Ever walked into a cinema and seen a group of people dressed up as a theme for the movie release? Dressing up in costumes as certain themes or characters is not just something you see at Comic Con anymore. People will tend to dress up to see Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Marvel movies and many more. It doesn’t have to be around Halloween for these people to dress up either. Students from Fanshawe’s fashion design program said they see costumes being made a lot to go see a movie or even gatherings to re-watch a classic movie.

Biz Clarkson is a third-year fashion design student. They think that dressing up for movies helps get in touch with your inner child.

“I think that when a movie has a strong pop cultural influence, such as the Barbie or superhero movies, it is the biggest push for people to want to dress up for it,” Clarkson said.

Clarkson believes that dressing up as a theme of a movie is more acceptable nowadays. They think the concept of dressing up got pushed into mainstream media from the nerd culture.

“I didn’t necessarily dress up for the Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) movie, but the group I play DnD with went all together and most of us wore something related to DnD,” Carkson said. They added that they dressed up for the Barbie movie. Clarkson made their own outfit when they went to go watch the movie.

“Almost every single person in the theatre was wearing pink and saying, ‘Hi Barbie!’ to each other, even if we didn’t know each other,” they said.

Clarkson thinks that dressing up gives a sense of connection to the community and a more immersive experience. They also see how movies influence how people dress their outfits in their day to day lives as well.

“Pop culture in general is a massive influence on everyday clothing. Just look at how often you see someone wearing a Star Wars or Marvel graphic t-shirt,” Clarkson said.

In the future, Clarkson is looking forward to dressing up for Deadpool 3. The idea is to wear a Wolverine-inspired outfit since that is their favourite Marvel character.

Ceilidh Cairns is a second-year fashion design student. She doesn’t think that movie costume dressing is a new phenomenon we’re seeing.

“If you look at films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where audience participation and a sense of community is the crux of its success,” Cairns said. She does think it’s a great way to express your love for the content of the film. Cairns’ favourite film is The Mummy and had a unique way to dress up for the film.

“Brown pants or skirt, white button-up with rolled sleeves and suspenders or a neckerchief would work to get the message across and be easily thrift-able and inexpensive,” Cairns said.

Josie Farr from the fashion design program thinks that it’s a great reason to get dressed up in a costume. They’ve noticed that people tend to dress up for movies that are fantasy themed.

“Unless you’re a cosplayer there aren’t many occasions that you get to show your excitement or love for a certain character,” Farr said. They wore all pink head to toe when they went to see the Barbie movie. Farr also went to see the Spider-Man movie and wore their Spider- Man suit.

“I guess it might be that I am too old to go out on Halloween and it’s my favourite holiday so I love the excuse to be able to wear a costume,” Farr said.

Farr thinks we will see more clothing lines or accessories be available that are themed around certain characters. These characters could be from a movie or within a video game that people try to match that style.