Hello There,
I've got a real special post for you today; I'm going to highlight one of my earliest inspirations both in terms of gender non-conformity and a love for princesses! I'm of course talking about Richard Schaefer (also known as Richard Arthur), known formally online by the handle @theofficialariel. For years online Richard was the queen of makeup transformations from regular guy to graceful princesses, and had an extremely successful Instagram page. Richard's fame was international and caught the attention of news outlets all over the world!
During my early days of dressing I used to regularly check Richard's Instagram to see all his amazing new pictures. His cultural impact on cosplay and love for a Disney Princesses despite his gender, were both hugely impactful on me during my formative years. For his own mental wellbeing Richard has recently taken a break from social media, and I certainly can't blame him. So although there's no new princess photos to share I thought I'd share some of my faves! I figure we go princess to princess so we can chronical all of Richard's incredible transformations, and there's only one correct princess to start with!
Ariel
Aurora
Belle
.jpg)
.jpg)
Cinderella
Snow White
Rapunzel
Anna & Elsa
Giselle
Elena of Avalor
Even More Princesses!
Those were all some pretty impressive Disney Princess transformations, am I right?! Richard is an absolute chameleon, when it comes to makeup and always seemed to capture the princess he was cosplaying perfectly! But in all honesty it's not the impressive makeup, glamorous wigs, or gorgeous dresses that I'll miss most about Richard's absence from social media, it's his humor. Richard always found time to be funny or silly on his social media accounts. It was a wonderful breath of fresh air that Richard didn't take himself too seriously, and always found time to have some fun!
One last thing from Richard I want to highlight is his Dapper Day look. For those of you that don't know Dapper Day is an unofficial event at Disney where guests dress up in very "dapper" outfits, and spend the day enjoying either Disney World or Disneyland. It has become quite a popular event in recent years, and I have even gone myself (as a guy unfortunately). It was actually Richard who first inspired me to try dapper day out with his absolutely incredible Dapper Day look. Here Richard proved beyond a doubt that he could effortlessly capture everything wonderful about femininity, and he looked absolutely gorgeous!
Well there you have it my tribute to Richard, who remains by far the best Crossplayer I have ever seen. I have always been so inspired by Richard and his talents, so many of my formative years were spent drawing inspiration from him. I hope he is still doing well and continuing to enjoy all the fun femininity has to offer!
-Carly