Sometimes secret agents and military operatives have to go under deep cover to get the intel they’re after or rescue someone. It may be easy enough to go by a different name or make up a new history for yourself but your face could give you away. The way you look is one of the simplest methods of identifying you and just as guerrillas use camouflage when they’re trekking through the jungle on a covert mission, you have to find a way to change your appearance so you blend in.
It’s not all about disappearing into the leaves and trees. Sometimes you need to be invisible in a group of tech geeks or steampunk gamers. It’s all about knowing your scenery and becoming part of it.
Imagine that you need to get someone to let you into a place without being recognized. Maybe you have to access a double agent by gaining admission to an exclusive, fancy party or perhaps a dangerous assassin is hiding out at an orthodontists’ conference and you need to be able to pass as a dentist to get in. The way you look can keep people from asking you too many questions. If you’re dressed like you belong someplace, you can get away with more. It’s harder to sneak around when you stand out. Wearing jeans or sweats in the lobby of an expensive hotel is a sure way to get questioned and even asked to leave because you’re just loitering. If you’re dressed nicer and look like you have a purpose there, whether it’s finding Conference Room B or using the house phone to call a room, you have a better chance of getting away with it.
Look around and find what resources you have to make a convincing disguise. We’re not talking some pirate costume for Halloween, but something realistic that people would actually wear to blend in without being recognized. Change your hair, make yourself look older or younger. Learn the tricks to make you a special operative master of disguise.
Check out the old clothes in your family’s donation bag or in the dress-up box. Ask if you can raid your brother or sister’s closet for some old stuff to use. And don’t be hung up on gender roles. It could be really useful to dress up like a girl if you’re a boy or pretend to be male if you’re female. So find stuff that’s close to fitting (you’re not trying out for the part of a hobo in the school play) and put together a convincing ensemble. Choose your character and transform yourself into a surfer or a Goth or a bookworm.
Enlist a friend to help out and set up your base of operations. You’ll need a space with good lighting, near a window if possible to show what you’d look like in natural light outside, a table or counter where you can spread out your make-up supplies and hair stuff like stick on beards, and your tablet or phone to take pictures. You’ll let your friend pick you out an outfit and add freckles or scars or a mustache to change your face and slick back your hair or mess it up according to whom you’re supposed to be. Once you’ve refined your new look, have you pal take a few snaps of you in disguise and post them or tweet them to see if anyone can identify who you really are. Then switch seats and make over your friend for a deep cover mission.
