COSPLAY CORNER
Meet Chris Calfa: The Gender-Bend Princess of New York City by Marissa DiBartolo, editor-in-chief
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Photo: Nicole Horsfield
90 | Issue No. 2 | THE POP INSIDER
Chris Calfa is more than a princess. Actually, he’s about 10 different princesses. And a few pop icons. And also a power ranger. Cosplay is a unique artform, and Calfa is undoubtedly a one-of-a-kind artist. Known as Princess Chris for his Disney Princess gender bends, he turns iconic dress designs worn by Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Elsa into ornate “dapper looks,” featuring hand-painted blazers and lots of shimmer and shine. That’s the beauty of cosplay: It lets you portray any of your favorite characters anyway you want—as long as you are willing to put in the work. Calfa’s love for dressing up and his passion for Disney started at a young age. “I was always the kid who wanted to dress up,” he says. "My birthday is on Halloween. My friends get scared when August rolls around because that’s when I start talking about Halloween, and I have 20 ideas of what costumes I want to do.” But it wasn’t always about princesses. Calfa’s favorite childhood costume was Aladdin, which he wore for Halloween from ages 3 to 6. Growing up in the ‘90s, princesses seemed out of reach for a young boy. “I used to bring my Aladdin costume with me to Disney World to wear it around because I saw little girls wearing Disney princess dresses and I was like ‘well, I can’t do that,’” he says. “The ’90s were a different time. But that’s what ultimately made me want to do the gender bend stuff because I very strongly identify as a male.” Eventually, Calfa’s love for costumes translated into his education, and he attended college for costume design. While designing his costumes came naturally to him, the more hands-on skills proved challenging. “The sewing professor once told the entire