Carbon Costume

Max Payne (voiced by James McCaffrey) is one of many hardboiled detectives in media today. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t stand out. His attitude, his way of doing things, and the gritty style of his games have made him a fan favorite for people the world over.

Cosplaying him is more about the attitude than the clothes. After all, it takes some real grit to pull off the ugliest paisley tie you can find, which seems to be his signature! Other than that tie, Payne is all about the basics. Functional black shoes and dark grey slacks pair with a white button up and dark brown leather jacket that’s more function than flash. And of course where would Payne be without his belt, holster, pistol, and badge?

“Say, do any of you guys know how to Madison?” Brad Majors, known as Brad or “a-hole,” is a nerdy all-American guy. He is engaged to Janet Weiss, proclaiming his love for her in the musical number “Dammit Janet.” When his car gets a flat tire, they go to Frank N Furter’s mansion, having no idea what bizarre chaos will ensue. He is portrayed by Barry Bostwick in the 1975 film.

There are plenty of outlaws in the Red Dead Redemption series. And of them all Dutch van der Linde is quite possibly the best at being the worst. Voiced by Benjamin Byron Davis, he is a much-appreciated fan favorite. And at least some of that has to do with his style.

Pinstripe pants and black boots set the base for van der Linde’s usual look. A striped band-neck shirt, black waistcoat, and scarlet pocket square build on that while a black cowboy hat and the expected gun belt finish off the look. Add in a Western revolver and your van der Linde cosplay is ready to go!

Jaskier (known as Dandelion in the video games and played by Joey Batey) is a bard and friend of Geralt of Rivia on Netflix’s show The Witcher. Jaskier is not only responsible for singing of Geralt’s deeds and penning “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher,” but he also injects some much needed levity into the story of Geralt. Jaskier can often be found wearing brightly colored and elaborately patterned clothing, and he is never without his trusty lute to help him compose his ballads. However, as fans of the video games may notice, he is without his trademark hat in the Netflix series.

Peter Kavinsky (played by Noah Centino) has some competition in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You. When a former classmate, John Ambrose, responds to one of Lara Jean Covey’s letters, his relationship with her becomes a little complicated. Peter is a popular student who plays lacrosse for his high school, and his style is casual and comfortable, but trendy. While he does not prioritize his fashion sense in the same way as Lara Jean, he does his best to look good for their first date. Always thoughtful, he brings flowers for his girlfriend when he picks her up for dinner, and recites poetry to her on Valentine’s Day.

Valorant has yet to hit PCs but that hasn’t stopped people from enjoying the game’s design and characters. And though we don’t know much about the stories or personalities of the characters we do know a few things. Phoenix, for example is the type to dive into a fight and trust in his own strength to get him through it. He uses something called Star Power and it burns up the battlefield whenever he pulls on it.

He doesn’t lack in style either. His white high-collared jacket, dark grey shirt, black pants, and grey boots are all business in a future-soldier kind of way. And the stark colors only make the brilliant fire of his powers shine brighter!

The Dragon Ball franchise is epic and sprawling. Timelines criss cross and interweave among different movies and shows and written formats. And from that tightly woven web comes Future Trunks. With an entirely different life and experience set from the original Trunks, he is a unique character with a wildly different approach to things that his counterpart.

Most of Future Trunks’ costume is very straight forward. Loose black pants tucked into yellow boots and held up with a blue belt. A black tank top beneath a padded blue vest. And lilac hair that you may have to style a little to get just right. But there are a few elements, such as the yellow bunching on his belt or the silver toe tips on his shoes, that you might have to DIY. they’re small touches that can really make your cosplay pop, but the costume looks great without them too!

Joe ‘Exotic’ Schreibvogel is a self-described “gay, gun-carrying redneck with a mullet”. The docuseries about his zoo aired on March 20th, 2020 and has since exploded with bizarre fandom. With 200 big cats at his zoo, drugs, animal abuse, jail time, and the accusation of a murder for hire plot Joe is the #1 star of his show.