Editing Cosplay (section)

===Pre-20th century===
{{main|Masquerade ball|Halloween|Costume party}}
Masquerade balls were a feature of the [[Carnival]] season in the 15th century, and involved increasingly elaborate allegorical [[Royal Entry|Royal Entries]], pageants, and triumphal processions celebrating marriages and other dynastic events of late medieval court life. They were extended into costumed public festivities in [[Italy]] during the 16th century [[Renaissance]], generally elaborate dances held for members of the upper classes, which were particularly popular in [[Venice]].

In April 1877, [[Jules Verne]] sent out almost 700 invitations for an elaborate costume ball, where several of the guests showed up dressed as characters from Verne's novels.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTlyEAAAQBAJ&dq=April+2,+1877+Jules+Verne+costume+ball&pg=PA12|title=Cosplay: A History: The Builders, Fans, and Makers Who Bring Your Favorite Stories to Life|first=Andrew|last=Liptak|date=28 June 2022|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781534455825|via=Google Books|access-date=21 April 2023|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423235302/https://books.google.com/books?id=nTlyEAAAQBAJ&dq=April+2,+1877+Jules+Verne+costume+ball&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}</ref>

Costume parties (American English) or fancy dress parties (British English) were popular from the 19th century onwards. Costuming guides of the period, such as Samuel Miller's ''Male Character Costumes'' (1884)<ref>{{cite book|title=Male Character Costumes|first=Samuel|last=Miller|url=https://archive.org/details/male_character_costumes|year=1884}}</ref> or Ardern Holt's ''[[s:Fancy dresses described|Fancy Dresses Described]]'' (1887),<ref>{{cite book|title=Fancy Dresses Described|url=https://archive.org/details/fancydressesdesc00holtrich|last=Holt|first=Ardern|year=1887}}</ref> feature mostly generic costumes, whether that be period costumes, national costumes, objects or abstract concepts such as "Autumn" or "Night". Most specific costumes described therein are for historical figures although some are sourced from fiction, like ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' or [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] characters.

By March 1891, a literal call by one Herbert Tibbits for what would today be described as "cosplayers" was advertised for an event held from 5–10 March that year at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London, for the so-named ''[[Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete]]'' based on [[Vril|a science fiction novel]] and its characters, published two decades earlier.<ref>{{cite web |title='The Coming Race' and 'Vril-Ya' Bazaar and Fete, in joint aid of The West End Hospital, and the School of Massage and Electricity |url=https://memories.royalalberthall.com/content/coming-race-and-vril-ya-bazaar-and-fete-joint-aid-west-end-hospital-and-school-massage-and-1 |website=Royal Albert Hall |date=27 August 2019 |access-date=29 March 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412195504/https://memories.royalalberthall.com/content/coming-race-and-vril-ya-bazaar-and-fete-joint-aid-west-end-hospital-and-school-massage-and-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>