Disneybound Tips

The March Disneybound challenge is upon us! What is Disneybounding you ask? Well, remember the term “closet cosplay” or “casual cosplay”? To me, it’s basically that – dressing up your favorite character, theme, attraction, etc using normal everyday clothing from well, your closet. For example dressing up as Winnie the Pooh using the colors red and mustard yellow or dressing up as the It’s a Small World ride using colors such as white, gold, and maybe some pastels.

I started Disneybounding during the pandemic and as cosplay slowed down, Disneybounding definitely increased. I had always wanted to try it at the parks and realized that I could get some of my creative fix styling outfits instead of just making cosplays.

With a few years of Disneybounding under my belt now, I thought I would put together some tips if you’re just getting started.

Tip #1 – Look at main colors and important accents

This might seem obvious, but when you’re looking at a character reference photo, pull out the main colors, but not necessarily every single color. For eg, in these bounds, I focused on the main color of both characters – a sort of magenta/bright pink with light purple for Lady Tremaine and the “Tiffany blue” of Giselle’s dress.

Tip #2 – Accessorize

Going back to the examples above, the dress I chose for Giselle doesn’t have flowers, but I made up for that by wearing a flower crown as an accent. Remember, this isn’t a cosplay so we’re not looking for screen accuracy, just a resemblance of the character and maybe what makes that character unique. When I think of Giselle, I think of flowers, woodland creatures, and even butterflies.

For Lady Tremaine, I made sure her statement green jewelry was present somewhere in the outfit and I opted for a green jeweled chain belt to do that. I also happened to have a green ring so I made sure to include that as well.

Tip #3 – Pick a theme for your style

If you’re new to bounding, just picking pieces in your colors might work, but you also want the outfit to be cohesive. Are you going for casual? Dressy? Punk? 70s? Just because the colors work doesn’t mean that those items go together. Try to keep the style of your pieces in theme with each other as well. In this example, I was going for a summery Ahsoka look since I posted these with some Barbie themed Star Wars characters.

Tip #4 – Invest in some good solid color pieces

If you start bounding enough, you’ll realize that some colors constantly pop up. In the Disney world, there’s tons of primary colors like red, yellow, orange, and blue. Think Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, Gaston, and Queen of Hearts for red or Belle, Jane, Pluto, and Rabbit for yellow. Even in the Star Wars world, you’ll constantly need muted colors like olives, browns, or grays and definitely some orange pants or bottoms for all those Rebel Alliance looks.

Let me know if there are any other things you want to know about Disneybounding. Hope these tips helped a little and happy bounding!