A mind-boggling 1 million cosplay fans follow Alyson on Instagram, while another 516,000 Internet users follow her on Facebook. I’m sure that some of us are a tiny bit jealous of all the attention. However, it’s easy to see why Alyson has such massive support — she makes very high quality, detailed DIY costumes that are close to perfection.
Alyson, who describes herself as “just a girl that likes to play dress up & make things“, enjoys fullfiling cosplay ideas both as women and men alike: from Lara Croft and Queen Amidala to Newt Scamander and Legolas. Her resemblance to these characters is uncanny!
The origins of cosplay can be found way back in history, in the masquerade balls of the 15th century. A century later, they turned into costumed public festivals in Italy. Later on, the 19th century saw the rise in popularity of American costume and British fancy dress parties.
However, modern cosplay can be traced back to 1908 when Mr. and Mrs. William Fell dressed up as the characters Mr. Skygack and Miss Dillpickles for a masquerade at a skating rink.
The first people to wear costumes to a convention were science fiction fans, Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas: they attended the 1939 1st World Science Fiction Convention in New York dressed in futuristic costumes, including green cape and breeches. Fan costuming caught on since then and the 2nd Worldcon in 1940 had both an unofficial masquerade held in Douglas' room and an official masquerade as part of the program.
