Please note that a couple of these are borderline NSFW. They don't show anything but the second picture is only not showing nudity because of carefully placed hair...
#2
LittleKagsin
Haha, wow. That's kind of awesome. The costumes aren't even terrible, just..random. And few and far between. (I can't believe that Bespin Leia and Yoda are labeled as 'unknown'..wow.)
Thanks for sharing Dave! I think it's fun to look at the past and see how far along cosplayers have come. Awesome stuff.
#3
sixpackshaker
There are several fantastic costumes there. The big improvements now over then are:
1. 80's color film is not archival. So what might have been good photos 30 years ago suck now.
2. Material: Looks like they love the rayon.
3. Skinny girls are skinnier now. While as a whole Americans are fatter now, the low end of the scale is now lighter. Added at: 14:45
I think the unknown is the cos-players, not the costume.
#4
LittleKagsin
Ah, that would make sense. Didn't think about that.
#5
PatrThom
Ha! 30 years ago, and Mike Jittlov is still wearing those same shoes and jacket.
--Patrick
#6
Dave
I think one of the biggest differences - to me at least - is that cosplay back in the 80's was definitely a labor of love whereas today a LOT of the cosplay seems to be more commercialized. That's not to say that individuals and ome groups aren't into it like they were back then - several people here do cosplay because they love it. But in the 80's you wouldn't have found a modeling agency dressing anyone up or any businesses making costumes for profit. Costumes back then were very rudimentary for the most part because they were all hand-made by amateurs. Again, that's not saying that some great costumes today aren't made by hand by some very talented people, but it's about the same as any early adopting technology - early stages seem almost clumsy by comparison.
