Costume and Play aims to voice the UK’s individual movement of Costuming providing beautifully delivered content alongside features and events. What is cosplay?
Cosplay is derived from the terms ‘Costume and Play’. It consists of individuals effectively ‘dressing up’ as their favourite characters, but it is the individual components of ‘cosplay’ that make it so unique. The ‘Costume’ element when crafted leads into several different skill-sets such as prop making and sewing. The ‘Play’ or ‘Performance’ element with either a made or purchased costume leads
to spectacular shows such as a cosplay masquerade. What does Costume and Play do? With such a vibrant community and so many individual elements making up the art form that is ‘cosplay’ navigating around this can be tricky, Costume and Play provides services to help companies understand the multiple benefits of cosplay such as its incredible audience engagement, while rooting itself firmly in the community to help grow it. How do I get involved? Cosplay encourages you to dress and be a character you love – be it from Anime, Gaming, TV, Film, it doesn’t matter if its brought or handmade, as long as its a fandom you love. If your a community member you can follow and share our community section, social media channels and of course attend the events we’ll be present at! If you're a company, you can take a look at our services section and contact us directly to learn how we can help you.
19/02/2025
✨Come join us on discord on the 28th February!✨
It’s Q&A times and Hang out on discord! With community management and head of company Jess banks!
At 7pm we are hosting an open hangout on a discord chat room in our community server for 2 hours! Where you can ask us questions, hang out with other cosplayers and chat!
Don’t want to chat or ask questions?- no worries, just join in, press the mute button and listen along
Rules- Any rules? Well of course, we ask that you respect everyone’s voice and keep it respectful!
Don’t have us in discord?- no worries! Head over to our Linktree in our bio and find the link to join our open server!
We are excited to hear from you and connect with you all! 🥰 always drop a comment below if you need any help or have any questions in the meantime about the hangout!
See you there!!
07/07/2024
📢 Calling all cosplay enthusiasts! 🎭✨
Get ready to showcase your talent and creativity at our cosplay masquerades hosted by Costume and Play! Judged by amazing judges (✨Found on 🌟)
Grab your ticket and join us for an epic day filled with amazing cosplays and unforgettable moments. Don’t miss out on the chance to win incredible prizes and be part of a community that celebrates the art of cosplay.
Get your costumes ready, gather your friends, and mark the date on your calendar. This is your moment to shine! ✨🎉
Come and see in our cosplay zone all weekend! Showcasing Thier amazing skills, getting to meet all of you and judging your to be amazing cosplays at our masquerade hosted on the Sunday!
Here is a little bit about her!
Heyo! My name is LuciaThePeach, I’m a 25 year old cosplayer who has been cosplaying for 11 years, but only taking it more serious since 2020. Using social media as a way to express my passion, I’ve been sharing my costumes, props and videos with the community, finding ways to make cosplays with what was to hand, focusing on cosplays for DnD, Original characters and video games.
As well as making cosplays, I work in the media industry as a motion graphic/editor which helps me to enhance my videos with effects not available on most platforms.
📸
We can’t wait to work alongside and for you guys all to interact and enjoy what They have to show you!
Come and see in our cosplay zone all weekend! Showcasing Thier amazing skills, getting to meet all of you and judging your to be amazing cosplays at our masquerade hosted on the Sunday!
Here is a little bit about them!
Coraxion Cosplay also known as Corax has been cosplaying since 2019 focusing on a 1 to 1 scale suit of space marine armour (which may have been originally built in his bedroom).
Fast forward to 2023 and Coraxion went on the road to conventions across the UK and truly caught the cosplay bug, further improving the armour to what you can see today and developing skills from foamwork to sewing.
Now with an expanded skill set further larger cosplays are on the horizon bringing new characters to life whether they be from the worlds of Warhammer 40k or from Anime and video games.
Come and see in our cosplay zone all weekend! Showcasing Thier amazing skills, getting to meet all of you and judging your to be amazing cosplays at our masquerade hosted on the Saturday and Sunday!
Here is a little bit about them!
Matthew is a competitive cosplayer from the UK, having internationally represented his country two years consecutively at the Crown Championship of Cosplay at C2E2; and most recently winning the world finals to take home the Crown.
With a mastery over a great many techniques, his favorites are leatherwork, painting, metalwork, and SFX Makeup. He believes in having strength of heart, learning through experimentation, hardworking, believing in yourself, and having fun!
We can’t wait to work alongside Matthew and for you guys all to interact and enjoy what They have to show you!
Come and see in our cosplay zone all weekend! Showcasing Thier amazing skills, getting to meet all of you and judging your to me amazing cosplays at our masquerade hosted Saturday!
Here is a little bit about them!
Lulu is an award-winning cosplayer and fashion history student, specialising in obscure fandoms and original designs! She won second at the last Hyperjapan contest and is so happy to return! She’s spent 16 years sewing and 5 years cosplaying, and she can’t wait to meet everyone, come by her table for a chat and a puzzle.
Photo credits is .creative
We can’t wait to work alongside Lulu and for you guys all to interact and enjoy what she has to show you!
Hello! My name is Noodlecupcos also known as Bee! I have been cosplaying for over 10 years and I’m based in Wales!
I started cosplaying as a way to express myself and to immerse myself in my interests more. Through cosplay I have gained confidence, skills and the most amazing friends! The cosplay Community is a huge family and I’m so happy to have found it!
I like to make my cosplays on a budget and will used everyday items and cheaper forms of materials to get there! I love to make wings especially! I’m always ready to help others and will share step by step how I make some of my big props!
My best cosplay would have to be my newest, Witch Mercy from Overwatch! I bought the base costume but did the wings, staff and shoes myself! It was an experience making normal shoes upturn at the toe! I only had three days to make all of those parts!
I’ve made 9 big fluffy tails for Ahri from League of Legends and have also made Wattsons pylon from Apex Legends from scratch! From scratch I have also made an entire Arcade Sona cosplay, massive game board prop as well!
I’m super friendly and always ready for a chat! I can offer help and advice on material, sourcing things cheaply and making things too! I also love to talk about all things gaming!
I’ve won a few cosplay competitions! I won Hyper Japans cosplay competition with Annie from League of Legends and also Swansea Geekfest too! My funniest win was winning the Sonic Green Hill Zone speedrun! Warning, I will talk about Sonic for hours! Through my work on gaming and cosplay I’ve had the opportunity to work with Esports Wales, Logitech and also two Overwatch League Teams!
If you would like to check me out I have a few socials! I’m Noodlecupcos on all of them! I’m mostly active on TikTok where I make gaming and cosplay related content! Im super excited to attend this event as I adore all things gaming and connecting with people who are interested in gaming as well! I can’t wait to see everyone’s cosplays and watch Esports! Esports is a weakness of mine! I hope to see you there too!!
Coraxion Cosplay also known as Corax has been cosplaying since 2019 focusing on a 1 to 1 scale suit of space marine armour (which may have been originally built in his bedroom).
Fast forward to 2023 and Coraxion went on the road to conventions across the UK and truly caught the cosplay bug, further improving the armour to what you can see today and developing skills from foamwork to sewing.
Now with an expanded skill set further larger cosplays are on the horizon bringing new characters to life whether they be from the worlds of Warhammer 40k or from Anime and video games.
*Guest Announcement*
CPM Cosplay
I started cosplaying 8 years ago and would probably describe myself more as a modder, constantly working to improve and upgrade my cosplay, and I always seem to have a cosplay maintenance project on the go. I really found confidence in the cosplay community and love being able to pass on the tips and tricks I've learned in my time as a cosplayer.
Photography Credit: ByDeeBee Photography
02/06/2024
Masquerade places for Hyper Japan are filling up! Please make sure to signup nice and early to secure your place! If you have already filled in your signup form you will recieve your confirmation email shortly!!!
✨Find out more about the application and grab your tickets https://hyperjapan.co.uk/festival/cosplay/calling-all-cosplay-enthusiasts-2/
Get ready to showcase your talent and creativity at our cosplay competition hosted by Costume and Play! We are open to everyone❤ Cosplay Masquerade – Saturday 14:00 Any Costumes from any genre of anime, manga, video game, television, film, book and original characters and mash ups etc. may ente...
27/05/2024
📢 Calling all cosplay enthusiasts! 🎭✨
Get ready to showcase your talent and creativity at our cosplay masquerades hosted by Costume and Play! 🌟
Grab your ticket and join us for an epic day filled with amazing cosplays and unforgettable moments. Don't miss out on the chance to win incredible prizes and be part of a community that celebrates the art of cosplay.
Get your costumes ready, gather your friends, and mark the date on your calendar. This is your moment to shine! ✨🎉
Ready to signup for Medway Gaming Festival Masquerades? We would strongly suggest not leaving your application to the last minute and sign up now to secure your place!!
Ready for your championship winners! Make sure to say a massive well done to everyone who took part!
1st Place - .ink.cosplay
2nd Place -
3rd Place -
Gaming Honour -
Craftsmanship -
Performance -
Thank you to the amazing for giving us not only some amazing photos but for her amazing work working the community! Please go and support your photographers, videographers and cosplayers who make this community so wonderful!
04/04/2024
Congratulations and thank you to EVERYONE who took part in the cosplay community masquerade for !
Well done to all of our winners!
1st place -
2nd place -
3rd Place -
Craftsmanship honour -
Performance honour -
One to watch -
Gaming Honour -
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Costume and Play posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
These movements, values and ideology have been wrapped up and held mostly in secret, but they burn within the hearts of all the Cosplayers. Publishing the slogan ‘The Home of Cosplay’ several months ago to aid in the launch of a convention was one of the boldest moves I’ve ever made, yet it harmonised with all the people I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with over the past few years.
I open up to you now and step forward, presenting you with the values I carry in regards to Cosplay, you’ll learn about the changes within the Masquerade formatting that have now spread across the UK. How the ‘Cosplay star’ concept was formed, the wider picture of ‘Careers from Cosplay’ I started a year ago and most importantly who the Costumers are, the values they carry and Britain’s individual voice on the Cosplay movement as part of the global phenomenon.
Costuming and Play serves a few purposes;
To stand for each individual Cosplayer within the community and to voice the UK’s individual movement of Costuming. To harness the amazing skill set built into each cosplayer and present them with further opportunities and goals within the Costuming and theatrical profession. To reveal the heart of Cosplay itself and present a full and honest account of the scene. We’ll cover tutorials, masquerades, Cosplayers themselves and take a look into the professional world of Costumes and Drama. Most importantly this goal and mission will be achieved together as a community wanting and willing to strive for more, for better and for Cosplay to conclude to a recognised artistic form. My thank you’s span out to all those that have and still do support me through my goal to create a scene for everyone. It’s your voices that shape what the scene does, I’m just here to make sure that is heard.
