Gender and how it plays a role in cosplay is a common topic. So if you’re someone looking to cosplay a character that’s a different gender than your own, then you need to know how to crossplay cosplay.
What is Crossplay in Cosplay
Rather than changing the gender of a character you plan to cosplay (genderbend), you’ll instead change yourself to present as a gender different than your own to crossplay. So, a woman portraying a male character, a man as a woman, nonbinary as binary, etc.
Cosplay Tips for Crossplay
If you want to crossplay, here are some things to keep in mind when going from one gender to another. It often focuses on using makeup, paddings and shape wear to make yourself appear more masculine or feminine than you typically are.
Female to Male (FtM) or Nonbinary to Male
- Binding – Use a chest binder to create a flat chest or a sports bra for more comfort.
- Contouring – Focus on your jawline and nose for a more masculine look.
- Eyebrows – Draw your eyebrows to be darker and thicker.
- Posing – Keep hands in pockets with thumbs out, stand with wider stances and lean against walls for a more masculine posture. Your photographer can of course help you pose and use angles to give you a more masculine appearance in pictures.
- Facial hair – You can wear fake beards, side burns and mustaches if your character as them.
Male to Female (MtF) or Nonbinary to Female
- Blush & highlighter – Use blush on the apples of the cheek and highlighter to help soften and widen your face.
- Contouring – Use bronzer, contour and concealer to help slim jawlines and cheek structures from more masculine to more feminine.
- Brow blocking – Having thinner eyebrows is a must for a more feminine look. Consider blocking your original eyebrows and drawing on new ones.
- Foam padding – Use foam padding to create the illusion of hip and bust curves.
- Undergarments – Dance tights can help for smoothing and to maintain breast forms you can consider wearing a bra.
- Shaving – Consider shaving legs and your face to ensure a more feminine look.
General Tips
Some tips can be applicable no matter what gender you’re starting as and changing to.
- Wigs – Find a quality wig that helps you look more like the character for all genders.
- Mannerisms and posing – Study your character to pose and walk like them. Photographers can help with this as well.
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