Dobby

When Irvin was recording Alohomora Episode 332, one of the hosts - Katy - expressed a desire to see someone cosplay Dobby as depicted in Order of the Phoenix Chapter 18, wearing all of Hermione's knitted clothes.  Irvin immediately took that as a challenge, and as it so happened, TGTSNBN's Fall Cosplay Day was coming up that same month.  So Irvin had to figure out how to cosplay Dobby and defy gravity.

As a base, Irvin referred to Dobby's appearance in Goblet of Fire (since the authorities at Governor's Island may have frowned on a costume that consisted of only hats and socks, no matter how strategically placed).  In that appearance, Dobby wore "a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest" and "a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts."  The tie ended up being the only item Irvin had to procure for this costume - he had elf ears from previous house-elf cosplays, and everything else was sourced from his closet.

To recreate the Dobby that wore all of the hats, scarves, and socks that Hermione had knitted, Irvin grabbed just about every knitted hat and scarf he owned.  (Not by design, they happened to be 95% in Hogwarts House colors!)  The scarves actually served to keep Irvin somewhat warm on a chilly day in late October.  For the socks, Irvin grabbed one of every colorful sock he had, with special attention paid to differing lengths - incredibly, the dirt and dust of Governor's Island seeped through all of the socks throughout the day.

The tricky part, of course, was piling all of the hats on top of Dobby's head and ensuring they stayed there.  A very liberal use of hairpins, and quite a bit of trial and error, ended up doing the trick - the hats all fell apart two or three times, but eventually Irvin got them all securely fastened.  Take that, gravity!  Irvin also made sure that a Gryffindor-colored hat was on top the whole time, because Dobby is obviously a Gryffindor.

Dobby ended up proving one of Irvin's most recognizable HP cosplays for muggles - plenty of people commented on the outfit, with parents pointing out to their kids, "Look, it's Dobby!"

The costume offered many great photo ops.  Everyone who was there immediately had an urge to give Dobby socks and free him.  There was even a Hedwig present, and the whole group figured out how to play with perspective so Hedwig would be "sitting on top of the pile of hats," like she is in the book scene.  Dobby even gave gillyweed to some Gryffindors, and sternly warned the Slytherins not to mess with Harry Potter!

As the first new HP cosplay in almost two years, after the covid pandemic,  Dobby ended up being a big hit.  Irvin looks forward to bringing him back, perhaps in a warmer setting, since it's a very comfortable costume in addition to being stylish.

Irvin brought Dobby to CONjuration 2023, which did take up a considerable portion of his suitcase.  Once again, everyone was concerned about finding Dobby's socks.  He ran into an Umbridge before whom he could cower for some photos, and he made sure to get photos with Draco and the Malfoys (since they're his former masters and all).  And Irvin must be getting more poised with time, since the tower of hats collapsed only once throughout the day.