://cosplaycalamity.com/2017/03/20/cosplay-demographics-01/), someone we have encountered at ConBravo!, has conducted a cosplay survey for 2017. The data is admittedly from a small sample size (just under 300 respondents), but gives us some approximation:
- Age: The largest group of respond...
