On a recent visit to Disneyland, Leo Camacho wore a plain white V-neck T-shirt with a red belt, medium blue slim pants and black hightops.

Casual onlookers found nothing remarkable about the ensemble, but a theme park employee and a few visitors in the know noted Camacho’s outfit. His inside joke/fashion statement was perceptible only to those well-versed in Disney character lore who know precisely what to look for.

Camacho was dressed as Prince Eric, the love of Ariel, the Little Mermaid. And his attire is called “Disneybound” – streetwear or casual clothing inspired by character costumes – and it’s a blooming cultural phenomenon among Disney fans.

“It’s like a secret society,” said Camacho, referring to those wearing Disneybound style and observers who get the reference to a character.

Adults and teens aren’t allowed to dress in costume at the Disney theme parks because they might be mistaken for official cast members by unsuspecting park-goers. For fans of Disney pop culture, Disneybound clothes are a way of showing up in costume without breaking the dress code.

Disneybound has an even stronger impact when it’s seen on a pair or group, Camacho said. He and his girlfriend, Sarah Sterling, coordinate their outfits when they visit Disneyland. If he’s Prince Eric, she dresses as Ursula. If he’s Hook, she goes as Peter Pan.

Replicating the colors of the character’s clothes as closely as possible is the first step and the foundation of the look. Camacho’s white T-shirt, for example, is inspired by Eric’s loose white shirt; the red leather belt, by the prince’s sash; the blue fitted pants, by Eric’s loose bright blue trousers; and the black hightops, by the prince’s black lace-up boots.

The objective of Disneybound is to extract the essence of the character’s outfit and convey it subtly. And that’s where it differs from cosplay attire or a costume.

Disneybound got its name from the Tumblr blog started by Leslie Kalbfleisch, a blogger and Disney fan from Toronto who prefers to go by Leslie Kay. “It was a travel site,” Kay said. “My best friend and I were heading to Disney World, and we had been planning that trip since we were young … I was using this blog as a way to channel my excitement because we were literally Disney-bound. So I started doing these outfits, which is something that I always did when I was a little kid … I could dress up in these clothes without it actually being a costume.”

Kay, who said that fashion is her other passion, posted her character-themed outfits on Disneybound. It didn’t take long for the page views to explode.

“In a couple of days, I was getting thousands of views, which I thought was a big deal at the time,” she said. “Then, a couple of days later, it was tens of thousands. Two weeks later, I was on national television (Canada AM).”

People began sending her requests for outfits for other characters, she said, and it wasn’t long before she devoted her blog exclusively to her ideas for Disney character-themed ensembles, complete with jewelry and accessories. Disneybound has since become a verb that means to wear a contemporary outfit – usually consisting of items from your wardrobe – inspired by a character, thing or place in the Disney universe.

One of her recent posts on outfits for the recent Disneyland Half Marathon showed workout attire based on Princess Anna from the hit animated movie “Frozen.” Kay chose a purple hoodie from Uniqlo to represent Anna’s cape, a light aqua sports bra from Forever 21 and black tank from Nick and Zoe to symbolize the blouse and vest respectively, blue Lucas Hugh micro-shorts for the full skirt, and black trainers with pink stripes for the black, gold and plum boots. The finishing touches: a snowflake-shaped pendant with blue glass stones to evoke the “Frozen” theme and gold-tone earrings and bracelet. She also posts the outfits on Polyvore with links that direct people to retailers.

Most of the outfits that Kay and Camacho pick are culled from items in their closets and mixed with inexpensive new pieces and usually cost less than $50.

A few retailers are getting savvy with the Disneybound concept and turning out Disney-licensed items made for dressing in character. Hot Topic, for example, sells a woman’s striped black and white hoodie inspired by the dinner jacket worn by Jack Skellington in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” More recently, its collection of women’s tops, skirts and dresses evoked an edgy and modern Maleficent.

Meanwhile, it took a while for Disney officials to acknowledge the Disneybound phenomenon, but they’ve come around, Kay said. This year, Kay has appeared in some official events at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. She’s organizing a meetup for Disneybounders on Friday for Dapper Day at Disneyland Resort.

Yet, the young woman who started it all appears infrequently in a Disneybound ensemble on her blog. That’s on purpose. Disneybound is not about what she wears, she said, it’s about what others want to wear.

The ensembles on her blog are styling suggestions, according to Kay. Ultimately, “Disneybound is all about individuality,” she said, and what she wants is for people to take the idea and use it to express their personal style, whether it’s punk, goth, sporty, vintage or preppy.

Contact the writer: lliddane@ocregister.com