When you say latex as the alternative to balaclava, are you referring to glue-on prosthetics? My personal recommendation would be for the fabric-backed balaclava mask; an all-over latex balaclava is a very soggy affair between trapped sweat and exhaled moisture (tampons placed in nose cavities are both common and clever). Prosthetics have the same problem in the places they’re glued to, take more time to put on and there’s always the possibility (however slim, it’s enough to bother me personally) that one’s face might fall off mid-battle.
I think it’s worth considering what you’re aiming for too - would you like to wear the face comfortably beyond a couple of hours of monstering, do you want your NPC orc to have long hair and would you prefer to have your own hair be part of the look?
If you can get to a larp kit fair (or multiple) during the long dark, I would suggest trying on a few masks for fit if the vendor is allowing such and see what you like.
Depending on how much hair you have, a balaclava mask may well stretch over it were you to coil it, put in a bun, use a hair net or something similar. How your PC wears their hair could also influence what you choose to do.
Geoffrey’s suggestion of the button hole opening is a good one - in theory one could go further and make a lattice of the back of the balaclava and pull natural hair through in layers, though all the reinforcing required might take a lot of stretch away from the fabric, which could affect fit/comfort. That would actually be one advantage of an all-latex full head mask, as the ones I’ve seen/worn wouldn’t have needed reinforcement for a lattice work if sharp-cornered cuts were avoided.
If you wanted to get fancy, you could look at sewing fake hair through the scalp of the mask around any hole(s) to feed your own locks through, so as to blend it in. That sort of addition would probably benefit from having some latex brushed onto the inside of the balaclava before implanting hair, for the sake of strength and also making it harder for hair to fall out.
There’s also the option to add a hairstyle to a mask, entirely separate from your own hair. My impression is that a fair number of imperial orcs have added woolen braids/locks for their characters. Attaching a wig to a balaclava mask and styling that would be another approach. One advantage of a wig is that it would cover up any alterations made to the back of the balaclava to improve the fit. I can imagine it getting rather warm under long hair, a mask and then wig on top however.
Sounds like a great project for the long dark, whatever you decide to do! The photographers are sure to have masses of orc images from over the years so the break is also a good opportunity/excuse to go trawling through for inspiration. I hope you’ll share what you decide to do and would love to see the results of any customising!
