Guiding the fans
Knitting instructions from the BBC are a great early example of an official cosplay guide
In the world of fandom, cosplayers are a step above your typical consumers: they're deeply engaged with the source material, often pouring over screenshots, photographs of screen-used props, and other reference material to replicate those costumes. Cynically, they're the types of ambassadors for a brand that these companies really want to harness: they bring enthusiasm and energy to those around them.
This wasn't always the case: some companies were incredibly litigious and would work to stamp out any attempt on the part of fans to sell prop replicas, forcing some parts of that movement and community underground. For a long time, in order to get a suit of Stormtrooper armor, it was a sort of a "you have to know a guy who knew a guy." Nowadays, you can go onto any number of online marketplaces to easily buy a suit.
A couple of years ago, one of the places that I wrote for was Cosplay Central, a now-defunct vertical run by ReedPop. It was in the span of time before I published Cosplay: A History and I would pitch them some ideas every couple of weeks about the world of cosplay. There were two stories that I was pleased with: The Rise of Cosplay Guides: Star Wars and Microsoft Releases New Halo Cosplay Guide For The Mark VII Armor, both of which touched on an interesting development in the world of cosplay: companies using the field as a way to keep fans engaged, releasing detailed digital guides that showed off the costumes to help makers replicate the costumes for themselves.
Andrew Liptak
These types of guides are a good indication that these companies are recognizing that helping these fans can go a long way. Since I published those articles there have been a handful of others that have come out: one for Alan Wake II, another for Starfield, and some for Dead by Daylight.
At the time, I thought that it was a fairly recent trend: companies recognizing that it's better to work with the community of enthusiasts. That's largely correct, but I recently came across an example that's much older, thanks to a recent post on Open Culture. It highlighted an official guide that the BBC produced back in the 1980s for fans of the science fiction series Doctor Who: instructions on how to make the outlandish scarf worn by Tom Baker as the fourth incarnation of the show's titular character.
The show is the longest-running science fiction TV show, thanks to a neat quirk: The Doctor is a time-traveling alien adventurer who periodically transforms into a new person, every time the lead actor decides to leave. Each version of the character has their own style and personality, and when Baker came on the show, his version featured this incredibly long, multicolored scarf.
As Open Culture notes, this was a costume piece that would be pretty easy for someone to replicate: all you'd need was some knitting skills (or access to someone with them), and with time and materials, you could easily get one made up. To help with that process, the BBC created a document that detailed the steps and materials that you'd need:
The article pointed to one example of this in action: a fan named Jim recounted how he requested a scarf from his grandmother, who used the directions to produce it. (There's a great letter from her to him about her progress.) There's even a website devoted to the details and history of the scarf and its variations. Even decades after Baker put his character to rest, the item still has its appeal to fans around the world, with plenty of examples popping up on platforms like Etsy, officially licensed products, and community art projects.
I really dig this early attempt to cater to the fans of the show: knitting is an excellent skill to learn, and the barrier to entry is pretty low, especially compared to costumes that require technologies like 3D printing or vacuforming. This scarf also isn't the only thing that I've seen fans knit: Jayne Cobb's fantastic hat from Firefly is one example (a friend made me one years ago!), while plenty of fans have gone out to recreate the house scarves from the Harry Potter series.
That low cost is something that I wrote about in the book: as the price goes down, the ease of access into the hobby rises. Knitting is one (early!) example of that, while innovations with EVA foam, the cratering price of 3D printers or laser cutters do much the same thing: they make it much easier for people to get into the hobby. I think it's a real reason for why cosplay has become so much more widespread in the last couple of decades: make it easier for people to participate (either by removing those economic barriers or by providing official guides), more people will want to take part.
Even if you're not cosplaying one of the characters, these types garments make for excellent accessories out of costume. And with the holidays approaching, they make for some excellent gifts.