Gazelle

Irvin's 27th birthday party was animal-themed (loosely based on the storyline that Fiyero and Elphaba managed to free the Animals during his 26th birthday party). Irvin realized that no animal better embodied him than the Shakira-based Gazelle from Zootopia. Fortuitously, the prior summer he had bought red fringed shorts at a theater's sale, so he had one of the key costume pieces already!

Everything else, however, had to be bought. There were a lot of disparate animal pieces - hooves for the hands and feet, horns and animal ears to go carefully under a wig. The top and legwarmers came from a dance apparel website. And the adornment at the top of the shorts came from a trimming store. The tricky part, however, was the makeup: a white belly, with the white extending to the muzzle. Irvin applied that, and for contrast, put tan makeup on the rest of his torso (which proceeded to get absolutely everywhere).

At the party, Irvin's friend Angelica represented Judy Hopps, and two Nick Wildes switched off halfway through (Margaret and Gigi). There were a lot of group photos taken, and so much singing/shimmying/dancing to "Try Everything." That song really made a perfect birthday anthem!

The costume was also incredibly functional for collecting money for the party - at one point, there were literally hundreds of dollars stuffed into Gazelle's top. (And some of those bills ended up slathered in makeup!) It's really the perfect outfit, blending form and function!

The costume was reprised (without the makeup) the following Friday for Disney DJ Night. The horns presented a challenge to dancing up a storm, but Irvin persevered. Upon seeing the costume, the DJs played "Try Everything," as Irvin got on stage and performed the whole song with gusto.