Mask - Fashion

Fashion

Decorative masks may be worn as part of a costume outside of ritual or ceremonial functions. This is often described as a masque, and relates closely to carnival styles. For example, attendants of a costume party will sometimes wear masks as part of their costumes.

• Wrestling masks are used most widely in Mexican and Japanese wrestling. A wrestler's mask is usually related to a wrestler's persona (for example, a wrestler known as 'The Panda' might wear a mask with a panda's facial markings). Often, wrestlers will put their masks on the line against other wrestlers' masks, titles or an opponent's hair. While in Mexico and Japan, masks are a sign of tradition, they are generally considered by many in the United States to be a deathblow to a wrestler's character. Very few masked wrestlers have succeeded in becoming popular and generally are considered as jobbers. The belief is that fans want to see a face to empathize with and will only get behind a wrestler that shows it.
• Several bands and performers, notably members of the groups Slipknot, Mental Creepers and Gwar, and the guitarist Buckethead, wear masks when they perform on stage. Several other groups, including Kiss, Alice Cooper, and Dimmu Borgir simulate the effect with facepaint. Hollywood Undead also wears masks but often remove them mid-performance.
• Animal masks are worn about a subculture of frequent electronic music concert-goers. Each person has a specific animal mask that they usually wear, and wear that mask throughout the duration of the concert without removing the mask. While wearing the mask, these concert-goers go by a code name. They may also attend concerts unmasked, but when unmasked, they go by their real names. One particular group within this subculture. the Animal Masqueraders, coordinates mask-wearing times and social gatherings through a blog where all the members can communicate with each other.
• Leather-working, steampunk, and other methods and themes are occasionally used to create artisanal gas masks.