Extimorous
Active Member
I don’t wear contacts, but I wear a lot of masks. This sometimes causes problems. I wanted to see if I could find a comfortable way to keep wearing masks while also being able to see. I thought I would share my observations with the group.
What you’ll need
A Goalie Mask
You can get these at most local costume shops. I got mine for $5. Most of the online retailers were in the eight to ten dollar range.
Foam or some other padding material
I had some left over from a costuming project, so I just used the bits I had sitting around.
Glue
Depending on how hard core you want to be about this, there are plenty gluing options available. Since this was just a project that popped up in my head, I used the super glue I had on hand.
Knife
To cut your padding material in to face friendly shapes.
Sharpie
For help in positioning pieces.
Tape
Double sided tape is ideal here, but I just used masking tape. I used this to test positioning and thickness of the pieces.
Step 1. Try it on
Once you have your materials collected, put on the Raider mask and see how it fits. Try this with and without your glasses. When trying it on with your glasses, be careful to only let it put a little pressure on the glasses. This will let you know where the impact points are. The first time I tried this, I was wearing my regular acetate frames underneath and I heard them creak under the pressure.
Step 2. Size your padding
While I was trying on the mask, I brought the pieces of padding I had cut and placed them in-between my face and the mask. The pieces I used were not thick enough, so they fell through the mask. After experimenting, I wound up altering the padding thickness. I doubled the thickness of the forehead piece, and tripled the thickness of the cheek pieces. I used masking tape to test out the double and triple thick pieces and taped them in places using the same method.
Step 3. The Forehead
I chose to start with the forehead as the first padding point. I knew that to have the mask pushed evenly away from my face, I would need at least three cushioned spots.
I put the double thickness padding and lined it up with the central contact point on the forehead. I glued it and allowed it to dry.
Please allow plenty of time for the glue fumes to dissipate. I neglected to do this and found myself awarded a brief headache for my lack of patience.
Step 4. Lower Anchor Points
After the glue had dried on the forehead cushion, I tried it one with my ‘sports’ glasses. The contact point on my forehead was fine, but the mask was still pressing down on my glasses.
I tried the same thickness of padding for my cheeks, but it was not thick enough to keep the mask from pushing in to my glasses. So, I pulled off the mask and made a test piece. The triple thickness appeared to do the trick. So, I glued the pieces together and moved them around under the mask. I did this until they were resting in a comfortable spot that kept the glasses and mask from rubbing up against each other.
I would need to remove the mask to glue everything down. So, I used a sharpie to mark the position of the padding.
After I pulled the mask off, I glued everything down and this time I left it plenty of time to dry.
Results and Observations
The mask totally works as intended. However, moving the mask further away from my face has given me a bit of tunnel vision. The further the mask moves from my face, the less I’ll be able to see. I accept that this is a limitation of the design. I’m happier narrower field of view instead of everything showing up blurry.
From the front, the dark spots under the mask are the only thing that indicates there has been any modifications to the mask. Seeing how any completed costume I wear will be carrying several layers of paint, this is not actually a bad thing.
From an angle, you can tell that the mask is not pressed up against my face. This should not be a problem, but it was worth noting.
Suggestions?
If anyone has any suggestions or tricks for wearing glasses with costumes, I’d love to hear them.
What you’ll need
A Goalie Mask
You can get these at most local costume shops. I got mine for $5. Most of the online retailers were in the eight to ten dollar range.
Foam or some other padding material
I had some left over from a costuming project, so I just used the bits I had sitting around.
Glue
Depending on how hard core you want to be about this, there are plenty gluing options available. Since this was just a project that popped up in my head, I used the super glue I had on hand.
Knife
To cut your padding material in to face friendly shapes.
Sharpie
For help in positioning pieces.
Tape
Double sided tape is ideal here, but I just used masking tape. I used this to test positioning and thickness of the pieces.
Step 1. Try it on
Once you have your materials collected, put on the Raider mask and see how it fits. Try this with and without your glasses. When trying it on with your glasses, be careful to only let it put a little pressure on the glasses. This will let you know where the impact points are. The first time I tried this, I was wearing my regular acetate frames underneath and I heard them creak under the pressure.
Step 2. Size your padding
While I was trying on the mask, I brought the pieces of padding I had cut and placed them in-between my face and the mask. The pieces I used were not thick enough, so they fell through the mask. After experimenting, I wound up altering the padding thickness. I doubled the thickness of the forehead piece, and tripled the thickness of the cheek pieces. I used masking tape to test out the double and triple thick pieces and taped them in places using the same method.
Step 3. The Forehead
I chose to start with the forehead as the first padding point. I knew that to have the mask pushed evenly away from my face, I would need at least three cushioned spots.
I put the double thickness padding and lined it up with the central contact point on the forehead. I glued it and allowed it to dry.
Please allow plenty of time for the glue fumes to dissipate. I neglected to do this and found myself awarded a brief headache for my lack of patience.
Step 4. Lower Anchor Points
After the glue had dried on the forehead cushion, I tried it one with my ‘sports’ glasses. The contact point on my forehead was fine, but the mask was still pressing down on my glasses.
I tried the same thickness of padding for my cheeks, but it was not thick enough to keep the mask from pushing in to my glasses. So, I pulled off the mask and made a test piece. The triple thickness appeared to do the trick. So, I glued the pieces together and moved them around under the mask. I did this until they were resting in a comfortable spot that kept the glasses and mask from rubbing up against each other.
I would need to remove the mask to glue everything down. So, I used a sharpie to mark the position of the padding.
After I pulled the mask off, I glued everything down and this time I left it plenty of time to dry.
Results and Observations
The mask totally works as intended. However, moving the mask further away from my face has given me a bit of tunnel vision. The further the mask moves from my face, the less I’ll be able to see. I accept that this is a limitation of the design. I’m happier narrower field of view instead of everything showing up blurry.
From the front, the dark spots under the mask are the only thing that indicates there has been any modifications to the mask. Seeing how any completed costume I wear will be carrying several layers of paint, this is not actually a bad thing.
From an angle, you can tell that the mask is not pressed up against my face. This should not be a problem, but it was worth noting.
Suggestions?
If anyone has any suggestions or tricks for wearing glasses with costumes, I’d love to hear them.
