Carbon Costume

Misunderstood and bullied since childhood, blue-skinned shapeshifter Mystique (played onscreen by Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca Romijn) truly understands anti-mutant oppression. Her early experiences of mistreatment shaped her stance in the fight for mutant equality — or even dominance, as her leader, Magneto, gravitates towards.

Mystique is easily remembered for her onscreen appearances wearing only the strategically-placed blue scales she was born with (requiring Rebecca Romijn to spend hours in the makeup room), but comic book portrayals have been slightly more favorable to cosplayers attending family-friendly venues. You could buy the blue jumpsuit and stop there, but I’ve included some additional garments which draw inspiration from my personal favorite Mystique look from the retro X-Men arcade game.

Detective Miles Hoffman (played by Michael Ealy) is an intense and dedicated detective at the Portland Police Department who is quickly pulled into both the personal and professional life of Dex Parios during a kidnapping case. On the TV show Stumptown, based on the comics, Detective Hoffman is one of the more fashion-forward characters, wearing business casual plain clothes as he tracks down the city’s criminals.

Athena Cykes works for famed Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright at the Wright Anything Agency. A childhood trauma led her to a career in law. With her sensitive hearing and training in Europe as an analytical psychologist, she’s especially skilled at picking up on witnesses’ vocal tells, which she uses to her advantage in the court room.

Komari Koshigaya wants to be recognized as a mature person. She is a smart girl, but doesn’t like that some of the younger girls look older than her. However, Komari still takes care of the younger girls around her in their countryside. Komari spends time with her little sister Natsumi, and her friends, Hotaru and Renge, in Non Non Biyori Repeat.

Most Regalia / Shinki (weapon-sidekick-people) belong to one master alone, but Nora’s developed a reputation as “The Stray.” Yato is one of many to have utilized Nora’s weapon form, but has since, to her ire, acquired a Regalia of his own. (Keeping a Regalia to himself is an entirely different challenge, given Yato’s careless, narcissistic personality, but that’s really not Nora’s problem.) Suffice to say, she gets jealous easily, yet is undeterred by others’ conflicts of interest.

Nora / The Stray wears her kimono folded the way of a corpse, and wears a hitaikakushi on her head like the ghosts of old Japanese mythology. We can recreate this ghostly headdress using a white headband and a small, folded cloth napkin, since it’s not something readily available, given its taboo nature. Additionally, we’ve used a large, striped shawl-scarf in place of the traditional obi sash worn around the waist of a kimono.

Sandy catches little stars every night to make creatures to play with. She does this to help herself fall asleep. Sandy keeps the memory of her fun creatures as sketches she draws herself. One day, a new girl in school, Morfie, takes an interest in Sandy’s drawings. It’s nice to have a new friend, but something is off about Morfie. Sandy and her art start to see an unusual side of Morfie in Lorena Alvarez’s graphic novel Nightlights.

On Stumptown, a TV show based on the comics of the same name, Jake Johnson plays Grey McConnell. Grey is an ex-convict who has turned over a new leaf and now runs a legitimate business. As the owner of the bar Bad Alibi and best friend/one-night stand of Dex Parios, Grey often finds himself helping Dex with her P.I. work and struggling to stay away from the life of crime he once knew. Grey wears comfortable clothing suited to a longtime bachelor and bartender.

On the TV show Stumptown, based on the comics of the same name, Dex Parios (played by Cobie Smulders) is a sarcastic Portland private investigator and ex-Marine. With a complicated past and little tolerance for dwelling on it, Dex can usually be found avoiding talking about her feelings with a drink in her hand. Dex’s style mostly revolves around well-loved vintage t-shirts, slim fitting jeans, and practical footwear.