Cosplay: a Beginner's Guide

We used to think of comic fans as geeky and, well, pretty damn unsexy. However, cosplay, an ever-growing fetish within the kinkster community, is shaking up the scene and turning fantasy into reality. So, if you're a cosplay beginner, here are some tips on how to get started. 

When we think about the term ‘geek’, we used to picture a person who was probably obese, wearing thick glasses, with poor personal hygiene and who has an extensive collection of Doctor Who comics!

However, times have changed, and with the advent of ‘geek chic,’ there's a whole new era of geek supremacy. No longer relegated to the comic shops and conventions, it sometimes feels like everyone has embraced their inner geek.
 

This phenomenon has extended to the fantasy and fetish scene with superheroes, heroines and even video game characters being a staple element of the fetish arena.

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Cosplay for beginners

Cosplay is one element of a fan genre that has turned fetish. Cosplay itself is a phenomenon where the participants will dress –  and act – as their favorite science fiction – or fantasy – character.

This can involve extensive preparations in terms of putting together a costume with make-up, and copying the actions and facial expressions and actions of a comic book hero.

Cosplayers at Comic Con Experience, Sao Paulo, Brazil shutterstock/Andre Luiz Moreira

This may be done in the privacy of one’s own home, with photographs and videos being posted online, or at comic conventions which hold cosplay competitions or festivals. Beginners to cosplay may be delighted to find out that the most experienced practitioners can appear virtually identical to their comic book creations.
 

“Cosplay itself is a phenomenon where the participants will dress – and act – as their favorite science fiction, or fantasy, character.”

Fans of cosplay claim that there's nothing kinky or sexual about cosplay, but , in fact, this isn't necessarily true. One only needs to see the attention that a nubile woman dressed as Lara Croft from Tombraider gets at a comic convention to realize that the rules of sexual attraction operate in cosplay as much as in any other domain of life! 
 

All of that Lycra, rubber and – in many cases – whips, must be doing something to the way in which geeks, and the rest of us mortals, think about sex.

Cosplay and fetish

Increasingly, cosplay is becoming more and more a part of the fetish scene through costumes and dressing up. Indeed, nowadays even mainstream high street sex stores sell costumes with superhero themes. So, if you're a cosplay beginner, it's possible to bring cosplay into your fetish life in a number of ways.

The key to cosplay? Sora from Kingdom Hearts shutterstock/Tinofotographie

One popular way of using cosplay in a fetish scene is to develop scenarios which are not too far from the fictional scenes being played out in comic books or movies. The original Batman television series, for example, included scenes where Catwoman would place Batman in rope bondage and torment him with her sexuality.
 

“It's possible to bring cosplay into your fetish life in a number of ways, especially if you're a cosplay beginner.”

It does not take a great leap of imagination to see that this scenario is not only grounded in some idea of fetish, but also that it could be extrapolated to a BDSM scenario. Take a look at Catwoman – she already has the latex catsuit, mask, and whip of a dominatrix.

Another way that cosplay can be used in fetish scenes is to make the dressing and transformation of the submissive part of the scene. For example, playing at the capture and transformation of a slave can be enhanced with cosplay. Whole hunting scenes can be developed involving dominatrices and slaves, which can involve their capture and transformation.

Cos-playing with fire? Costume-play can unleash your kinky side

This can involve science fiction scenarios; perhaps a race of alien females that wish to capture human males and transform them into sexually compliant drones.
 

The future of cosplay and fetish

In the most developed cosplay and role play scenarios, whole fictional towns and villages are constructed in real life to allow an extended period of fantasy play.

In the fetish world, for some time now the OWK (Other World Kingdom) offered a similar experience, but one in which it was possible for a male slave to really experience a 'kingdom’ somewhere in Eastern Europe where men were, in actuality, the slaves of dominant women.
 

So, who knows? Perhaps the worlds of fetish and cosplay are not too far apart after all, and that we may even see a future ‘mash-up’ of cosplay and OWK-type locations in the real world. If you're a cosplay beginner, this idea will probably sound extreme, 
 

Are you new to cosplay as a beginner, or do you have experience? What characters turn you on most? Share all with the community in the comments. And, if you're not already a Fetish.com member, sign up below. It's free!

Main image shutterstock/Angelo Cordeschi