People wearing them will make it "normal" to do so. We just need enough people who don't give a shit what people think of them to get us started. I'm a fairly large dude, so that helps. A couple of punks aren't going to come up and punch me in the head for wearing one.
See if you can find a couple of Merv 13 air filters and sew in a pocket that will fit a strip of the filter... just make sure it's big enough to cover some of the cheek and chin, and fit as tightly as possible. Those could make decent N95-ish masks if you figure out a good design. A paper clip could function as a nose mold if you can wrangle it...they might be a little stiff.
Be safe.
spez: that's an Amazon link to an example of a merv 13 filter
I cut apart a spare HEPA filter I had for a freestanding unit. You can just find a cheap one on amazon to cut apart.
It's not HEPA grade, but look for MERV 13 furnace filters. HEPA is around 17 to 20 on the MERV scale. There are MERV 16 furnace filters but they're really expensive, like $150+. 13 is better than plain cloth though.