31 Oct Closet Geek | Everyday Cosplay from Your Closet

So today is Halloween. Or the day after. Or whenever you’re reading this post. The point is, we’re not actively costuming right now. But if you’re here, I bet you want to be. I mean, who doesn’t want to geek out over our favorite characters everyday with a little cosplay? Halloween is only once a year and then it’s over. But as a geek, you can absolutely show off your love for your fandom in subtle ways. You know, without the mask or face paint. I like to believe that it’s the socially accepted day to cosplay.

Funny thing, is that I have friends who will ask me if I’m dressing up for Halloween and I tell them, ‘nope. I’m worn out from dressing up all year round’ lol

Let’s talk a bit about being a closet geek and finding everyday cosplay from clothes in your closet.

First and foremost, I am not suggesting you run around in costume everyday. If I’m being honest, I see nothing at all wrong with that and think the world would be a much more tolerable place if we threw our societal rules out the window every now and then and came out in cosplay. Convention everywhere, am I right? But I know that the real world doesn’t work that way. Still, it doesn’t mean that we can’t embrace our fandoms and find ways to geekify our fashion. It makes the everyday mundane a bit more bearable, in my opinion.

We cosplayers actually love finding creative ways to cosplay without being in full-on costumes. 

Closet Cosplay

I hope those of you who have found yourself on my blog aren’t too put off by the term cosplay or cosplayer. I am a cosplayer – full disclosure – and hubs and I love creating costumes for conventions here in Atlanta. Or “those meetings” as some of our friends and family have called them. 

I can’t even.

It would help to first understand some of the terms I’m using in this post. Don’t worry, we won’t get too technical, but it often helps to define terms so everyone is on the same page.

What is Cosplay?

Cosplay is the art of creating and wearing costumes that represent a specific character from anime, comic books, manga, video games, television series, cartoons, and other pop culture sources by creating often-intricate detail-oriented costumes and props. This subculture of fans often meet and interact at comic conventions, as well as share their work on social media and other platforms.

Cosplay comes from combining the words “costume” and “play” and is as amazing as it sounds. Many geeky fans enjoy cosplay as a hobby and spend many hours putting together handmade and store-bought items to make amazing interpretations of their favorite characters. While many hardcore cosplay enthusiasts enjoy the art of hand making every aspect of their costumes, many cosplayers also put together pieces from their collections and store-bought pieces to make equally amazing costumes. 

However, you don’t have to hand make your costumes in order to be considered a cosplayer. And you don’t have to be a cosplayer in order to wear a costume every once in a while. For example, Halloween. You can represent characters you love with pieces you can find in your own personal closet. This is called closet cosplay or casual costuming.

What is Closet Cosplay?

Closet cosplay is creating costumes by putting together items in your closet. This can also be known as closet costuming, casual cosplay, or casual costuming. Because you aren’t in an actual costume, closet cosplay is a subtle way to represent your favorite characters and fandoms. ‘If you know, you know.’ The idea of closet cosplay is to find subtle ways to find and wear everyday cosplay from your closet. That way you’re not in obvious costume all the time, but you know and those who know also know. Like a chameleon.

I look at this as an art, as well. It’s very similar to being able to identify pieces in your closet and combining them to make everyday, work, or special occasion outfits. The only difference is that you are using your clothing to match the style and personality of a character you love from the fandoms you follow.

Closet cosplay is not about being perfectly accurate – it’s the subtle approach to costuming and is meant to embody the spirit of the character rather than trying to look exactly like them. And the great thing about closet costumes is that you can make a quick run to the store or purchase clothing from Amazon if you need a cheap top or accessory to finish a look. Closet costumes are much more accessible than actual costumes, and don’t require as much time to create.

Plus, you’re still using creativity and ingenuity to put together a unique look!

When can you closet cosplay?

Anyone can cosplay from items they find in their closet for work, school, date night, or just hanging out for the day. And you can cosplay any day you feel like it. Because it’s everyday cosplay that you wear from your closet. 

If you still don’t have your costume for Halloween, you can easily find a closet costume. And then after Halloween, you can literally closet cosplay anytime you want. As a fan and geek, I often choose to closet cosplay for work or when I go out with hubs. It is how I choose to live my life as a geek, and it makes me feel like I can show love for my fandoms outside of just comic conventions or special events.

Creating everyday cosplay from your closet | How to closet cosplay

First you want to choose a character and pay attention to the most obvious qualities of that character. Think about what you love about them and why you want to dress up as that particular character. It helps to try to embody how the character thinks and feels so you can express that through your outfit.

This is where the “play” part of cosplay comes in!

Also think about how that character looks and the most identifiable thing about them. Is it the color of the clothing? Do they wear their hair a certain way? What about accessories or distinguishable facial and body markings? Pick one or two that will give a nod to your character, and will help other fans identify who you are.

Colors

Colors are an important part of a costume. In fact, I would argue that many fans can easily identify a character by their colors before they even recognize anything else about them. Think about Velma from Scooby-Doo, or Raven from Teen Titans. What about those characters comes to mind? Most likely the colors that help to identify them. Without those, they would be less recognizable. You can also dress up as non-human characters using colors you already own. Like Pikachu the Pokémon.

“Hey Barbie!” Remember the pink craze from just a couple months ago? Well you can be your own Barbie with or without wearing pink. But the pink may help others recognize what you’re going for.

Start with what you have and see how you can use colors to create a closet cosplay.

Patterns, Texture, and Accessories

Like colors, we can sometimes tell who a character is by the patterns they wear. Stripes and dots are popular patterns, while furs and metals are textures that help us identify a character as well. You can use household items with clothing pieces to enhance your look. Think tulle, tassels, cotton, foil, and rope. 

I love accessories, because even some of the most random things I have in my closet or around my home make great costume pieces. You can add scarves, bags, socks, glasses, fans, umbrellas, headbands, shoes, hats, tights, bows, and more to your clothing pieces to represent a character. 

For those of you who indulge, don’t forget about makeup and nail polish! Eyeshadows can be used in place of face paints for a stylish and subtle color addition.

Hairstyles & Wigs

Hairstyles are another of the most common ways to identify an iconic character. From Leia’s low space buns in Star Wars, to Coraline’s straight blue bob, sometimes all you need to do is wear the hair for everyone to know who you are.

Many times you have everything you need to whip up a quick hairstyle – hairpins, hairspray, and gel. But sometimes a wig is fun when appropriate and depending on the character. You may not be able to wear that bright anime pink we all love, but what about recreating a style instead of a color when color won’t work? You can find wigs at your local beauty supply store. If you’re new to wigs, you may want to search YouTube for tips on how to put them on and make them look good. 

If you’re really in a pinch, you may even be able to find a hair color gel or cream in your drugstore. These products will color your strands without the chemicals or wig cap; and they wash out just as easily as they’re applied. I use these for weekend trips to our local geeky shop and other shenanigans around town. 

Clothing pieces

I hope that I have helped you think more creatively about what you have in your closet. Don’t be too literal with interpretations of your characters – this is just that, an interpretation. Characters are fictional, so rarely does anyone have the exact piece they need to walk around like Darth Vader for a day.

Yes. Yes I do. 

So use clothing pieces to do all the work for you. If you need a cape, try a long coat or a robe. Don’t have horns? Pin your hair up into two pointy space buns. No mask? Use sunglasses, a hat, or a hood. Use a tie as a scarf, and vice versa; or a belt as suspenders. Fold up a face mask to use as an eyepatch. Think outside the box.

Clothing pieces are easier to find than costume pieces, and sometimes they cost less. You can find pieces at your local Goodwill or thrift store. You can browse Amazon for colors and patterns you may want to try. More than likely you’ll find whatever you need for a great price.

Gender-Friendly Costumes

Closet cosplay also means that you can use clothes that you love and are comfortable wearing to represent any character you admire. Closet cosplay is for you – no matter what character you love. 

Just a note: Cosplayers cosplay whatever characters we love from all kinds of fandoms. A costume is for any race, any gender, any age, any body shape. I will never tell a person they can’t dress up as a character they love because they lack a characteristic they have no control over. That’s ridiculous, especially when we’re talking about imaginary characters. The reason I love the cosplay community so much is because, in my experience, it is the most accepting, open-minded, and least judgmental group of people you will ever find.

Go ahead and look. I’ll wait.

In fact, genderbending is often used to create characters of a gender from which you may not identify. For me, as a cisgender female, if I want to cosplay a male-identifying character, I will genderbend a costume to best look like that character. This is also commonly known as crossplay and it is something I love to do. My favorite crossplay is my sith Lady Vader.

What I’m trying to say is if you want to dress up as a character, dress up as that character. Period.

Everyday closet cosplay for the everyday chic-geek | Geek Chic Closet Cosplay

Here are some Closet Geek Chic outfits I put together based on the character they represent. I love pinning my favorite Geek Chic looks so if you want to see more, you should check out and follow my Geek Chic Fashion board on Pinterest. I’ll also post some closet geek looks on Instagram, periodically, so follow me there if you love the images you see on the blog and want to see more of them.

I hope I’ve inspired you to live your geek life even more through your clothing. I bet you’ll look at your closet with new eyes from now on. If you like this post and want to see more like this, let me know and I’ll work on some more everyday cosplay looks from your closet. It’s all about your personal style and preferences, combined with the fandoms you love. Your clothes should always reflect you and no one should tell you what you can and can’t wear. If it doesn’t match your personal style, then what are we even doing? Clothing should be fun, after all.

Go get dressed up, you geeks!