started: Spring 2020 | con debut: ECCC 2025 | last worn: ECCC 2025
I watched Hazbin Hotel in February and was thus in the middle of the hyperfixation cycle when Sakura-Con 2024 arrived. Naturally I had to do my best on such short notice to make Alastor. I don't remember doing a lot of research on other cosplayers' interpretations because I immediately had a pretty clear idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to interpret the character design in as much "real clothes" as possible, influenced by character-appropriate 1930s styles (specifically Jazz Age New Orleans).
I thrifted most of the main pieces: found a bright-red silk shirt and wine-red velvet blazer at a vintage shop that never fails me. The shoes for version 1 are all-red leather oxfords. I used the leather midline harness from my Dottore to make the black line down the center of the shirt, as opposed to modifying the shirt (for now).
I decided that a few modifications would be the most important for making the character design clear, namely the red cuffs at the bottom of the pants and the black/red bowtie. I found somewhat era-appropriate high-waisted, wide-leg, cuffed style and took apart the cuffs (which turned out to be constructed somewhat oddly and probably it would've been easier to start from un-cuffed pants) to add red satin, matching the shirt material. I similarly found a plain black bowtie and sewed red fabric over the middle.
It also seemed pretty important to have claws, especially if I went more realist/humanoid in the rest of the outfit. I got vinyl gloves with glued-on long nails and painted them red/black ombre.
Given one of the Egg Bois' confusion in the show about whether Alastor sports ears or a strangely ear-like hairstyle I wanted to find a wig with matching hair-ears, and I did! The one I found came with clip-in ears and some black fibers on the ear tips and at the back. I dyed (aka colored with Sharpie) the ends of the red bob portion, interpreting the black part as dyed ends rather than distinct layers of longer black hair. I have now seen seemingly every possible permutation of Alastor wig and there are many options, but I stand by what I chose based on my interpretation of the character design.
I tested the makeup a few different times and then continued to evolve it. When doing the makeup for an Alastor con day I usually concentrate my efforts around the eyes, going for a dramatic painted lid and a high, thin brow along with thin-lined dark lipstick, à la Vaudeville or silent film. (Specifically an admittedly misremembered influence, in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: Conrad Veidt's eye makeup emphasises/paints dramatic eye bags rather than lids.) The first time I wore Alastor I didn't really do much to my skin; I've since tried, at different times, a solid grey/white base or a more lightly applied look that is sort of silent-film greasepaint-white and also unsettlingly corpse-like. NB: Obviously I know that Alastor is specifically anti-film but his chosen medium does not provide me any visual guidelines.
Obviously a key feature of Alastor's design is his radio-mic staff/cane. My friend Mike 3D-printed this model and I assembled and painted it. (I had to apply so, so many layers of clear varnish in the slit pupil of the mic's "eye" to get the effect I was looking for.)
We also printed some small giveaways specifically to help me make friends in the fandom. Mike printed a bunch of KeeKees and I attached tags with handwritten notes. I spent an undue amount of time practicing Alastor's terrible scrawl since we do see it in the show, but as is often the case with investing in details no one would ever notice, I had a great time and regret nothing. This effort turned out to be wildly successful as a fateful conversation starter with multiple new friends. I also met my future/current partner because we had the same radio mic staff model, and we would not have been able to find each other again if they had not taken one of my keys with my contact information. Fortune favors the friendly.
After my Hazbin cosplay debut I was energized to keep working on improvements for future cons, and I wanted to learn to sew more from scratch than I had previously attempted, so I followed (...with liberties) a McCall's pattern to make a basic waistcoat. I modified the fit after sewing the mock and followed an internet tutorial to make welted pockets where the baffling fake pockets would have been.
The first version used red oxfords which I liked well enough but the black/red combo with toe caps seemed important so I kept looking for an improved version. I found a beautiful vintage pair of black toe-cap oxfords in a vintage store in Portland and painted the toe caps red. Kay and I both added red hoofprint soles by cutting out red sole protectors into hoof shapes. (The heels have disappeared but I still have deer-toe prints at least)
I made a few other changes to improve the outfit: sewed white ribbon to the lapel edges to make the white outline more like the canon jacket design, made a velcro- and button-attachment ribbon cross for the midline detail of the shirt (replacing the leather harness). Inspired by the 2024 Valentine's pinup art, I made a reverse-color version with the waistcoat: black shirt (already owned) and red midline ribbon. I also made new (slimmer) pants, adding a reversible red cuff to the hem of true-black pants for this version. The matte cotton cuff matches the vest so the overall look is a little more cohesive.
