Carbon Costume

The Men in Black is a mysterious organization. And few are more mysterious than their leader, Chief Zed. Played by the late Rip Torn, Zed is sardonic and sarcastic but never lets that get in the way of doing his job. Or trying to do right by his agents.

The Men in Black all have a standard uniform and Zed is no exception. They are the quintessential “G-men”. A black suit, black shoes, a black belt, and a black tie over a white button down shirt is their uniform. Black sunglasses, an MIB badge, a neuralyzer, and a Noisy Cricket help too. But for Zed there is one thing that has to be included or his costume won’t be complete: His goatee.

Gray Fullbuster (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura and Newton Pittman) is a Mage and member of Team Natsu of the Fairy Tail Guild in the anime series Fairy Tail.  Gray’s previous partners include Erza Scarlet.  Gray does not always wear the same costume, but his standard look includes a silver necklace with a blue stone and a blue Guild Mark on his right pectoral muscle.

LarryBoy is the superhero alter ego of Larry the Cucumber (voiced by Mike Nawrocki). He uses every power in his control to be the best superhero he can be. Which, generally speaking, are his plunger ears. Those and his LarryMobile which is as close to all-terrain as it can get!

Cosplaying as LarryBoy means taking a few liberties with the look. Larry is, after all, a cucumber. He has no arms or legs. You, as a human, are going to have to improvise.

To that end, use a white long sleeve lace-up shirt as his  top and paint on a yellow vest and ties using fabric paint, reminiscent of Silver Age hero costumes. A pair of purple shorts worn over yellow running pants will give you the purple bottoms while still sticking to that Silver Age style. A back belt serves as a utility belt while yellow foam and silver paint can recreate his belt buckle. You can either hot glue this to your belt buckle or glue a magnet to the back of the foam, depending on how permanent you want the modification to be.

Larry’s hat is where it gets a little tricky. Plungers can be kind of heavy. But if you can find two lightweight ones, you can cut the posts down and glue them to either side of a purple mask. Purple foam and more hot glue gives you the crest of his mask while green face paint gives you the signature cucumber look. Then all you need is a pair of black hero boots to finish off your costume.

Most Animal Crossing players have come across the old temptation. The temptation to reset their island. It’s a lot of progress to make up and a lot of work to put in. But it might be worth it. If it weren’t for one little hiccup: Mr. Resetti. You can go ahead and reset your island if you want. As soon as he’s done lecturing you!

Dealing with Mr. Resetti might be hard but his cosplay isn’t! You need a mining hat and costume pickaxe, naturally. And black pace paint for the whiskers is a must.

Joel Miller is a character in The Last of Us video game franchise. In The Last Of Us II, he is only briefly playable compared to the first game. After losing his only daughter earlier in the outbreak, he became a ruthless, cynical smuggler. He then becomes Ellie’s protector, and they develop a close bond that softens them both. He takes care of her similar to how he took care of his own daughter. In the second game, he gifts Ellie with an  acoustic guitar after playing and singing a song for her. When Ellie finds out Joel lied about the hospital, their relationship fractures. Unfortunately, Joel never gets a chance to repair their relationship, as he gets killed by Abby.

Eddie Blake is not what you would call a nice man. He’s done his fair share of hero work as The Comedian and the press loves his patriotic public persona. But behind closed doors he’s not what most people would call a hero. Jeffrey Dean Morgan manages to bring a certain charm to the character in Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation. But it’s up to the audience how long that charm holds out.

Blake is a military man and a good portion of his costume is inspired by the military. Black combat boots, black tactical pants, and his thigh holster with a (costume) pistol all stem from his interest in the military. His chest piece is pretty easy to recreate with a paintball vest and leather belts can be repurposed as the straps over his shoulders. His belt buckle can also be recreated using black foam painted with the same silver spray paint you’ll need to modify pre-made shoulder protectors so they have the red, blue, and silver colors Blake wears.

Add a mustache, mask, and smiley button as your finishing touches and you’re good to go. Just don’t forget the cosmetics glue to keep your mask in place!

Don’t let the comfy laidback look fool you. Leon is legendary and we do mean legendary. Voiced by Thomas Hageena, he’s one of the fastest characters in the game and is absolutely lethal at close range. He might rock an oversize hoodie, but when he brawls he aims to win.

Leon’s look is all about casual comfort. After all, he’s tough enough without having to put on a show about it! Unfortunately his hoodie is as unique as he is which means it takes a little bit of DIY to recreat.

Start with a green zip up hoodie and some yellow fabric paint. The Soft fabric paint is a great choice because it keeps your garment soft and flexible rather than making it go stiff. Use this to paint a yellow stripe from the from of the hood all the way back to the neck seam. Then use the same paint to turn the entire hem area yellow. Use blue fabric paint on the pockets to turn them blue.

The giant buttons are a little bit tougher. Before attaching them to the sweater, use blue cat bowls black hot glue sticks to create the “thread” inside each “button”. Then you can either glue them straight to the hoodie or glue magnets on the bottom and use use the other side of the magnet to keep the bowls in place through the hoodie. Once you decide on how to attach them, use the pink foam and the glue gun to add the bit of Leon’s hair that sticks out from under his hood.

Now all you need to finish your look is a pair of denim shorts, a lollipop and invisible shoes like these, and you’re ready to brawl!

Ellie is a character from The Last of Us video game franchise. In the sequel, The Last of Us II, she becomes the playable protagonist. Five years later, she is now nineteen years old and incredibly mature as a result of the environment. Compared to prior gameplay, her capabilities with firearms has greatly improved, able to handle a large variety of guns with ease. Newfound strength and resourcefulness enables her to craft arrows and use large melee weapons like machetes and hammers. When fighting up close, her preferred weapon is a switchblade. Ellie also learns how to swim and play the acoustic guitar, which was a gift from Joel.

Tayce is a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season two. Known for her incredible makeup skills and fashion sense, Tayce is a fierce competitor. In the confessionals, some of her remarks have quite the edge. She was nominated as “Trade Minister” by her fellow competitors, meaning they find her the most attractive. She is currently still in the competition as a part of the top five. This outfit is from the second episode’s lip sync to “Memory” from CATS. Tayce serves this lipsync with her striking beauty and intense emotion, sending Cherry Valentine home, and making this an iconic moment in the show’s her-story.

HBO Max introduced Jason Todd as Red Hood in season three of their Titans show. The look was hyped for months beforehand and not just by Curran Walters, the man under the hood. Fans everywhere were dying to see what HBO would give them and they were not disappointed.

Recreating Red Hood’s look is no easy feat. And it starts with the mask. Unless you’re an experienced crafter and cosplayer, your best bet is to get one from Etsy. They tend to sell out very quickly and you might have to purchase a 3D printer pattern and have an Etsy printer run one off for you. Then, of course, you need a red zip up hoodie and a brown leather jacket. Under that you’ll want the chest piece which is pretty easily replicated with a paintball vest and fabric paint. Because the vest is black, you’ll want to paint the bat symbol first in white and then in red so the red will show up against the background. Finally, to finish off the upper layer you’ll need a pair of motorcycle gloves.

The bottom half of the costume consists of a pair of motorcycle pants, two thigh holsters, two costume pistols, a tactical belt, and a pair of brown leather work boots. Todd also has a pair of leg bracers that go down over his boots. You can purchase the leg portion premade and then fashion the section over his toes with craft foam and silver adhesive vinyl.

It’s a costume with a pretty steep level of investment. For for Red Hood fans it is worth it.