Matchmaker

When Irvin and his friends were planning to go to AwesomeCon 2024, the celebrity guest that captured their interest was Ming-Na Wen, the original voice of Mulan.  So they bought a photo-op and set about crafting a group Mulan cosplay for it.  Irvin thought it would be hilarious to dress up as the Matchmaker, after the disastrous consultation with Mulan.  So he got to work on the costume.  When Ming-Na Wen cancelled, the costume was already almost ready, so Irvin and co. decided to just go with it anyway.

The costume itself was fairly straightforward, though Irvin had to make the sash around the middle himself.  But the key to the whole character was the disastrous make-up of course.  So Irvin put on more make-up than he ever had: he applied blue eyeshadow, mascara, blush, and lipstick, and then made it all run with water, finishing off the look with black face makeup for the goatee.  It looked properly awful!

Irvin was joined in this cosplay by Jillian as Mulan and Julie bounding as Mushu, and they made quite the trio!

Of course, the key with a costume such as this is the acting - and this was very much in Irvin's wheelhouse!  Irvin as the Matchmaker issued clear instructions to Mulan to pour the tea... and when that went awry, made sure to scream the appropriate insults at her.  (Both seen below.)  Irvin had so much full yelling maledictions at Mulan, they did several takes of it.

To Irvin's surprise, the Matchmaker proved to be the most popular costume he'd ever brought to AwesomeCon!  For such an obscure character, it was instantly recognizable to Disney fans, and Irvin could scarcely walk down the hall without receiving compliments or prompts to do the bit.  He just kept screaming at everyone he came across, "You are a disgrace!  You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!"  Perhaps the funniest part was when a girl (out of cosplay) started stammering that she would cosplay the next day, assuming the disgrace was about her lack of costume rather than a quote!

The Matchmaker is essentially the Disney equivalent to the portrait of Mrs. Black, which is one of Irvin's signatures.  So he felt very much at home walking around a convention and screaming insults at everyone!