On January 29, 2023, the Silicon Web Costumer’s Guild (SiW) welcomed Andrew Liptak, who discussed his book Cosplay: A History. The book is a deep dive into the origins and culture of cosplay that covers a wide swath of its history to understand where it came from, how it has evolved, and why it has become such a mainstream phenomenon.
In his talk, Andrew also described how he came up with the idea for the book, and talked about doing research for it and learning about the history of cosplay from its earliest days until today.
According to Adam Savage, who wrote the introduction to the book, “Andrew has done a great service to the world by writing this book and treating this beautiful art with the seriousness it deserves, despite cosplay’s penchant for absurdity.”
Andrew Liptak is a writer and historian, and a member of the 501st Legion, an international fan-based organization dedicated to the dark side of Star Wars.
A recording of Andrew’s talk with generated closed captioning, is available on the “Webinars and Workshops” page of the SiW website.
This talk was part of the SiW webinar series, with speakers on a variety of topics about costumes and costuming. .It was made possible in part through a generous grant from the International Costumers’ Guild Marty Gear Costuming Arts and Sciences Fund. The chapter also acknowledges the ICG for making its Zoom platform available to chapters and SIGs.
The next webinar in the series is “Making and Styling Wigs for Costumers” on March 14, 2023. Fashion historian and costumer Kendra Van Cleave will discuss how costumers can learn to make and style wigs for their costumes She will also talk about her book, 18th Century Hair and Wig Styling, which includes an entire section with step-by-step guides for working with natural and synthetic wigs and hair pieces. Registration is now open.
Philip Gust
Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild webinar coordinator
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