House Halloween Costume Ideas: Dr. James Wilson

On Fox's House, one of the most popular characters is Dr. James Wilson, who is portrayed by Tony Award-winning actor Robert Sean Leonard. We might Wilson consider the yin to Gregory House's yang. Or, as Dr. House himself put it, "A buddy of mine people say, 'Thank you' to when he tells them they're dying." Though with the start of Season 5 we learn that Dr. Wilson is planning on leaving the hospital where he and House work together, it seems pretty safe to say that Wilson is an irreplaceable part of the House family.

This year, consider putting together your own House costume in honor of Dr. Wilson. While Wilson's dress on the show is pretty simple-actually, very simple-there are a few little extra touches you can add to jazz things up a bit.

For the basics of your costume, borrow, buy, or unpack your own pair of brown dress pants, a nice blue dress shirt, and a pair of brown dress shoes. You'll also need a striped tie, which is a staple of Dr. Wilson's wardrobe. Actually, just about any nice dress shirt, slacks, and tie would work. Wilson is a nice dresser; he's also known to wear some nice sweater vests with solid colored ties, and while lounging out a few sweatshirts. If you can find a McGill University, Columbia University, or University of Pennsylvania sweatshirt, you could go as a dressed-down Wilson, as all three are the character's alma maters.

The final basic of your costume, and an optional item, is a white doctor's jacket. Wilson is usually seen in his office, or elsewhere around the hospital, without the doctor's jacket, so it's up to you whether or not you choose to wear one. You can pretty easily find one at a thrift store, possible a discount store like Wal-Mart, or you could just steal one from a hospital . . . they'll never miss it. (Just kidding.) Just as rarely, Dr. Wilson is seen in traditional doctor's scrubs; if you're feeling lazy, you could always go with a pair of these (though few people would likely connect you with Dr. Wilson if you chose to go with this costume option).

Now come the little touches. One small touch that Dr. Wilson is often seen with on the show is a clipboard. You can carry your clipboard around with a "note" from "House"; something sarcastic and witty would be nice, even a quote from the show. Make sure you show off the "note" or message to anyone and everyone you see, asking them if they've seen Gregory House because you'd like to respond to the message.

There are a few other little touches you can consider. Get a "Hi, My Name is" sticker, and write "House's Only Friend" where your name should be. You can also carry around an empty pill bottle; tell other party guests you stole House's pills, or are looking for him to find out where the pills went. A final idea is to carry around a fake organ. Find a nice fake heart and carry it around with you throughout the evening. If anyone asks about it, just reply, "I'm looking for House . . . he dropped this a few years ago."