I’ve finally replicated Chester’s military blouse from the Numb music video. It was months of research and work. I illustrated the designs myself (get them here for your own use). I would have liked them to be screen printed on for greater accuracy, but I couldn’t find a company willing to do a custom single item order. The decals get the job done though.
Switch closet cosplay for the Matrix and Animatrix 35mm screening @therevivalhouseperth last Saturday. There were only a few other people in black trenchcoats that night. I knew I’d be the only one in white.
I have seen a digital screening of the Matrix before, but it does not compare to 35mm. The colours were so rich and deep, it looked like an oil painting. It was great to have a tour of the projection room in the intermission. Revival House is passionate about film preservation.
I’ve been having fun with the closet cosplays recently. Feels good to get back to the way costumes used to be. I am getting tired of the unrealistic standards of modern professional cosplay. It’s wasteful and lacks the fun that costumes are meant to have. I’m considering doing professional photoshoots with my less than accurate costumes.
From the archives, 2012
Costume and make-up by Courtney Coulson
Photography by Luke Milton
I made this costume to wear to the opening night screening of the Dark Knight Rises. 2012 was a wonderful year for movies, I have many happy memories going to opening nights in costumes with my mates, usually preceded by a pre-screening party; Batman, Avengers, Men in Black 3, Prometheus, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Dredd. I don’t know what it was about that year, but the blockbusters were big and fun and coming in rapid succession. I haven’t been that excited about modern cinema since then. Or maybe there’s just something special about that time of your life, being in your early 20’s, in university, particularly an arts university. We had the time and freedom to turn little things like going to the cinema into big events.
The bodysuit was made by me, the gloves and boots I already had. The mask was a fun challenge. It was made from leather that I engraved myself. The head mounted goggles were constructed from Lego pieces with the assistance of my father. It’s the one time he ever worked on a costume with me.
These photos are stunning, some of Luke’s best. They’re my mother’s favourites too, they’re still in her bookcase.
Here’s another shot of my MGSV Revolver Ocelot, always fascinating to see how different photographers interpret your costume. This one was shot by CK Imagery at Evolve Pop Culture Expo 2024. See this costume photographed by Snap Happy Ian here.
In 2021 the Monkey Collective held one of their immersive screening events at the wonderful Luna Palace Cinema in Leederville, Perth. It was for one of my favourite films, The Fifth Element, so, of course, I had to make a costume for their costume contest. I knew there were going to be plenty of Leeloos in the crowd, so I decided to pick someone more obscure; Zorg’s secretary. She didn’t receive much screen-time, nor did she ever get a name, but she had a costume that was another memorable Gaultier creation, it always appealed to me. Plus I already had a skirt of a similar colour. My favourite part of that character is the hair, she wears a wig made of feathers. Initially I tried to see if I could replicate it, but finding such fine feathers on such short notice without spending a fortune proved impossible. So I searched for a regular wig of similar colour, no dice. In desperation, I bought a grey “elderly” style Halloween wig, spray painted it teal to match the velvet and feathers I already had. It’s not at all an accurate shade of teal, but it’s the best I could find around here. The spray paint worked surprisingly well and helped to create a strange texture to the wig. Making costumes in Perth is challenging because we have a limited range of costuming and crafting materials. Honestly, even our range of consumer goods is often limited too. I usually have to order things online; out of the question when there’s a short deadline!
With all those challenges in mind, I am happy with the results, and evidently, others agreed. I had a great night, the audience loved me, and when my character came on screen, they applauded. As impressive as the modern cosplay industry has become, the real fun is had at costume events like this where we are just having fun, improvising and sharing our love of our favourite characters and stories.
Here’s an obscure one, this is based on Joan Chen’s character Kidda from the post-apocalyptic cult classic “Rise of the Juggers”. Though I didn’t worry too much about accuracy. I was invited to a post-apocalypse costume event, and had about two weeks to make something to wear. I gave myself a budget of $50 and spent 15 hours making this costume. It was a lot of fun to abandon the demand for accuracy. This reminded me of playing dress-ups as a kid, I just threw together whatever I could find and made it work.
The costume in the film was likely made from industrial scraps, they probably spent very little on materials. However, in order for me to use the exact light weight elastic sheets (not unlike the ones used as yoga bands), it would have cost me upwards of $100. Bugger that, instead I bought a big roll of EVA foam matting for $30. I tore it into rough pieces of armour. The rest of the costume was flannel, which already has a lovely weathered look to it, but I added even more weathering with sandpaper, powdered chalk and acrylic paint. Again, bringing me back to the child-like glee of throwing a costume together. Getting messy and not getting too precious about the results.
I had a good time at the party, rocking out to the band with my mates. Unfortunately, I am not a night owl, so I left long before the night was over. But I was overjoyed to awaken to find that I had won best costume of the night! All that hard work paid off.
The prize was a ticket to Pox Eclipse, a Burning Man-type event in the desert of Western Australia. I hope to have much nicer photos of this costume wearing it at Pox Eclipse. The desert it a much nicer backdrop than a bookshelf.
I am often told I resemble Cillian Murphy, so I couldn’t resist jumping on the Barbenheimer trend. Back in 2023, the Barbie movie and Oppenheimer were released within the same week, so it became a meme to combine the two. I wore this for Vespa Photography’s annual pink themed photo event, raising money for breast cancer.
From the archives, June 2014:
Gozer the Gozerian- Ghostbusters
Costume and make-up by Courtney Coulson
Photography and props by Luke Milton
This year, this month in fact marks the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, which is one of my all time favourite films, so I couldn’t resist making a tribute to it.
Our Re-Animator shoot taught us that a minimalistic concept can yield surprising results. Often times we will spend weeks designing, making, planning and researching for a shoot, but in this instance it’s just a carport, a smoke machine and a purple light. Gozer’s costume is really simple, it’s just bits of fabric and plastic (in my case, bubble wrap) glued to a unitard, it literally took me a day to assemble. Hell, I spent more time and money on my Ghostbusters uniform and props.
Courtney Coulson
I have discovered smoke and coloured lights. Nothing will ever be the same again.
Luke Milton
From the archives, March 2014:
Costume by Courtney Coulson
Photography, sets and props by Luke Milton
This shoot was quickly put together after watching all three Re-Animator movies in the past week. The challenge, of course, is to take a character with a very basic costume, use minimal props and set, and still manage to get across the essence of Jeffrey Comb’s iconic Herbert West. It’s really all about the look and the lighting and I’m happy with the results. This is the first time in a while that we’ve used the studio lights, but we used them outside in the carport at night to give us a grittier feel (and a bit more space). And I love making blood!
-Luke Milton
This was a unique challenge as West is such a minimalistic character, alter a single detail about his look and it changes everything. It’s also the kind of costume that only works if you vaguely resemble him to begin with, which considering this is crossplay, I think I at least pass. I didn’t really have to make anything for this costume, I already owned everything except for the glasses, I had to find the perfect frames. In terms of facial expressions and poses, again, I was kind of limited. West is pretty unfazed by any of the events of the films, his usual expression is a stern pout which I tried my best to emulate. And of course the syringe had to be ever present!
-Courtney Coulson
This was how my friend Phil appeared to me in a dream. He was doing some sort of Artic expedition, but could walk through a door in the middle of the tundra to return to his apartment. Phil says it gives him League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vibes, I am inclined to agree. His outfit was of fur and leather and wool of the deepest, richest blues and browns, I tried my best to capture it, but this will have to be close enough. This is my first attempt at using Krita.
I hate colouring, whether it be with traditional mediums or digital. I’ve spent most of my life drawing in black and white. It’s hard to start thinking in terms of colour.
Travian Designs 