Cruising Google image search, I ran across this home page called Second Skin: A Cosplay Site. The site explains that “cosplay (a Japanese word combining “Costume” and “Play”) is a meticulous, expensive, and very fun hobby of dressing up as anime, manga, and video game characters. ”
Apparently this is the hobby responsible for people dressed in Sailor moon costumes which I read about in various con reports.
On her site, she lists What every masquerade girl must carry with them at a convention, and in addition to the obvious (Camera, Safety pins/ Glue gun), recommends “A burly guy-friend to keep away the mouthbreathers. If you don’t see the necesity, you’ve never been to a con in a short skirt. “