My Doug Funny cosplay was my first Instagram photo to go semi-viral. Where I was typically hitting 200-400 likes, the mirror selfie of my Quailman costume surpassed over 1K.
I couldn’t believe how many people enjoyed seeing a gender-bent Doug Funny costume(let alone a mirror selfie). It just goes to show that you don’t need to be an expert craftsman in order to make a costume that people will love and appreciate.
I’ve made a ton of 90s-related costumes since then. It’s probably my favorite cosplay genre (and a rarely popular one, to my surprise) and I love the reaction it gets from people. So because I’d love for others to experience my 90s-nostalgic joy, I decided to give you this quick and easy DIY Quailman cosplay tutorial. Seriously, you can make this costume in a day.
So grab your coffee, grab your cosplay supplies, and let’s get started.
The base pieces of my DIY Quailman cosplay came from my local thrift shop. The small tidbits (the headband, cape, ribbon, shoes, and the undies) all came from Wal-Mart, I believe. But as always, I’ll have links to Amazon because it’s the best.
To make the headband, take a string/ribbon/measuring tape and measure around your head.
Take that measurement and draw a line across your kids’ craft foam (color doesn’t matter). Then just cut out a rectangle to that length. My headband is about 1-inch thick. I had to cut 2 strips and hot glue them together in order to fit it around my head. Also, remember to cut out another strip for the center twirl piece. You can get it to bend forward with a heat gun or a hairdryer.
Next, you’ll want to paint your foam with brown acrylic paint. You can also choose to glue brown pleather onto your foam strips for a more realistic look. I also used a Xacto knife to gently carve lines to give the foam the appearance of belt stitches.
And finally, all you need to do is loop your belt buckle through the foam like you would a normal belt. Don’t worry about securing it with anything but hot glue. The band should sit on your ears to hold it in place.
You have a few options as to how you can do your Doug Funny costume. If you want to go the traditional route, grab the green sweater vest and a white t-shirt. If you want to go the more femme route, you’ll just need a green V-neck shirt.
For classic Quailman, you can paint the Q right on the front with red acrylic paint. I recommend doing a layer of white paint first so the red is more prominent against the dark fabric. You can also use Dark Transfer Paper and iron on your ‘Q’. I did this for my Jenny Bravo cosplay. Watch the tutorial here.
Femme Quailman (Quailwoman?) just needs one of the stick-on patches. These are always on display at Michaels, but there’s a link above just in case. I just hot-glued mine to the top left of my shirt and voila! That’s it.
Quailman’s cape is literally just half a yard of red fabric from Wal-Mart. It doesn’t matter if the edges or frayed– Doug Funny is an adolescent boy, after all. Then all I did was take a strip of 3/4-inch white ribbon and hot glue it to the bottom. You can tie the cape around your neck like the real Quailman or tie it to your bra straps like I did.
Doug Funny Facts
Doug’s middle name is Yancy.
Doug retold his adventures to his 6th-grade journal, which is why viewers hear Doug narrate the story at the end of the episode.
Jim Jenkins created Doug Funny. Doug’s crush, Patti Mayonaise, comes from the names of two different girls Jenkins had crushes on in grade school.
Pork Chop is a Bull Terrier
Directly from IMDb, “The Funnie’s neighbors are the Dinks. Their name stems from the acronym D.I.N.K. which stands for “double income, no kids”. This is a slang term that refers to a childless couple where both people work and are, therefore, more affluent than families with dependents”
By FAR one of my most popular cosplays is my genderbent Dexters Laboratory costume. I am a cliche 90’s nostalgia kind of girl and I take immense pride in it. The 1990s were the best decade and you can’t change my mind.
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If you don’t already know what Dexter’s Laboratory is, I’ll include some fun facts down below. But essentially it was a pretty popular cartoon about a boy scientist and his annoying sister and it ran on Cartoon Network. The main character, Dexter, is obviously a boy, but after seeing the above gender-bend artwork, I knew I had to recreate it (artist credit, anyone?).
And because I would absolutely love to see more of you in your own version of this cosplay, I’m going to show you where I got my materials. Yes, this is a fully purchased Dexter’s Laboratory costume. I didn’t make a single thing from it. I probably am going to do a DIY though because I found the perfect pattern (linked below) for it. The material of this costume shop dress is… no so good.
You’ll find links on where to get the materials below. I’ve also included some suggested materials if you’d rather do an actual DIY Dexter cosplay. Men, there are links for you in here as well!
Dexter’s Laboratory Costume Details
There are plenty of ways you can go about the genderbent Dexter cosplay. I personally saw a costume that I liked and instantly knew it would work for this Cartoon Network character. Someone once suggested to me that I could buy a chef’s coat and take it in to make it a dress. And other cosplayers may prefer to just make the dress from scratch. You do you.
I bought mine because it was a fly-by-the-moment idea and I’m an amateur seamstress. The dress was only like $35 and it looked like it was made to be a Dexter’s Laboratory costume. I already had the boots and the wig, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me. Cosplay is expensive, guys.
A pattern (this one would be SO cute; just readjust the neckline and the buttons!)
Black Buttons
White Fabric
WATCH: Party City Dexters Laboratory Costume Review
Dexters Laboratory Fun Facts:
Dexter doesn’t have a last name.
The superhero, Krunk, in an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory is a parody of Marvel’s Hulk (Krunk has purple skin and wears green pants).
Dexter’s accent is a mix of Russian, French, and German. According to IMDb, “Dexter’s accent originated from Genndy Tartakovsky‘s CalArts roommate, Rob Renzetti, who left voicemails for Tartakovsky in a comedic French accent.”
Growing up, watching Nickelodeon was like a ritual. I never missed a single episode of my favorite shows— especially when it came to Rugrats. I decided to make a Chuckie Finister costume for the same reason that most other people flock to this character: it’s wild. Chuckie’s look is a lot more detailed and colorful compared to Tommy (who has always been my favorite Rugrats baby), which meant a DIY Chuckie would be a lot more fun— and challenging.
A Chuckie Finster costume is also a great way to level up your cosplay skills. It’s still technically a closet cosplay, but it requires a little bit more craftsmanship. Don’t worry—it’s still an easy build. All you will need are some basic clothing items, some paint, and an extravagant curly red wig.
Also, keep in mind that this Chuckie Finster tutorial can be used for both boys and girls. And, of course, you don’t have to use a crop top for the shirt. That’s just my preferred style.
Chuckie’s most noticeable features are his bright orange hair, purple glasses, and freckles. He always wears a light blue shirt with a Saturn emblem tilted in the center, with green shorts that have playful lime green zig zags plastered on them.
You can find the Saturn emblem that you will need for this costume in my FREE Chuckie Finster Costume Tutorial eBook. Get it here:
What You’ll Need
Most of these supplies are easily accessible on Amazon. I provided a link banner under each list for a visual of the products I used and how much they cost. Anything not shown in the banner will have its own link or can be found at your local craft/general store.
As I mentioned, you can either order a custom shirt or you can DIY a Chuckie Finster shirt. You can do this by downloading my eBook which gives the full breakdown of how I made my cosplay along with my Chuckie Finster Costume and Makeup Tutorial on YouTube.
Chuckie was originally going to be an antagonist on Rugrats. He was originally inspired by a bully from the childhood of one of the creators.
Chuckie was originally voiced by Christine Cavanaugh until Nancy Cartwright took over in 2001.
Chuckie is allergic to dandelions.
Kim legally adopts Chuckie, which officially makes her Chuckie’s mom.
Chuckie doesn’t have any siblings and likely doesn’t have any cousins, either.
He is the oldest Rugrats baby.
Chuckie Finster turns 30 in 2019. His birthday is April 15, 1989.
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Oh hey, guys! Welcome to Cosplay and Coffee. My name is Tiffani, and today I am going to show you guys how to build your own DIY home cosplay studio.
I have done approximately one professional cosplay photoshoot. And while it went well, I just couldn’t get over the need to know exactly what was going on behind the lens. Plus, I just felt extremely awkward.
If you don’t have a photographer to take your cosplay photos on the regular, or you simply want an idea of how to set up your own cosplay studio— congrats!
You’ve come to the right place.
There is no right way to set up or take your own cosplay photos. You can pick and choose from any of these tiers to get the setup that works for your skill level, budget, and space at home.
The following options are pretty much the trajectory that my own cosplay studio took. I started at Option 1 with just a phone and a mirror (which is still a method I use often) and ended with Option 3.
I’m not sure if or how I will upgrade my home cosplay setup, but if I do, you can find the updates here!
Option 1 – Beginner Home Cosplay Studio
You will need:
Cell phone camera
Natural light
Some of my best performing Instagram photos are cosplay selfies. In fact, some (like this Dexter cosplay) were just taken in a mirror in my bathroom.
The Hermione cosplay photo on the left was taken in front of a window. The natural light gives my photo even lighting so that you can see all the detail in my makeup. Even the freckles.
Some extra items that you can get for your home cosplay studio is a phone ring light and a mini or standing tripod.
The tripod obviously takes the hassle out of propping your phone against a stack of books. The phone ring light makes it so that you can get even lighting at any time, day or night.
The DSLR remote was cheap and became almost necessary. Before I would have to run back and forth from my camera to take every single picture.
You can see from my video why the stretchy fabric is the best for your cosplay backdrops. Essentially, it just means that you NEVER have to iron your fabric before taking photos. Just find a blank wall in your house, stretch out your colored fabric, and thumbtack it to the wall!
Remember:
You can mix and match these products to form your own cosplay photo setup.
For example, you can use your iPhone but upgrade to a ring light. I have the larger ring light to fit my DSLR, but you can get the smaller/cheaper option if you’re only using your phone.
Option 3 – Advanced Equipment For Your Cosplay Photos
1 x White Wood Floor Backdrop (vinyl Plastic material)
1x 7x10ft Backdrop Stand (height of 2.6ft to 7ft, width of 5ft to 10ft)
2 x 4.5″ Heavy Duty Spring Clamps (to hold your backdrop)
Black Reflector Umbrella x2
WhiteTranslucent Umbrellas + Stand x2
2 x 45W Energy Saving Bulb
1 x Convenient Carry Bag for Background Stand
I bought this off of Amazon as a complete impulse buy (beer may have been involved).
It was only $75!
This is great if you have a ton of space in your home to take your own cosplay photos. You will have to watch my video to see how I use mine to easily change out my backdrops.
Let’s just say, it saves a lot of thumbtack holes in my wall.
Just so you know, I am not a photography expert. At all. These are just the items I have purchased over the last 3 years. I’m still learning to use some of this equipment, but for the most part, the learning curve wasn’t too steep.
Now my home cosplay studio consists of my Canon T5i, a DSLR remote control, a ring light, 4 umbrella lights, a collapsable backdrop stand, and multiple interchangeable backdrops.
I am SO sorry about the audio. My camera didn’t tell me that my mic died, and it was my second time filming it.
If it’s any consolation, I have been stressed about it for the past 7 hours trying to fix the audio. I hope you stayed till the end to see my resolution to this annoying glitch (lol).
Anyway, I cut out about a minute of footage because it was just too awful. So here is some more information you should know about Luca Jackets and their women’s Southside Serpents jacket!
It may just be the most comfortable jacket that I own now.
Seriously.
As I say in the video, the materials used in this design just work together. Luca really knows what he’s doing.
The design as a whole has so many minute details and it is truly fascinating. I love the green accents, and I especially like the snakeskin detail on the inside of the jacket.
The grunge/weathered logo on the back makes this look like an authentic Southside Serpent jacket. Did Luca even really make this, or was it stolen off of the set of Riverdale? They’re both in Canada, after all!
So in short, here are my favorite things about this serpent jacket:
The material is lightweight and cooling, yet still keeps you warm
It’s colorful and playful with its design
The women’s Southside serpent jacket fits like a glove. I recommend ordering your normal size or maybe one up (I wear a S-M and got a Medium)
Versatile and can be used with a Jughead, Archie, or Betty Cooper outfit!
Cons of Women’s Southside Serpents Jacket
I wasn’t trying to be funny in the video when I said I couldn’t find many cons about this cosplay jacket. It’s truly a work of art.
That being said, I feel like some people might have an issue with the “worn” look. I don’t know why, especially if you’re looking to do a Riverdale cosplay, but to each his own.
There are two deep pockets (which have green accents on the inside; did you notice?), but the zippers are mainly for show.
And I guess one more thing that can be said about this jacket is that the Southside Serpent jacket design on this jacket is a bit different from the show. You can see my side my Betty Cooper cosplay side-by-side as a comparison.
However, that’s likely due to copyright issues. Other vendors who sell this jacket use the same altered design.
So sorry to burst your bubble but this Riverdale Serpent jacket is the real deal. If you want an easy closet cosplay and a nice faux leather jacket that you can wear on the daily, I truly recommend this jacket. It’s a bit pricer than other retailers, but it’s well worth it.
I had to cut this part out of the video because of the god-awful audio, but I had a hard time choosing which jacket I wanted from Luca Designs.
There are so many good ones!
(I also just want to say that I think Luca Jackets should sell a blue crop leather jacket for anyone who wants to cosplay the animated version of Black Canary. I can’t find that jacket anywhere).
Luca Designs heavily focuses on the cosplay and fandom community (you can probably spot them at your next convention!), but they also have jackets that you can buy for everyday wear.
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