Cosplay Girl Costume Presentation

Once in costume, cosplayers often adopt the affect, mannerisms and body language of the characters they portray (with OOC or, "Out Of Character" breaks). The cosplayers do this because once they have that certain costume on, they feel and act like the character that they are dressed up as. Some Cosplayers prefer to snap into character for photos with poses and stunts, but otherwise remain fairly out of character. Cosplayers often gather to view the costumes of others, show off their own creations, take pictures, share tips, and participate in contests. This activity is maintained between major events through participation in online forums. Major events include but are not limited to anime and comic book conventions as well as costume balls such as Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade.
• Gender roles
Portraying a character of the opposite sex is "crossplay" while portraying a character who dresses as the opposite sex (from the cosplayer) is called "crossdress". Examples may serve to clarify the distinction. A female cosplayer representing a male character who wears standard masculine attire is both cross-dressing and cross-playing. A female cosplayer who dresses as a male character who wears unisex clothing or feminine attire is crossplaying but not cross-dressing. A man portraying that same character would be crossdressing but not crossplaying.
The practicality of crossplay and crossdress stems in part from the abundance in manga of male characters with delicate and somewhat androgynous features. Such characters, known as bishōnen (lit. "pretty boy"), are an Asian version of the elfin boy archetype represented in Western tradition by figures such as Peter Pan and Ariel.