A couple who loves 'Harry Potter' modeled 100 years of Hogwarts fashion on TikTok, and even J.K. Rowling approves
- Michael and Hayley Burson are lifelong "Harry Potter" fanatics, and they even host a podcast in honor of the series.
- The Bursons often do "Harry Potter" cosplays, with Michael often sewing costumes for them.
- The duo recently posted two TikToks in which they modeled what they thought fashion at Hogwarts would look like over the last 100 years.
- J.K. Rowling retweeted one of the TikToks on Twitter, telling her followers she laughed out loud at the video.
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"Harry Potter" quite literally brought Michael and Hayley Burson together.
The couple, who have been married for seven years, met in college after Michael started a "Harry Potter" club that Hayley joined. They've been together ever since.
"'Harry Potter' has been a huge influence in our relationship," Hayley, 31, said of herself and her husband, 29.
The Bursons have been doing 'Harry Potter' cosplays together since 2016
"It's been a huge hobby for us," Hayley told Insider of "Harry Potter" cosplays.
It's easy for the couple to dress up because Michael is good at sewing — his cosplay handles are aptly named "thewizardtailor" — so he often makes costumes for them.
The Bursons go to conventions in their wizard cosplay, and they post their looks on their social media accounts frequently.
The couple also hosts a podcast about "Harry Potter" with two of their friends, discussing the magical world J.K. Rowling created.
The couple recently got the idea to model 100 years of Hogwarts fashion
"It was just a quarantine idea," Hayley said of the concept. "We just accumulated a lot of 'Harry Potter' clothes, especially Michael."
"Fashion history has always been a big interest for both of us, so it just kind of fit into it," she added.
Hayley used pieces she already had to put together 10 ensembles to represent Hogwarts fashion from the 1920s to the 2020s, and she posted a compilation of the looks on TikTok.
The next day, she posted a follow-up TikTok starring Michael, in which he modeled men's Hogwarts fashion for the same period.
Both videos took about three hours to make.
Neither Hayley nor Michael had to buy anything for their cosplays, as they already had all they needed at home.
Michael also made the capes he wore for the looks from the '60s and '70s, which were both of the Bursons' favorite outfits of all the looks they modeled.
Both videos received thousands of views, but the video of Michael quickly went viral, having close to 1 million views at the time of writing.
The TikTok of Michael was shared around the world
The couple told Insider a news outlet in South Africa featured their video.
"It was like a fashion show just for us, and then we enjoyed it and I guess other people did, which was really cool," Hayley said of the attention the video received.
But the most exciting viewer was J.K. Rowling herself, who retweeted the TikTok when it was shared on Twitter.
"I loled," Rowling wrote in her retweet.
The Bursons were shocked that Rowling saw the TikTok.
"We were watching TV, and then Michael clutched his chest and was like, 'J.K. Rowling's seen it,'" Hayley said of their reaction.
"It was an insanely cool moment," she added. "I was just floored."
The couple told Insider they plan to keep doing 'Harry Potter'-inspired cosplays
"It's just something that's always been a huge interest to me, especially thinking about 'Harry Potter' wizard clothing and thinking about what they wore," Hayley said.
"That's another reason I got into cosplay. I just wanted to wear cool wizarding clothes and so did Michael."
"It will just always be something we do," she added.
You can see a YouTube video of both of the Bursons' 100 years of Hogwarts looks here, and you can follow Hayley and Michael on Instagram.
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