Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Ideas for Adults

There are many different homemade Halloween costumes you could make from movie The Wizard of Oz. Wizard of Oz costumes aren't necessarily expensive to make, but you will need to exercise your creativity and start a month or two ahead of time to complete more complex costumes such as the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. To make these costumes as similar to the movie costumes as possible, refer to pictures from The Wizard of Oz while you work.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Dorothy

Find a white short sleeved button down shirt with puffy sleeves. Then get a knee-length blue gingham dress with 2 inch wide shoulder straps. Get some white ankle socks and sparkly red pumps or high heels to serve as ruby slippers. If you can't find these, spread glue on a pair of shoes and sprinkle them with red glitter. Add a small rectangular picnic basket. Make your Dorothy Wizard of Oz Halloween costume complete by curling your hair, parting it in the middle, then braiding the strands and binding them high up with pony tail holders and blue ribbons. You could also wear a long brown wig with this costume.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Cowardly Lion

Get a tan velour sweatsuit or jumpsuit. Then buy some brown faux fur material. Make some of the fur into a hood to cover your head. Sew, hot glue or pin this to the neckline of the velour suit. Make two lion's ears from semi-circles of cardboard. Cover them with tan fabric and sew them onto the furry hood. Attach some of the fur fabric to the ends of the sleeves and the pant legs. Get a tan piece of fabric that's about 6 inches wide and 4 feet long to make the Cowardly Lion's tail. Fold it in half with the reverse side facing outward and sew along the edge and end. Turn the fabric right-side out and stuff the lion's tail with batting. Sew on a small piece of faux fur at the end of the tail. Paint your face with tan makeup. Then paint a black upside down triangle over your nose and draw some whiskers on your face with black eyeliner pencil.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Scarecrow

Find a dark blue sweatshirt and pair of brown sweatpants that are a size or two too big. There should be no gathers at the ends of the sleeves or legs. Also get a tall pointed hat with a large brim, white gloves, brown slippers, tan burlap, straw, rope and raffia. Cut some round patches out of some old brown clothing and sew them onto the sweatpants in several different places. Make a rounded collar and hood out of the burlap and sew or hot glue some rope to the neck area. Hot glue some straw to the inside of ends of the sweatsuit sleeves and legs and the hat. Glue raffia around the base of the hat. Apply tan makeup that matches the color of the burlap to your face. Then paint your entire nose brown. After you've put the costume on, tie your waist, wrists and ankles with rope. To make your Wizard of Oz Scarecrow costume complete, put the burlap collar on over the sweatshirt.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Tin Man

Find a gray sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. Buy several sheets of silver metallic poster board. If you can't find silver poster board, buy white poster board and spray paint it silver. Cut the cardboard to make pieces that will wrap around your torso, upper and lower arms, elbows and upper and lower legs and knees. Make another silver piece to cover the hip area. Fashion some overlapping curved pieces of poster board for the shoulders and a make a cover and collar for the torso section of the costume. Hot glue these together on top of the torso section of the Tin Man costume. Also make a small flat bow tie from cardboard, paint it silver and attach it to the front of the collar.

Get a large package of silver-colored paper fastening brads. Punch holes in the silver poster board and use the brads to fasten the seam of the Wizard of Oz Tin Man costume pieces. Find a large tin funnel or paint a plastic funnel silver. Punch holes in the sides and attach a string to hold the funnel on your head. Also spray paint some rubber gloves and old shoes with silver paint. Paint your face with silver makeup before putting on the Tin Man costume. Put the sweatsuit on first, then put on the poster board pieces. Put on the torso section so that the paper fasteners run down the middle of your chest. Then put on the other pieces, attaching them to the sweatsuit if necessary. To finish your Tin Man Halloween costume, wear a small clock on a chain with a red heart frame.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Glinda the Good Witch of the North

Find a full-length pink formal dress with a chiffon skirt and large puffy chiffon and tulle sleeves. To make your Glinda the Good Witch costume look more authentic to The Wizard of Oz movie, get a hoop skirt to go underneath the dress. Sew silver applique stars on the skirt, bodice and sleeves at random points, or use silver fabric paint or glitter glue to paint the stars on. Make a tall conical crown with royal crest emblems at the top. Spray paint the Glinda crown metallic pink or apply pink metallic lame fabric. Get a long metal rod or spray paint a long wooden dowel silver. Make a five-pointed star from cardboard. Hot glue some silver metallic beads and clear plastic jewels to the star, then attach it to the rod or wooden dowel. Wear a long red curly wig if your hair isn't red.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West

Get a long sleeved full length black dress or black shirt and skirt. Make a tall witch's hat with a very wide brim from black poster board. Measure the circumference of your head. Find the radius of the circle by dividing the circumference by pi (approximately 3.142) to get the diameter, then divide the diameter in half to get the radius. Attach a string that's the length of the radius to two pencils. Make the center point on the poster board, then place one pencil at this center point and draw a circle on the poster board. Increase the length of the string between the two pencils until it equals the radius of the string you want for the hat brim and draw another circle with the same center point as the interior circle. Cut out the center circle with a craft blade over a cardboard covered work surface. Make the upper piece of the Wicked Witch of the West hat by rolling some poster board into a conical shape whose largest end is the same width as the interior circle, then cut it so that the cone overlaps itself slightly. Hot glue the overlap of the cone section, then hot glue the cone to the inside of the hat brim. Find an old straw broom or make one by tying straw to the end of a wooden pole. After putting on the Wicked Witch of the West costume, paint your hands and face with green makeup.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Flying Monkey

Get a gray sweatsuit, gloves and shoes. Make a Flying Monkey headpiece using gray faux fur fabric or a short gray wig. Find a gray or light blue short sleeved jacket. Sew or hot glue on white and red designs to match the pattern of the Flying Monkeys' jackets on the Wizard of Oz. Also make a hat with similar designs, if you like. Get a piece of gray fabric that is about 6 inches wide by 3 or 4 feet long. Turn it inside out and sew up the seam and end. Turn the fabric right side out, then stuff it to create a tail for the Flying Monkey costume. After putting on the costume, paint your face light blue and your lips bright red. Make some small wings by attaching gray feathers to an unbent wire coat hanger with hot glue. Attach the Flying Monkey wings to the back of the jacket with additional hot glue.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Costume Idea for Adults: Wizard

Get an old-fashioned single-breasted black suit with a long frock coat with tails and a dark gray waistcoat. Add a on a 19th century shirt with a separate starched collar and a long black tie which can be tied into a loose bow. If you can't find a cloth collar, make one from white paper or poster board. If your hair isn't gray, wear a short gray wig or use gray-colored hairspray. The Wizard costume would make a particularly good addition to a group Wizard of Oz costume.

To find more creative Halloween costume ideas, read Cheap and Easy Halloween Costume Ideas for Adults, Creative Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas for Adults and Funny Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas for Adults.

Sources:

Deb Russell, "Calculating the Area of Circles." About.com