Elise Lim with a shark-inspired rocket launcher, which is based on the one from the show Arcane, that she made. - ST/ANN
SINGAPORE: She was on a conventional path to success, having done well enough at the Primary School Leaving Examination to get into the six-year Integrated Programme (IP), and even gained entry into the Art Elective Programme to pursue her interest in art.
But in her fifth year of the IP at National Junior College, Elise Lim decided to put it all aside – to go into fashion.
She had taken an interest in cosplay in the fourth year, and tried her hand at making character wigs and props, and tailoring costumes.
Also feeling demotivated from not doing as well as she had hoped in secondary school, she made a switch to pursue a course in fashion design and management at Temasek Polytechnic (TP), something she had dreamt of exploring since her younger days. Not everyone would have approved of her decision.
“It’s not common for people to drop out of the IP, and a lot of parents could be worried that this is an unstable future, which is true, because the design and art field is unstable,” Elise said, adding that junior college (JC) is typically seen as the “safe path” for students.
Three years on, the 19-year-old, who is in her third year in polytechnic, has amassed more than 94,000 followers on TikTok, where she posts tutorials on how to make wigs, and other cosplay content.
Her most viral video, where she cosplays the 2023 design of a virtual character named “magical mirai miku” with a self-made wig, has more than 12.9 million views. On Instagram, she has a following of 12,200.
She takes commission orders for wigs via her Instagram page on a first come, first served basis, and in between juggling schoolwork, she sends out blasts to her followers to say she is free to take up projects.
The prices of her wigs range from US$100 (S$130) to US$700.
She has made more than 30 character wigs and more than ten props, some of which are commissioned orders for international customers.
“I first started playing video games like Valorant and League Of Legends in secondary school, and afterwards I saw all these people online cosplaying these super-interesting-looking game characters,” she said.
Realising how much commissioning good-quality cosplay wigs and props would cost, she decided to try making them on her own at the end of 2022.
She did this by watching online tutorials, speaking to other cosplayers at conventions and looking for cheap supplies online.
Her mother, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Lim, has been supportive of her decision to pursue an unconventional path.
“I’m proud of Elise and generally supportive of her love for crafting... My main concern is her frequent exposure to chemicals when making wigs, and I hope she takes care to protect herself,” said the 52-year-old, who did not want to reveal her occupation.
Elise’s father died when she was younger. She is an only child.
When The Straits Times visited Elise’s work studio in her attic in April, more than five bright blue wigs were displayed on her work table.
Equipped with a sewing machine and other tools, the room was also filled with various props she has made over the years.
These include a one-metre-long shark-inspired rocket launcher and machine gun based on the ones belonging to the Arcane character, Jinx. The Arcane series is a science-fantasy show based on the League Of Legends game. Some other works-in-progress include a crochet top for a small crafting online business she runs and a drill-curl hairstyle wig for a League Of Legends character, Gwen.
Her costume accessories and props are made with materials including ethylene-vinyl acetate foam and recycled materials such as cardboard tubes from online shopping platforms like Taobao where supplies are cheaper.
When she is in a rush, she buys her materials from Chinatown.
Sitting on a stool, Elise showed ST how she makes a wig – starting with a pre-coloured base wig bought online and trimming the synthetic hair to the desired length, keeping any excess hair for future use.
A base wig is an unstyled wig that can be easily cut, coloured and styled to match a character’s specific hairstyle. Afterwards, she works on putting together an internal structure for the wig depending on the hairstyle needed.
“I first started styling my wigs on soft toys, and after that I realised I should invest in a mannequin head,” she recalled with a laugh.
“It’s very time-consuming – you have to work slowly because the glue needs time to dry, but it’s very easy to be impatient and want to move on to the next step,” she said, adding that the longest time she took to make a wig was 60 hours.
“This is skilled labour, so I had to practise and learn, and train. And the cost of living in Singapore is also high, so I think my price is quite justified,” she said.
People often reach out to her asking if she can make specific props, but she has difficulty putting a reasonable price on some of them as she has spent up to 90 hours making some, she added.
Her goal in the long term is to open an independent commissioning studio with one of her cosplay friends, Jade Tang, 21. “We both get commission requests sometimes, so we think that if we continue to develop our skills, this is something we can do in the long run,” said Elise, who will graduate from polytechnic in a year.
The polytechnic course curriculum aligns more with her interests, as she has more freedom to be creative and put her own personality into her works.
“It’s more fruitful because the skills that I’ve learnt are more tangible. At the end of each module, you would have a very clear idea of what you gained from it,” Elise said.
After graduating, she plans to take a gap year to enrol in short courses related to making clothes. She is also exploring studying costume design at an arts university in China, Belgium or Italy.
“I want to go to an art university, so if I stayed in JC, my focus would be split between academics and the arts, and I would have come out the other end with nothing good. I would have no good academics or a good portfolio, and also wasted two years, so I switched to TP.”
Speak to teachers, parents and others in the field before making decisions – this is Elise’s advice to young people wondering whether they should follow their dreams, including those out of the ordinary.
“If they are confident they can earn (money) and have done research in their field, then there’s nothing wrong with doing something a bit more unconventional,” she said. - The Straits Times/ANN
