Albus Dumbledore Halloween Costume Idea for Adults

Halloween is once again right around the corner and it's time to think about who you'll be this year. If you're a fan of the Harry Potter books written by J. K. Rowling and the movies that have been based on the books, then your choice will no doubt easily be narrowed down to one of the characters from the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There are numerous characters to choose from, all of them very interesting and fun in their own ways. Why not choose to dress as master wizard of Hogwarts and Harry's mentor, Albus Dumbledore? If you've seen the latest movie, you know what happens to Dumbledore so choosing an Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume is all the more bittersweet.

Once you've chosen to dress in an Albus Dumbledore costume for Halloween, you'll need to start putting together your costume right away. With an Albus Dumbledore costume, you can choose to dress as either the first Albus Dumbledore who was played by Richard Harris in the first two Harry Potter movies. Or, you can choose to dress as the current Albus Dumbledore played by Sir Michael Gambon since Richard Harris' death in 2002. For the purpose of this article, I will be detailing an Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume that is based on the current character from the Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Sir Michael Gambon.

Before you begin creating your Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume, you will need to find pictures of the character. You can find many images of Dumbledore with any online search engine such as Google. One picture I used in creating the Dumbledore costume is here though you may choose any Dumbledore picture to base your costume on and work from.

Here is a list of the items you will need for your Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume: small hat with tassel, long bushy hair, long bushy beard, (all hair should be a grayish color though not completely white), small wire frame glasses (gold or brass color), a twelve inch length of branch cut from a tree (leaves removed and about the thickness of your index finger), a length of rope cording, a long tunic/night gown that reaches the floor, long robe that reaches the floor, comfortable slippers or shoes in a color that coordinates with the color of your robes.

The items I've listed above are for a basic Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume. The long tunic and robe for the costume will require a little creativity. By looking at the pictures of Dumbledore, he is wearing what appears to be a long night gown and a robe. You can create the look of Dumbledore's robes by layering a combination of a women's night gown (or a tunic) and robe. This is the least expensive option for creating your Dumbledore costume. The Woman Within website sells long night gowns and robes in different colors that may work for your Dumbledore costume. One lounger in gray here would work as a first layer. A brown lounger here which has embroidered accents would also work as a layer of your costume. Add a robe on top of your tunic leaving it open somewhat and then tie it around the middle with the robe's belt.

You can also buy a Halloween costume and use parts of it for your Dumbledore costume. This is the most expensive choice but if you have the budget, your costume will be easier to make. The brown mystic sorcerer costume robes here or the Lord of the Rings Gandalf costume here or the Purple wizard costume here can easily be adapted and used for your Albus Dumbledore robes.

A long grayish wig and beard can be adapted if it is not quite right when you buy it. The long white wig and beard here is a little too white for a Dumbledore costume but if you soak it or streak it with tea bags, it will tone down the white and add some color to the hair to give it a more natural look. Then you take your length of cord and tie it around the beard to give it the Dumbledore look. Or if you prefer the easy way to complete your costume, you can buy the Dumbledore with hat mask that is available at the WB Shop for $49.95 here.

If you have craft skills and you enjoy making things, you can create your own small Dumbledore hat using felt, a tassel, cardboard, needle, thread, scissors and fabric glue. You will need about one fourth of a yard of gray and also yellow felt, a small tassel, and a few pieces of scrap cardboard that you can cut and shape to the size of your head, scissors and fabric glue to put it all together. Take a piece of cardboard that is long enough to go around your head and attach it end to end. It should be about four inches wide. Cut a piece of gray felt to loosely cover the empty top of your cardboard hat form and clue it on the top. Cut a piece of gray felt to fit around your cardboard hat form (and over the edges of the piece you just glued to the top) and glue in place. Take a few small scraps of felt and cover them with a circular piece of felt to create a "button" to sew to the top of the Dumbledore hat. Sew the felt circle to keep the scraps inside and then sew it to the top of the middle of the hat with the tassel hanging from the edge of your new felt "button." Cut a strip of yellow felt that is about one and a half inches tall, give it an uneven wave-like edge cut, make it as long as your felt cardboard hat and glue it to the bottom of the circular felt cardboard piece. If this sounds like too much work, you can always buy an Albus Dumbledore hat from buycostumes.com for $22.99 here.

Accessories for your Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume add an extra touch of authenticity so you will want to add the glasses and the wand. You can find inexpensive wire rimmed glasses at a Halloween store for less than $5.00 such as the pair at Halloweenstreet.com here. And most of us either have a tree in our yard or know someone who does so you should be able to make Dumbledore's wand for free by carefully cutting off a small branch and cutting off the twigs and leaves. You can use sandpaper on your new branch/wand if there are any sharp points. Optional accessories that you can add would be a thick silver or pewter colored chain necklace and a couple of rings for your fingers.

Once your costume pieces are together, you can dress in your Albus Dumbledore Halloween costume and show everyone what a big Harry Potter fan you are. If you got together with a few friends, you could plan to go as a group with each person wearing a different Harry Potter character costume. Perhaps there would even be an award in it for your group.