Long before I started cosplaying, many of my Halloween costumes involved me dressing as men – Jack Sparrow (Pirates of The Caribbean), Alex DeLarge (Clockwork Orange), etc. I recently learned there’s a name for this – crossplay. The panel I attended was geared toward crossplay for women, but the hosts gave tips for men wishing to crossplay as well:
- Invest in quality wigs: Arda, Epic Cosplay, Cosplay.com
- Get lace front when you can ‘cause it looks way more natural
- Afro picks are good for detangling tangled wigs
- Get a Styrofoam wig head for each wig you have; store them on the foam
- Men’s wigs are typically more expensive and look crappy, get a short woman’s lace front wig and cut/style it to suit you
- Always use a wig cap
- Men’s skulls are broader in the forehead, cheek contouring dips down into bottom teeth, contoured under cheeks
- Women’s skulls are more narrow in the forehead, cheek contouring is straight
- Man to woman – highlight around nose to make it appear smaller
- Woman to man – shade around nose to make it appear larger
- Get as many reference pictures as you can
- Get a beige and brown palate of creams
- Start light (taupe) and build up
- PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
- Knot your own beard – especially if it’s a long one
- Darken natural face lines to increase age
- NYX Taupe Blush and/or Wedge MAC are good for aging
- If your character is an anime guy regardless of your starter gender, you want David Bowie 80’s cheekbones that’ll cut you, and make you bleed
- Women – buy a binder, DO NOT TAPE – Underworks, T Kingdom
- Taping can cause bruised or broken ribs. Seriously.
- Men – get a dancers belt and NEVER TUCK – get one here!
- Tucking can cause long term, or permanent damage
- Look at the waist of your character; do you want to pad it? Cinch it?
- Shoulder pads give girls man shoulders
- Can pad out using towels
- You can also pad under spanx
- Women take your voice down an octave, any more sounds silly, men go up one, if you like/can
- How does your character walk? Girls, put a sock in it ‘cause you will walk different when there’s summat there
- Use crepe hair for beards, hairy hands, feet, etc.
- If you’re crossplaying, try to hide your hands as much as you can – there’s no way to make man hands dainty, or dainty hands manly
I’m quite excited to begin work on a crossplay, but I won’t have time until after FanExpo this year. That’s okay: my sewing skills just aren’t up to making what I want yet – I wish to remake my Alex DeLarge cosplay, and I really, really want to crossplay as Jaqen H’ghar (Game of Thrones) which is even more elaborate.
Anyone tried their hand at crossplay? Who were you? How did it go?
Who wants to try a crossplay? Which character to you want to be?
It Takes A Village To Cosplay!
Earla Alara
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