Pompadour Ken

Per the Barbie movie, the official name of Simu Liu's Ken character is "Pompadour Ken."

When thinking of a costume for the 2024 Mermaid Parade, a Barbie theme emerged as a perfect fit!  Mermaid Barbie is a thing, and Ken's entire job is "beach."  It was also an accessible theme for a group costume (which, admittedly, was derailed by an epic heat wave that saw Irvin's marching group reduced to himself and Jillian as Mermaid Barbie).

Having already cosplayed both Barbie and Ken, Irvin decided to branch out in the movie and cosplay Pompadour Ken.  The actual outfit was the easy part - a trusty black wig, and the shirt and shorts from Amazon.  By far the bigger challenge was figuring out how to make it clear that Irvin was the specific character, rather than just a dude in coclorful shorts.  And, as is often the case, it came down to the props!

Given that Ken's whole job is "beach," Irvin brought all the beach paraphernalia he could find lying around - a beach ball, and a noodle (which admittedly stayed in his bag most of the day, but proved very effective on the actual beach).  But the centerpiece was a poster of his main rival, Ryan Gosling's Ken.  Irvin printed out a still from the movie, graffitied insults all over it in sharpie, and carried that around throughout the parade to show everyone.

In terms of working the crowd, this was perhaps the most effective outfit Irvin's ever worn to the Mermaid Parade.  Throughout the entire route, he and Jillian waved "Hi Barbie!  Hi Ken!" to everyone in the crowd, usually receiving enthusiastic callback from them.  When the vibe was right, Irvin would demand to know who the better Ken was, showing his poster and talking about how he "beached him off at a beach-off" so Ken was too scared to show his face.

The outfit also proved good for an entire day of fun at Coney Island.  It was hot enough that Irvin actually went into the water at the beach, but he also tossed the beach ball around, hung out ont he lifeguard chair (even though lifeguard isn't his job, beach is!), and danced to "Barbie Girl."  For more photos of all the fun, here is the album.