Closet Cosplay Archives

Closet Cosplay Fashion Life + Style Outfits

Style / Rose Red

posted on July 4, 2016

You know when some of your outfit pictures kind of tell a story and you try to arrange them in a way that makes sense but you didn’t intend on them telling a story so you have three different mini shoots, there is no beginning or end and it basically doesn’t work?

Think of that as you scroll down this post.

The color palette is very much inspired by Snow White, and it’s partly for the same collab I mentioned when I posted Marigold and told you that was my closet cosplay version of Belle. It also happens to do a nice job of showing off all of my brand colors, so I’m probably going to start slapping the photos everywhere. There are many, and it wasn’t even what I’d call a successful shoot. It was hot, my sister kept getting distracted, and while I deleted most photos I deleted because they were out of focus, dark, grainy or all three, I also deleted a not-insignificant amount because of questionable faces.

That still left me with thirty-three. Five months and I’ve utterly lost my ability to be concise in my picture-taking. I will get there again, I’m sure, but — do think of that, too, as you scroll down this post.

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Closet Cosplay Fashion Life + Style Outfits

Style / Marigold

posted on June 24, 2016

The sun is up, the sky is blue, and I’m cozying up next to a fan in my room because the heat outside is already unbearable. I was made for kinder climates, and cities with Starbuckses in them. Whiny though it may be, I would like it to always be spring. I want to wear sundresses — the flimsiest of dresses — and not melt in them. Alas.

Continuing on the theme of how I’m a geek and stuff, here’s an outfit I put together based on, initially, the dress reminding me of Pushing Daisies, constantly staring at me every time I went into H&M looking for basic long-sleeve tees and whispering, “the facts were these: you began to want me two months, three weeks, five days, four hours, five minutes and thirty seconds ago.” I was helpless to its honey bee charms and my brain associations.

But then, far from closet cosplaying Chuck Charles, as I may or may not do at some point, I let the dress tell me it wanted retro glasses and maybe some black to balance out the sweetness a la Aria Montgomery, and then I picked up a book for a prop as I went out and suddenly I was a little bit more Belle than Chuck, embodying the disgusting cloying romance of:

1. summer
2. breaking out my new 6D
3. showing off my beautiful criss-cross ring from OneByOne Jewellery,
and 4. finally having something to show for my previously only hypothetical presence in a Disney Princess collaboration series on which I joined beauty youtubers Leah, Clare, Victoria — this is my first bit, but not my last.

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Closet Cosplay Fashion

Hart of Dixie / Closet Cosplay

posted on January 8, 2015

My first Style Wednesday on a Thursday, and not even early on said Thursday. But I didn’t want to move it into next week, so here we go!

I just spent a week catching up on Hart of Dixie — actually watching from start to finish as I fell behind halfway through the second season back when it was airing, and didn’t remember much of everything. I had a blast watching and I’m really excited about the new season, which starts tomorrow in the US. So I put together a series of outfits inspired by the characters on the show.

To clarify: I define closet cosplay as outfits a fictional character would wear and which are largely made up of pieces you can find in your closet — or at least see yourself wearing, if not in the exact same combination the character would. It differs from standard cosplay in that it’s budget-friendly, convenient, and you don’t need a special occasion to do it. You don’t even need to buy anything, sometimes.

Zoe Hart — miss New York short shorts
Floral Collar Shift Dress (Miss Selfridge) / Suit Shorts (Ted Baker)
Black High-Heeled Shoes (House of Fraser) / Cross-Body Bag (DKNY/House of Fraser)
Cobalt Blue Print Scarf (Pia Jewellery)

Lemon Breeland — intimidating, perfectly put-together
Outfit #1: Silk Ruffle Cardigan (Pia Jewellery) / Jacquard Panel Leggings (Ted Baker)
Nude Patent Sandals (Office) / Dove Grey Leather Bag (Pia Jewellery) / Magnifying Mirror (Pebble Grey)
Outfit #2: Red Scalloped Dress (Ted Baker) / Court Shoes (House of Fraser)
Flap-Over Clutch (DKNY/House of Fraser) / Pearl and Bead Bracelet (Pia Jewellery)
Alt: Embellished Collar Dress (Ted Baker) / Red Shoes (Office)

Annabeth Nass — colorful florals
Necklace Trim Dress (Miss Selfridge) / Michael Kors Pink Bag (House of Fraser)
Dressy Sandals (House of Fraser) / Butterfly Brooch (Pia Jewellery)

And that is how I would personally channel each of these characters, using pieces I would actually wear in different combinations based on my own style.

Do you watch Hart of Dixie? If you were to draw inspiration from it to put an outfit together, what character or angle would you pick? Also, if you want to talk about the show itself, I am all ears!

Closet Cosplay Fashion Modeling Outfits

Halloween Style: Little Witch Costume

posted on October 17, 2014

I have this admittedly ridiculous problem where I don’t like parties, but I love to dress up. Cosplay is obviously the best option, but costumes and cons are expensive, which is why closet cosplay is always on my mind — dressing up in your day-to-day life using items that you can wear in the rest of your day-to-day life is a winner in both my heart and my budget.

But sometimes it’s fun to really, properly dress up, and I like that modeling allows me to do that. In that spirit, a while back, I was sent a witch costume — a tiny colorful witch costume with a Playboy logo on the ribcage. I’m not much for sexy Halloween costumes because they don’t remind me of anything, and like I said, I’m into cosplay — and what I like about that is portraying characters, not generic archetypes. Generic archetypes bore me to tears.

But I saw this costume and I immediately thought of two things:

Bubble Witch Saga, the kids version
Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the cartoon version

Plenty of reason to play around with it, right?

It got a bit cold before I was able to get the shoot I really wanted in, but I did have a shoot with photographer Darren M Gomes one night in Hampstead/Hampstead Heath, and we did get some cool shots!

Photography: Darren M Gomes
Model, Makeup, Styling, Some Retouching: Lix Hewett
Witch costume c/o Joke

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Closet Cosplay Pop Culture

Style A Shoot: All-Woman Casino Heist

posted on August 28, 2014

I’ve been toying with the idea of this series for a while now, and I’m ready to get started. Basically, I can’t actually be a stylist because it involves sourcing clothes and accessories and props, and I don’t have any money. But a girl can dream, right? And if nothing else, these posts could easily serve as moodboards for future shoots with someone else at the styling wheel.

For my first post, I’m dreaming up a casino heist shoot. It’s pretty influenced by Leverage, because I’m me (this is not the first time I use Leverage as inspiration) and also it’s weirdly hard to find heist movies that aren’t literally all dudes. I mean, I love Ocean’s Eleven, but come on.

I suppose next on the list would be scouting a location, but I feel like any high scale hotel lobby would do a fairly decent job. Though a casino would obviously be best. But I know nothing about casinos, and like, would they charge to let you shoot there? Would there be a conflict of interest re patrons’ privacy? Probably.

Regardless of location, during downtime throughout the shoot, we could go on www.riverbellecasino.com and play some online games such as roulette and slots to inspire us, right there from the comfort of the dressing area — you could even change outfits and retouch your makeup while you play.

You know, if you’re into actual gaming, and not just in it for the geekery of pretending to be in a heist movie. No judgment from me either way!

This post has been published in accordance with my disclosure policy.

Closet Cosplay Fashion

Closet (Ish) Cosplay Wishlist: Leverage’s Sophie Devereaux

posted on March 14, 2014

DAY: Shell Blouse (Anne Klein) | Pleated Seamed Skirt (Anne Klein)
NIGHT: “Bevin” Ruched Knit Sheath Dress by DVF (Nordstrom)

DAY: Glycine Incursore Watch (Page and Cooper) | Double Strap Tan Leather Bracelet (Slinky Links Jewellery, Etsy) | Charm Bracelet in White Patent Leather (Slinky Links Jewellery, Etsy)
NIGHT: Glycine Combat 6 Watch (Page and Cooper) | David Yurman Cuff (Nordstrom) | Triangle Earrings (Crafted Locally, Etsy)

TRANSITION PIECES: It Takes Two Satchel (Anne Klein) | Izzy Ankle Strap High Heels (Nine West)

This is only slightly closet for a cosplay, because let’s be real, I can’t afford half the stuff Sophie would wear, and there’s a lot of it I just wouldn’t even feel comfortable wearing. But I tried my best to pick pieces that I genuinely liked and would wear myself, even if there was a more Sophie option nearby, or something I’d wear in a heartbeat because it reminded me of Taylor Swift. (On second thought, however, I think Sophie would wear that dress in black. But I’m not sure that’s the color I’d pick.)

I think Sophie (Sophie Devereaux, from the delightful TV show Leverage, played by Gina Bellman, if you want to know the basic details) would make a really good character to cosplay if you’re trying to build up your, say, job interview skills. It would be a weird loop where you’d pretend to be an adult by pretending to be a grifter pretending to be interested in a job, and just thinking about that would probably take the edge off.

Oh man, imagine auditioning for an acting part while cosplaying Sophie. Sophie only acts well if she’s pretending to be an actress for a job, so how many levels of pretend would there be there? A lot is how many. A lot.

I don’t particularly expect that situation to present itself to me, but cosplaying Sophie does feel a bit like cosplaying Kenzi (and Bo) in that it might push you to wear something you want to but don’t feel you can pull off, and actually feel like you can pull it off. I have Anna Silk to thank for turning me onto leather jackets. Not the teal one, I can’t remember what that was about, but the black? Yes.

Anyway, this is my Sophie: professional, sophisticated, put-together, commanding attention with her presence more than with her clothes (a presence aided by her put-togetherness), and always in control of every situation but letting the other person feel they’re the ones in control. It’s all good stuff to aim to be when you grow up.

I’d be cool if I grew up to be a Parker too, though. Her skills would come in quite handy, and I’m already a weirdo of a person with a crush on money whose favorite regular Leverage character is Hardison. (Favorite recurring character would be Tara. Or possibly Maggie. It’s a tie, like the three-way tie for second favorite main character between Sophie and Parker and Eliot. I love everyone.)

What do you think? If you had to dress up as a character for Leverage, who would you pick? If you decided to dress up as a character to bump your confidence in a certain area, who would you go with and what would it help you achieve?

This post was written in collaboration with Page and Cooper, but all opinions and views are my own. And now I actually want to wear these outfits, even if it’s just for a shoot. Anyone want a model? ~~I’ll be in London for a week in May! BOOK ME.~~ Fuck that, I actually moved here and I’ve been doing modeling work. BOOK ME.

Closet Cosplay

Closet Cosplay Wishlist: Lost Girl’s Kenzi via ShopLately

posted on February 25, 2014

Alternate title: Closet Cosplay Wishlist: Bisexual Succubi and The Feisty Humans Who Love Them

Closet cosplay [noun]:

1. A thing I’d do a lot of if I could be bothered to get dressed and go out and take pictures of my outfit. (One encourages the other, but the motivation is lacking for both.)
2. Playing a character without costume-exclusive pieces that you’ll never wear again, and without striving to recreate a specific outfit but rather a general style. What she wore vs. what she would wear.
3. Merging a character’s style and your own to feel a little cooler and a little geekier and walk a little more confidently in your shoes.

I don’t think there’s an official definition or anything (is there? Mia? Do you know?) but those are my basic rules for it. I can’t afford to do proper cosplay for various reasons; one is that I’m poor and another is that I can’t justify the expense when I’m living in a charmless town in the middle of nowhere without a way to hook up with a MUA and a good location and some props and a decent photographer to create a shoot that will last forever and I will be able to pull out at the barest of opportunities and go, “do I look amazing or what?” (Attention and flattery feed my soul.)

With closet cosplay, you pull a middle ground where you can use things that you either already own or will actually wear again — see how there are no skulls in this wishlist? I wouldn’t wear skulls, so they’re not there. I only picked things that matched my style, which means the whole outfit I built here is a bit more Bo than Kenzi — Kenzi on laundry day, possibly, or dragging herself to the kitchen for breakfast while hungover.

I’m one of those people who believes there are many different interpretations of a character and many places you can take them, and criticizing a concept instead of the execution of it is utterly pointless and shortsighted. I always thought it true of fanfic, and now that I accidentally came across a “critique” of someone’s cosplay that talked about like, fashion faux pas, I’m just like, yo, take a step back. Look at what you’re saying. Look at how meaningless it is. Look at how pitifully it illustrates the concept of “that’s just like, your opinion, man.” And then shut your piehole.

(Speaking of which, I’ve got an Olive Snook inspired logo I should sell as premade at some point. I also have a Dream of one day finding a pinkish red dress that Chuck Charles would wear. Did you know my camera’s called Chuck after Chuck Charles? Well, now you do.)

So anyway, this is a good example of what I’d do if I were to closet-cosplay Kenzi. I’ve actually come really close to closet-cosplaying Bo more than once because boots: check, leather jacket: check, tight jeans: check, cleavage-heavy tee: check, ponytail: …my hair will grow eventually. I’m just terribly lazy and stuff. I do have the equal-opportunity-lover part down though! Cookies to me.

Have you ever done any closet cosplay? If you haven’t, what do you need me to do to get you to go for it? ;)

Disclaimer #1: This post was written in collaboration with ShopLately via ProGrids. I haven’t tried their service and can’t vouch for it, but that’s no different than most of the wishlists I write. I have to admit I’d probably hit Etsy before getting a knit hat or a ring off any other site, but I was really impressed with their boot selection and prices.

Disclaimer #2: I haven’t watched Lost Girl since the season 2 finale, but I will get back to it eventually. I’m not a spoilerphobe or anything but I won’t be able to talk about current storylines with you because I’m not up to date. Sorry!