Cosplay originated roughly a hundred years ago but it didn't enter mainstream popular culture until the 1980s. At first it was tied more closely to specific events; by the 1980s it became more widely practiced as an expression of fandom participation.
For some folks cosplay is a kink as well. I'm not going to kink shame - your kink is not my kink and that's okay - but let's acknowledge for some participants there's a sexual element to this expression of fandom.
Cosplaying offers an escape from one's real life as well as a sense of belonging to a fandom community. It's playing in costume, dress-up like we might have done as children.
This old dude is cosplaying. It's playing in costume, dress-up like we might have done as children, or at costume parties.
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