xoxo, Aca-fan Girl
Ah, the viewing party. I used to co-host weekly "Lost" viewing parties, but eventually we gave them up as the show started going downhill and haven't yet managed to organize them since its revival. The point is, I'm attending a "Gossip Girl" season finale party this evening, complete with dress code, and it's making me want to expand my
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Namely, if I want to put this is a cosplay context, is there a distinction from me buying elements of a Hogwarts costume on Ebay and me buying a replica Blair hair accessory at Forever 21? I guess the point I was trying to make is that the definition of cosplay seems to be getting looser and looser, and part of that seems to be a move away from fans making their own costumes to fans purchasing costumes (or elements of them).
Not that this is a good thing, and it certainly moves us away from the "creativity" assigned to fan practices, but I think it's interesting that there's a corporate acknowledgment for this kind of "dress-up," even if it is completely motivated by commerce.
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(And really, this also gets into issues of valuing "originality"... *waves at cathexys*)
Wow, this really does bring me back to my Roswell paper days. Good practice for an upcoming piece I'm writing on GG on Second Life...
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um. ok. i guess i still get a little riled on this issue :D *hugs cathexys* sorry to do so all over your LJ fortfrolic! (love the username btw, though I have no idea what it means :) it just has a nice sound.)
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Some quick thoughts (now that I actually took a moment to think this through)- I'm not sure how much of this we can hinge on an idea of "originality" because, as cathexys notes, this is more about mimesis than innovation. We seem to be talking about labor here (e.g. there's more "labor" invested in trolling vintage shops than buying a costume wholesale, and even more labor involved with creating a costume from scratch- which is I think the most strident/accepted definition of the cosplay ethos) and the value ascribed to fan labor within fan communities.
The active/passive divide is also tricky, as we've all agreed on multiple occasions that it's not a productive binary, and I'm with transgeneric on this one re: shopping's ability to be considered an "active" form of fan practice. Can consumption be creative? Sure. I suppose this is part of a larger issue for me, the double-edged sword of contemporary fandom that I seem to be perpetually dancing around- part of the mainstreaming of fandom and the rise of participatory culture is that fandom as an aesthetic is more accessible than ever for purchase (in overt examples such as the GG site you cited, or in the boutique cottage industries that the internet allows for...http://www.wizardties.com/, anyone?), which is great for people like me who don't have the time and/or skillset to create our own costumes. That said, it also gives fans little incentive to take on the challenge of making their own costumes when they could scour ebay for a few weeks and come up with a close approximation of the pieces they'd need.
When you get to the con in costume, does it matter? It does conversationally, certainly. But does visibility trump labor in this case? Simply put, is wearing the costume in a public place (however "safe" this space is, convention or otherwise) the point? Is it the admiration of fellow fans? The former would seem to point to the question of purchase/production being a moot point to argue. The latter, I might argue, would point more towards a hierarchy that values self-produced costumes over purchased items.
GG still doesn't work in this construct, at least where I live-- I could dress up in elaborate Serena garb and walk around town without anyone batting an eye. Maybe in Montana, that could qualify as a spectacle of fan display, but not 'round these parts.
PS: The username is from Bioshock, a videogame I was preoccupied with when I made this LJ. Think Ayn Rand+art deco Atlantis+steampunk diving suits+creepy zombified little girls. All of this=awesome. Fort Frolic is something akin to a Gatsby gala on crack, run by a deranged auteur who murders those who don't perform to his expectations and turns them into living plaster "art."
*hugs* to both of you, thanks for getting the ball rolling
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Cases like GG or The Hills are interesting because it's tough to tell when purchasing clothing to look like the characters is a form of cosplay or when its wearing the "aspirational" brand the shows are pushing. I guess what I'm curious about is if this is apples and oranges- it's one thing to walk around in wizarding robes, and another to dress as a character on GG (where a fan could "pass" as just style-conscious). Can there ever be a thing as GG cosplay? Hmm...much to mull over- and I'd love to read prior work you've done on the subject-- is the Roswell paper posted anywhere?
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Hmmm my stuff on Roswell fashion never did get included in my Roswell article. Maybe it made it in my diss.--I'd have to check :D I'll see what I can dig up! I'll be revisiting all of this for my GG paper, so this is all very timely :)
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