I’ve never been a big one for costumes. On Halloween I usually roll out the Indiana Jones getup because A)it takes about five minutes, and B)it’s fun to be Indiana Jones. Last fall, I decided on costumes more than a year in advance for Child Harbat and I. I knew it would take a while to get all the parts together and I knew we’d want to have them ready for Comic-Con in July and then for an encore at Halloween. I’ve never done any cosplay or planned this far ahead for any costume ever. Why the interest now? First, take a look at two pieces in progress and if you play video games you might recognize it:
CH and I are going as Ellie and Joel from The Last of Us, hands-down the best video game I’ve played and, by the reviews and fans, one of the best most people have played. It’s not about the action or the graphics or the weapons, it’s about the characters. Specifically, a man and a young girl trying to survive in a world gone horribly wrong. What makes the characters fascinating is their multi-dimensionality. As a father I’ve ached to protect Ellie in this game while learning more about Joel and become fearful of him and his motives. It’s one of the most moving pieces of fiction I’ve experienced in literature, film, or gaming.
Now for the costumes. It doesn’t take much in the way of props but the aging and dirtying of the clothes has been a long process. How do you make new clothes look like they’ve been worn for years? First, age them in the sun for a few months. Then rip and tear them at seams and natural wear points. Then use them to clean out a filthy old barbecue. As seen above, these shirts are only part-way through the wearing and dirtying process. CH has had TONS of fun getting clothes dirty on purpose. I’ve been building out and locating the rest of the props which I’ll reveal over the coming weeks. But let me end with this: there’s something about wearing Joel’s filthy shirt and pants, shouldering his pack, and carrying a steel pipe as a weapon that makes me feel…well…I could take on some zombies. It turns out that clothes do make the man. More to come.
Writer, architect, father, husband.