Carbon Costume Men
Ryan Gosling from ‘I’m Just Ken’ Oscars Performance
This past weekend, the 2024 Oscars were more than memorable thanks to Ryan Gosling bringing the Kenergy to the awards with his explosive live performance of ‘I’m Just Ken.’ Although Barbie didn’t win best picture or director, Ryan truly made a lasting impression by flooding our screens and the stage with pink. He was accompanied by a large ensemble of Kens supporting him as background dancers. The look of the performance was inspired by the famous scene featuring Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Of course in this case, Ryan is the iconic blonde and the ensemble wear costumes inspired by the men in the ensemble from the film. Choosing this classic film as inspiration is also fitting as Greta Gerwig took a lot of inspiration from large sweeping sound-stage musicals from that time. The I’m Just Ken scene in Barbie is actually inspired by Singin’ in the Rain, from the dream ballet sequence with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly.
Ryan wore an all-pink outfit to this performance. This can be created by wearing a hot-pink suit, pink shirt, pink gloves, pink socks, black dress shoes, and fashionable black sunglasses. The rhinestones can be added with AB rhinestones and glued with E6000. A black cowboy hat can also be added like he wears in the very beginning of the performance. This would make for a great duo or group costume with your favorite Kens as the background dancers.
Axel from Kingdom Hearts
Axel (voiced in Japanese by Keiji Fujiwara and in English by Quinton Flynn) is one of the major characters and a temporary antagonist at this point, in the Kingdom Hearts series.
While he does return later as his Somebody, Lea, for this part of the series he is still considered a key member of Organization XIII. He is number VIII (8), and his title is The Flurry of Dancing Flames, due to his flame-based powers. He joined the Organization at the same time as Saix, as they were very close beforehand.
He has voluminous red spiky hair with a dark gradient running through it, and vibrant green eyes, lined with red eyeliner, and purple upside-down teardrops underneath them. He wears the standard black Organization cloak, with black leather gloves, black pants, and the same silver topped black boots. His weapons are a pair of multi-colored spiked chakrams, as a variation off of the frisbees he used to play with as a child.
Gilbert Ross from B the Beginning
Gilbert (voiced in Japanese by Toshiyuki Morikawa and in English by John DeMita) is one of the secondary main characters in the Netflix original anime series B the Beginning.
He works with the R.I.S. as their head forensics coroner, helping give them insight on the nastier parts of their cases. Out of the main cast, the one he’s closest to is Keith, as they have known each other for a very long time, and considers him a mental competitor in study.
Gilbert has white hair that he wears slicked back except for two long strands on either side of his face, and his eyes are a soft, bright blue. He wears a dark grey turtleneck that he has a mid-length white labcoat over, with a pen nested in the pocket. His pants are a pair of light grey slacks, which he wears a black belt on top of, and his shoes are a light grey slip-on formal shoe with a slight heel.
Bernard Mettle from OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes
Bernard Mettle (voiced by Dave Fennoy) is a purple werewolf from the Cartoon Network series OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. He is the husband of Wilhamena, and the father of Enid, Icky, and Boris. To create your costume, you must first decide whether you wish to recreate Bernard’s werewolf or human form. If you choose to be human, you’ll need blue pants, a black belt, and temporary purple hair color. For his werewolf form, you can choose a wolf costume or purple animal accessories and then wear a pair of blue shorts, a black belt, and a green plaid shirt. No matter which you decide, don’t be afraid to use a pair of scissors to achieve Bernard’s tattered appearance from the show.
Lucky Flickerman from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Lucky Flickerman is a character from the new Hunger Games film: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and is played by Jason Schwartzman. The Hunger Games series of films are based off of the original books by Suzanne Collins. This film takes place 64 years before the original Hunger Games we know. In this new film, we get to see Coriolanus Snow at 18 years old who is assigned to mentor Lucy of District 12 as the 10th annual Hunger Games approaches. Lucky Flickerman is the charismatic announcer and very first host of the games.
Lucky Flickerman dresses for the occasion wearing a red velvet blazer with black details, white shirt, velvet black bow tie, black pleated pants and shiny black dress shoes. To add even more to the costume, add a fun prop mic and stick-on curled mustache.
Crash Adams from “Give Me a Kiss”
Crash Adams is a Canadian pop alternative duo consisting of singer Rafaele Massarelli and guitarist Vince Sasso. “Give Me A Kiss” is an upbeat love song from their 2023 album, California Girl. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles and features the duo handing out compliments to locals. They circle through a few different suits, but this is the most recognizable from their album cover. The video has and the song has 21 million views on Youtube over 52 million streams on Spotify.
Bobby Santiago from The Casagrandes
Bobby Santiago (voiced by Carlos PenaVega) is Ronnie Anne‘s older brother in The Casagrandes. Bobby and Ronnie Anne began as supporting characters in the Nickelodeon series The Loud House before taking on main roles in the spin-off. Bobby is relaxed, easy-going, and protective of his younger sister. Bobby has dark hair and a few wisps of hair on his chin. His outfit consists of brown sneakers, blue jeans, and a cream-colored t-shirt under a green plaid button-down left unbuttoned. He also wears a black belt with a gold buckle.
Dale Doback from Step Brothers
In Step Brothers (2008), Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) is a 40-year-old manchild who still lives with his father. When his father marries a divorcee, Dale is forced to share quarters with his new step brother Brennan. At first Dale enforces that his drum set is strictly off limits, but before long, they’re co-launching Prestige Worldwide, a multifaceted entertainment company.
Goro Akechi from Persona 5/Royal
Goro Akechi (voiced in Japanese by Sōichirō Hoshi and in English by Robbie Daymond) is one of the major characters in the Persona 5 set of the franchise, featuring in the majority of the games in the 5 umbrella.
He is a well known TV personality, following the success of him as an up and coming detective despite still being in high school, much to his discomfort. Throughout Royal you get to experience him much more as a fleshed out character, meeting him for solo-hangouts at his favorite jazz bar and playing pool and darts with him, building many more layers into his relationship with the protagonist. Akechi briefly joins the Phantom Thieves, after being one of their biggest criticizers, though the major twist puts an end to that relatively quickly (Royal also expands on this, and adds an extra team dynamic).
He has shaggy, light-brown hair that he wears just above his shoulders, and his eyes are a lovely chocolate brown. The main outfit we see him in (not including the additional Royal outfit) consists of a white button-up shirt with a white tie covered in thin black stripes, and a light tan peacoat worn over top, with his badge affixed to the pocket, and a tiny pin on the the lapel. He wears black slacks with matching loafers, and the look is finished off with a pair of black leather gloves, which end up being very plot relevant later on.
Blathers from Animal Crossing
Blathers is a character from the Nintendo game Animal Crossing. He is an owl that resides at the local museum in the game and accepts different items to add to it. He is a smart and friendly character that sleeps during the day just like any owl would.
To dress like Blathers, wear a brown argyle sweater vest, brown pants, striped red and yellow socks, a green bow tie and a brown dress shirt. If you want to go even further, make wings out of fabric and a yellow beak.
