Harry Potter has brought a great deal of delight to children throughout the decade. So if you are deciding to look the part for the premiere night, here are a few things we discovered on our journey to look just like the characters in the movie. Since time is running out there are several stores where you can purchase costumes, see these websites Buy Harry Potter Costumes and Halloween Costumes.
Personally, I like the imagination and the effort that goes into creating my own costume. So first, I need to pick my character. I chose Luna Lovegood because I love her randomness. The items here can really be used for any character using the appropriate house crests and colors. There are additional things you can add to any costume, but this is fun and not such a big task to do. This costume, minus the scarf and a robe I have already, will take me no more than an hour to get together. So if I want to dress like Luna, I often need only a few key things.
Ravenclaw scarves (Optional)
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These vary in color because of differences between the Harry Potter books and movies. The book colors for Ravenclaw scarves are bronze and dark blue. The movie colors for Ravenclaw replace the bronze with silver. You can buy them, but the scarves are easy to make (they are just blocks of the two colors knitted). I have seen these scarfs for purchase for $35, but they only seem to cost about $10 in material.
Main Costume
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You will need a white dress shirt. My favorite store of choice for costumes is Goodwil. They have a nice supply of white dress shirts when I visited there last. Then you will need a v-neck black or gray sweater, which will take you much more time to locate. You will also want to find a black or gray pleated skirt. Again, I was successful in finding that at Goodwill.
Then you may wish to get some iron on decals of the house crests (if you do not have that, the costume will still look fine). I just happened to have some left over from my son’s party. You will also need the knee-high socks, which are available at Target in a variety of colors. You can also just buy white and dye them.
House Tie
Start out with a dark blue tie. Use light blue or bronze fabric paint to add the lines on the tie. If you're using paint and a brush, use a ruler to help you make straight lines. A fabric pen works much easier in this case, and most fabric stores have them in many colors. Hobby Lobby has all of the house colors so you could make any house tie. Make two thick lines, then skip an inch and make a very thin line. Skip another inch and repeat this pattern.
Ravenclaw Robe (Optional)
As with the scarf, they are great eye catching extras, but your costume would look acceptable without it. There may be an old costume around that has a robe that would be acceptable. You can purchase them as well. Some of the ones I saw were around $80 (of course that was at Universal Studios). Below is a link with detailed directions on making a simple robe. I found the DIY Fashion website helpful.
Wands
As I have discussed in a different article, I bought dowels for live seventeen cents cut them burned them and painted them. Character wands are also something you can purchase online and they are at some stores. My son and I happened to have some. And while I do not own a Luna, I feel confident using another wand will be OK.
Here is a great website that has idea further directions for most of the main characters in the Harry Potter movies.
