Dress Up Business

People have been dressing up during masquerade events, halloween and other costume events and parties. However dressing up has become a lifestyle for many and these events have become so popular that even entire towns have embraced such events. The popular dress up genres that I know are Cosplay, Steampunk, and Goth.

Cosplay

The most visible dress up events are in cosplay. There are annual cosplay events in many countries that are attended by thousands of people many of them young people who grew up in the cosplay culture. This is a no brainer as the popular characters in which these cosplayers pattern their costumes and activities with are mostly young people.

Cosplay characters are usually derived from Japanese Anime and American Superhero characters. This is why if you are not an avid follower of these animated characters whether you are young or old you will not appreciate the culture. If you plan to create products or services for these cosplayers your appreciation of the culture may affect the success of your business.

This dress up culture is patterned after the Victorian Era for those mostly in Europe and the American Wild West for those mostly America. However it is themed after an alternative reality where Steam Power is the dominant source of energy. That is why there are many props composed of old world technology made up of steam powered engines.

Many people including old people participate in these events as the costumes are patterned after clothes that people actually wore in the past preferably for Westerners. However there are people involved in the steampunk scene who incorporate their own culture’s old way of dressing but patterned after the Steam Themed lifestyle.

For example there would be Japanese people involved in steampunk who will dress up in samurai costumes incorporating steampunk designs. Though there have been attempts to widen the appeal of steampunk thru media developed by enthusiasts and some by Hollywood its popularity pales in comparison to cosplay who has a dominant media content for people to follow.

Before there was steampunk there was goth culture. As the name implies it is patterned after the gothic theme and is also patterned after the Victorian era with a black colour or mourning look. Goth inspired many subcultures including Modern Goth and Emo. Though its popularity also pales in comparison to cosplay it nevertheless has a following on its own.

This is because like steampunk it commemorates to many people mainly westerners the golden age of their civilisation where people still dress in their best and not casually. This is also the age where the architecture of buildings and objects still greatly resemble works of art. In fact many of these people still collect objects from this time period.

Dress Up Models

Dress Up clothes are a part of the fashion business no doubt about it and many people earn money from it by doing modelling type jobs like appearing as attractions in events. The most notable models are usually women since more women are into fashion and the cosplay culture for example attracts a lot of male fanbase.

There are dress up models who sell pictures of themselves dressed up in their follower’s favourite dress up character and even with autographs included. There are those paid to endorse merchandise most notably gaming merchandise. There are still those who have social media accounts where they teach their followers about dress up fashion.

Other Businesses

There are those who make costumes for other people and those who sell other merchandise dedicated to those in the dress up culture. This include clothes, props and even everyday objects designed with dress up culture in mind. For example there would be functioning watches that are patterned after steampunk themes.

Intellectual Property Rights

There are those who make a living by creating books that teaches people how to make their own costumes and props. One thing to note is that there is a special problem for those involved in the cosplay business which is the intellectual property rights of the companies who own the characters they are making a living with.

Usually these companies would not mind if you make items and services patterned after their characters as long as it is for personal use or in limited quantities only. If you intend to make a profitable business with cosplay by making large numbers of products using these companies’ characters then you must first ask their permission and even pay them royalties and fees.

Although many people get away with infringing the intellectual property rights (IPR) of these companies by selling many products without these companies’ permission it is strongly advised that you do not risk it. These companies do make regular checks in many e-commerce platforms and in general online for people infringing on their IPR and being caught may not only land you in a big financial trouble but could also land you in court.

This is not so much a problem with steampunk, goth and other dress up fashions. Since no company owns the Victorian, American West or other historical clothings of the past and any items and services derived from it you could safely do business without infringing on another company’s IPR.

Dress Up Culture Is Growing

There are more and more people getting involved in the dress up culture especially in the cosplay genre. This is due to the fact that many popular media entertainment themes like movies, tv series, comics, books and so on have popularised characters that many people aspire to be.

Since media companies discovered that many audiences like this form of entertainment we can expect the trend to continue growing as media companies create more of these types of entertainment which then will be watched by new generation of audiences. This cycle will keep repeating itself until audiences tire of these types of entertainment. This is unlikely to happen as a culture has developed already.

Do Not Lock Yourself Into One Genre

If you are in the dress up business it is advisable that you diversify your products and services to as many genres as you can to ensure that you develop as large a customer base as possible. After all the skills needed to create dress up products and services are similar to the genres. There are even clothes for example that can apply to all genres.

For example there is the Lolita dress up genre which can easily blend with the cosplay, and steampunk genre and to a lesser extent with the goth genre. If you are in the Lolita dress up business then you can make slight alterations to your products and services and sell similar products and services to all three genres.

Blend the Real World and The Fantasy World

Although cosplay due to its popularity in both real world and popular media has largely been integrated to mainstream culture like clothing, books, comics, toys, prints and other merchandise the other genres like steampunk and goth has largely been left behind. There are many people who regularly wear anime and superhero merchandise because there is nearly an endless number of animated characters that people relate to.

In contrast there is hardly any characters associated with steampunk, goth and all the other genres. What enthusiasts and business people related to these genres must do is to make the media companies and all other businesses aware of the great potential of these genres in terms of attracting enthusiasts.

One thing I can think of to increase attention to these genres is to make clothing that can be worn everyday by people including for example modern t-shirts specially designed to look like they come from the steampunk world. If people involved in the business can integrate all the genres together they can make a more cohesive culture and a more profitable business.

Conclusion

As can be seen cosplay seems to be the most profitable genre for business people wanting to create dress up businesses. However these businesses have to contend with the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) which could seriously limit their business. These businesses should also strengthen the other genres because these genres offer the best chance for product and services growth without the limitations of IPR concerns.