A few years ago I was inspired to overhaul my closet. I wanted to alter things that, with a little change, could be made more wearable. I wanted to weed out things that stood in the way of me finding the pieces I like to wear. And, I wanted to make sure I had a ready supply of outfits that made me feel powerful, playful, and attractive. I wanted my daily attire to delight me, to become a special part of my day instead of simply a necessary one.

And then I was introduced to Disneybounding by the various YouTubers I was watching. Disneybounding, to my understanding, is creating an outfit that evokes your favorite Disney character without overstepping Disney’s regulations on adult costumes, or even wearing something that looks like a costume. Relatedly, historybounding involves dressing to evoke a fashion period from the past, either by dressing in vintage or reproduction styles or by creating an outfit that resembles them.

The best part of everyday cosplay is that it includes completely normal everyday clothing. I just needed to obtain some key items for my wardrobe to make sure I had pieces to put together an outfit I thought evoked the character I had in mind. For instance, I already had a red and green striped shirt so all I felt I really need to evoke Freddy Kruger were some brown gloves. I obtained some snazzy black and white wingtip-esque t-strap shoes as the final pieces for a Joker outfit. Otherwise, creating the outfits just challenged me to think about the pieces in my closet a little differently – like I was pulling markers from a box to color in a character.