Silhouette Cosplay is probably familiar to anyone who costumes as Loki or follows MCU cosplayers. She’s been costuming as Loki since 2013, and the level of detail and care she puts into every single element of her costumes is incredible. We were so pleased to be able to create a custom wig for her Loki cosplay, it was a blast to make.
The wig is a full custom built piece, hand-knotted from human hair.
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Featuring Silhouette and her Loki seemed like the perfect introduction to our new regular blog series, Project Profiles. We’ll be writing about interesting or unique wig projects we create, focusing on our client and the details behind their costuming. Silhouette was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about her costuming journey with Loki, here’s what she has to say!
1 – How long have you been costuming as Loki? What drew you to the character?
I missed the great Avengers craze of 2012–I actually didn’t dive into Marvel until 2013. Loki was one of the few characters I was initially drawn to in the Avengers, mainly because of his snark and of course his wardrobe. But it was really Tom Hiddleston’s in-character appearance at SDCC 2013 that sold me on him. Marvel was hyping Thor: The Dark World at the convention, and I remember seeing the video of Tom’s performance and being absolutely blown away by his charisma on stage. The way he immerses himself fully into the character is just incredible.
When it comes to Loki as a character, I’ve always been a fan of the morally grey ones, and Loki certainly fits the bill there. He is one of the most layered and emotionally complex characters I’ve ever come across; I love that you never know quite what he’s going to do next. You know he has very adamant reasons for doing what he does, but it’s a lot more difficult to discern what those reasons are because there are so many levels to them. He is charming, bitter, broken, and delightfully mischievous all at once–and, of course, impeccably dressed.
2 – What’s your favorite thing about costuming as Loki? Most challenging?
The Marvel visual development team has this thing about seams–which appears to be ‘let’s how many can we fit on a design with no visible closures’ (they also have a thing for zippers as decoration). Figuring out how to make a costume where you can’t actually see how it’s put together is a huge challenge (but also my favourite thing, because hey, I love a challenge! The more complex, the better!) One of the most beautiful things about Loki’s costumes is how the textures complement each other; there’s wool crepe combined with smooth, supple leather, right next to laser-etched patterns and intricate weathered armor. The way they all come together is such a beautiful thing.
3 – You’ve created quite a few variations of Loki’s costumes – do you have a favorite version?
I’d love to say all of them, but after creating my own original design last year, that one has snagged the top spot. As someone who normally replicates costumes, designing my own was a huge leap out of my comfort zone, especially since I’d determined to do as close to Marvel standards as I could get, e.g. crazy amounts of seams and layers. I also embedded a frankly ridiculous amount of symbolism in my texture and design choices–there are pieces within the costume that each represent Odin, Frigga, Thor, and Loki’s dual Asgard-Jotun heritage.
4 – Is there a particular aspect of creating costumes you most enjoy?
Armour painting specifically is one of my favourite bits. I come from a visual arts background, so maybe that has something to do with it, but making a solid-colour piece of armour suddenly pop with highlights and shadows and weathering and even different shades of one colour is so fun for me, and so satisfying. I find painting in general to be a very relaxing process. I tend to hand paint all my pieces because it gives me a level of control I wouldn’t have with a spray can.
5 – Favorite Loki quote?
“Satisfaction’s not in my nature.”
Not one of his well-known quotes, but I think it’s surprisingly one of the truest statements Loki has every said about himself. He is never satisfied, and in the end that’s what makes him his own worst enemy.
6 – Anything you’d like to say about your portrayal of Loki, your costuming work, or anything else you think would be of interest to readers?
I’m going to go with some advice for cosplayers out there, which I always try to throw out whenever I have the opportunity: don’t compare your first costume to someone else’s 20th. None of us are born knowing how to use a sewing machine, how to work with foam or worbla, how to style a wig. We all start somewhere, and we’re all constantly learning at our own paces. The only person you have to get better than is yourself, so push yourself to learn, let yourself make mistakes, and if you’re a hobbyist like me, remember that you should be enjoying yourself!
Check out these awesome photos of Silhouette!
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