Fan eXpo is a huge geek convention that happens in downtown Toronto at the end of August. It’s a combination convention which mashes together Comics, Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming into one large crazy event. I’m intending to attend this year for a few reasons:
- There’s a cool board game tournament.
- My sister is flying in from New Brunswick to attend.
- Awesome celebrity guests. (Spike, Al Calavicci, Batman, CAPTAIN JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK, Worf, Chewbacca, Leslie Nielsen, etc…)
- An excuse to dress up like an idiot and maybe not look like an idiot!
It’s the last part that’s of concern here today. I asked for options on Facebook for moustachey costumes I might be able to wear and got a couple responses (all from Tom P). Now, I’m not one to just make a decision, I need to make the right decision. I can’t really use a spreadsheet here, sadly, but I can set out some rules for what I’m looking for, provide the options I’ve found so far, and solicit feedback for better options. There is definitely a front-runner in my mind right now, but I’m open to other suggestions for now. Here's what I look like today:
To start with, what am I looking for? Well…
- I don’t intend to shave my moustache and don’t really want to trim or dye it. As such, the character should have a handlebar or related moustache.
- I don’t even have a stapler let alone a sewing machine, so the costume would either have to be readily available for rent/sale at a costume place or be relatively trivial to put together. (Especially since there’s only a month or so to go and I’m spending over a week of that at WBC!)
- If I’m going to look silly, I want to look good silly. This means it should be something many people would recognize (this is many people AT Fan eXpo, not the general population. I don’t care if people on the subway have no clue what I am) and be a reasonable attempt at a portrayal. Two years ago I wore a Star Trek uniform but didn’t have any Spock ears so I wasn’t really much of anything. That’s not cool and not the goal here.
- It would be nice if it was a character I actually like.
The stereotypical moustached villain. When I started posting pictures of my moustache on Facebook I got multiple comments about how I needed a tophat, a cape, and to start tying damsels to train tracks. How does Snidely (the character, not the rogue in my WoW guild) fair?
- My moustache is pretty much just what I need for this. The colour is wrong since Snidely has pure evil black hair, but that’s not a deal breaker.
- Top hats are surprisingly hard to find (and NOT cheap) but I’ve always wanted one so it wouldn’t be a waste. Beyond that I need some sort of trench coat or cape. A suit would also work, but I’d need a pitch black tie. I have black pants and black boots, so I’m good there. Nothing to really put together and just a few purchases makes this one very plausible.
- Does Snidely actually fit any of the Fan eXpo categories? He’s from an American cartoon from the 60s. He’s tangentially related to Comics and Anime I guess… I suspect he’d be recognizable, certainly I’d imagine most people would know who I was after I told them.
- I don’t really care for or against Snidely as a character. He’s just some guy from a show I kinda watched 20 years ago.
Klingons don’t curve their moustaches upwards, and most of them have beards. But they do tend to have long moustaches waxed to the side, so I think it would look factually correct. (General Chang had a moustache with no beard, for example, but he’s also bald with an eyepatch and grey hair…)
- Klingons tend to shave right under the nose, and they curl downwards into more of a fu-manchu than a handlebar. Also: black hair again.
- An awful lot of makeup work goes into becoming a Klingon. Andrew and I found a sci-fi store a while ago that I think sold ridges, so it would be doable. Getting the leather suit/armor would probably be a lot more complicated. It’s certainly possible a costume shop (or the sci-fi store) would have a Klingon suit, but if I couldn’t find one premade I doubt this could be done.
- Done right, everyone would know what I was. I bet there will be other Klingons there though, so done wrong I’ll just look silly silly instead of good silly. Certainly sci-fi.
- I am a huge Star Trek fan, but I never really liked the Klingons. Vulcans, Ferengii… Awesome! Klingons… Meh.
Luigi’s arch-nemesis from many Nintendo puzzle/sports games.
- Waluigi’s moustache takes a near 90 degree turn that’s simply not possible to replicate. I can make my hairs curve, I can’t make them shoot off in a random direction. His moustache is thin and points up though, which are the two things my moustache does well. Also: black hair again.
- I have pointy ears. Beyond that, I’d need to get a purple hat with a L logo. A purple shirt. Black or deep purple overalls. Orange pointy shoes. White gloves, also with L logos. The shoes I have real doubts about but the rest should be doable with a little effort. Also, bright pink nose? Really?
- Who doesn’t know who Waluigi is? He definitely fits into the gaming category.
- Waluigi was introduced to the Mario games after I stopped really playing them, so I never really formed an opinion of him. One thing I can say, though, is I have always hated Luigi with a fiery passion…
King from the Katamari Damacy series. He’s a little over the top…
- As a cartoon his moustache looks painted on, but it definitely is a handlebar. Downside, the Knig also has a soul patch and mutton chops which I can’t feasible get so I’d either need to go with fake beard/real moustache or be a little unauthentic with just the moustache. Also: black hair.
- Wow, there’s a lot going on here. The second image above is from a couple that actually made their own costumes well in advance with actual sewing and such. (Aside: I really wish I had a Queen Of All Cosmos…) I’d need to build a gigantic coloured tube to attach to my head, and find a really flamboyant collar. Speaking of flamboyant, that shirt and those pants are so far over the top they’ve circled all the way around. I might be able to find pastel coloured shirts and spandex at some thrift store that would be half-decent, but I have real doubts about getting authentic enough.
- Fortunately, as long as the tube is good enough and the rest is close I have no doubts anyone who’d played a game in the series would know who I was. (And random people on the subway would have NO chance, which is sweet in its own way.) I’m not actually sure I’d be comfortable enough to wear spandex pants in public, but I could see being willing to try.
- Katamari Damacy is an amazing game. In every sense of the word. The King of All Cosmos is awesome. Playing in the board game tournament with a gigantic tube on my head might be hard, though, and if I took it off I’d just be a dude in pastel tights…
The bad guy from the Professor Layton series of Nintendo DS puzzle games.
- He’s from the DS, so he’s not in a lot of detail. Most importantly, he has the handlebar moustache. Less good, he has a soul patch and a really insane hair style that would be hard to replicate without a wig. The only option that doesn’t demand black hair, but it’s still darker than my hair.
- Black gloves, shirt and tie, purple overcoat, orange pants… All things I can probably buy pretty much anywhere. The lack of detail from the DS means I can probably get a way with a lot of things as long as I have the broad strokes right. Unfortunately, one of those strokes is that crazy hair! Without the hair, I just wouldn’t be Don Paolo.
- I have doubts that even people who have played the first game would know who I was. Definitely obscure, but the people who would get it would probably think it was awesome. I’m just not sure how many people that would be. A failure to get the broad strokes right would really relegate me to silly silly land.
- I’ve only played the first game and didn’t really remember he was in it. I really liked the game (it was a little easy) but not so much the bad guy.
Any opinions or other suggestions? I’m open to ideas here!
2 comments:
While King of the Cosmos is clearly the best of all of those characters, I don't think it is necessarily in the best costume. Other practicalities aside, I think to wear that costume well a person should be very tall, both because the King is gigantic, and because it would be best if most people can conveniently duck under your head tube.
If this were a democracy I would definitely be voting for Waluigi. The costume is one of the simpler ones to put together and I think you would really "pull it off".
There are two other reasons I advocate this costume over the others that aren't on your list of criteria, but I think are valid considerations:
1. You don't want to be upstaged. Not that I think you are planning to win the costume contest (people who win those things put a huge amount of time and effort in) but even without that, if you went as King of the Cosmos, for example, it is actually quite probably someone else will be there with an outrageously authentic King costume, and everyone who sees you will think of you as that-other-King. You want people to see your costume for what it is, rather than see it for what it is not.
2. There is the very important question of how much your actual moustache lends to the costume. The fact is, you *actually* have a handlebar moustache, and you want the costume to take advantage of that. If you were a Klingon, for example, the fact that you really had an impressive moustache wouldn't be highlighted by the costume. I think the two costumes that fall into this category are Snidely Whiplash and Waluigi (the fact that your moustache is "live action" circumvents the fact that it won't have improbably angles). Of those two I think Waluigi is the clear winner on theme, recognizability, and attachement to the character.
(I just saw this post now and need to comment, even though it's not really the topic of discussion at the moment.)
Well, I think you already knew my vote was for Waluigi. I think his costume is both the easiest to put together AND the most recognizable. It's win-win!
And I agree with Sthenno in that The King would be an amazing cosplay, but also SOMUCHWORK. And you're not allowed to wear those tights. No.
But anyways, I'm commenting mainly because of THE GREAT DON PAOLO! I didn't even think of him as an option, but I cracked up as soon as I saw his picture there. I don't think he would be very recognizable on his own (as a generically evil villain from a somewhat obscure series of games), but if you were in a Professor Layton cosplay group, I'm sure it would get more attention. Possibly an idea for a later event. (I really want to cosplay from that game at some point!)
Also, I didn't know you'd played Professor Layton. Awesome, bro.
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