December is upon us and it’s time to jump into some Santa costume planning for your holiday partying adventures!

In a post shortly before Halloween, I went over how to research, plan and execute a costume, so I won’t go into too much detail on that. This post will concentrate more on the end results and some Santa-specific considerations.

Research – online and in real life

Online and real-life research are both good options. Santa hats come in many different sizes so being able to try them on at Party City is a pretty good idea. And you don’t have to wait on delivery!

Here’s what you might find on Amazon if you do a search for “ladies Santa costume.” Following that is Party City and Target. At this point you’re seeing what the options are and noting what items you might like to combine into a costume all your own.

 

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Plan your costume

Now it’s time to narrow down your options and come up with some complete outfits and see how they might fit with stuff you already have.

If you have some non-Santa costumes that you’d like to add a Santa twist to, that’s a great jumping off point. Bonus points if it’s red.

If you have some costumy items (corsets, tutus) that could be made into a Santa outfit with the addition of a Santa hat and some black boots, keep those handy. I get most of my corsets from eBay and tutus from Amazon and brick and mortar stores. Etsy is also one of my go-to sites, but things can be a little pricy so I limit my purchases from there.

For my costumes, I like to play with color. It’s a good thing Santa hats come in a variety of colors and patterns. My take on alternate color Santa costumes:

• a traditional red and white with red and black faux fur coat
• silver and white
• red and black

As a alternative to playing with color, you can build off of other costume themes like pirate, zombie, steampunk, animal prints, etc. For this post I put together:

• a steampunk-inspired costume
• a circus-inspired striped costume

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Santa costume ideas

Red and white Santa costume

• white lace long-sleeve top with white corset
• short red tutu over a longer white tutu (fairy lights pinned to red tutu for night-time glow!)
• red and black faux fur crop jacket (with lights attached)
• dark red hat with hanging ball
• black boots
• red and white striped socks with white faux fur cuffs (the cuff is the important part here as it will show above the top of the boots)
• red rhinestone necklace and red bracelets

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Silver and white Santa costume

• white corset with silver sequins
• silver stretch skirt
• white faux fur crop jacket
• silver sequin Santa hat
• black boots
• red and white striped socks with white faux fur cuffs (the cuff is the important part here as it will show above the top of the boots)
• rhinestone necklace and red bracelets

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Red and black Santa costume

• red and black striped corset
• short red lacy tutu over a longe black tutu
• red and black faux fur crop jacket (with lights attached)
• red and zebra pattern Santa hat
• black boots
• red and white striped socks with white faux fur cuffs (the cuff is the important part here as it will show above the top of the boots)
• red rhinestone necklace and red bracelets

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Steampunk-inspired Santa costume

• red and black patterned and striped corset with decorative latches
• black leggings
• shell and coin velcro belt (from Etsy)
• black short-sleeve faux fur crop jacket
• dark red hat with hanging ball
• black boots
• red and white striped socks with white faux fur cuffs (the cuff is the important part here as it will show above the top of the boots)
• red rhinestone necklace and red bracelets
• brown faux leather fingerless gloves

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Circus inspired Santa costume

• Black and white striped corset with ruffle on top and bottom
• black and white knit pants with ruffles at the ankle
• red and black faux fur crop jacket (with lights attached)
• white Santa hat with silver sequin snowflakes
• black boots
• red and white striped socks with white faux fur cuffs (the cuff is the important part here as it will show above the top of the boots)
• rhinestone necklace and red bracelets

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Santa costume considerations

Footwear

If you’re going to be standing or walking in your costume, skip the cute shoes and the silver sequin high heel boots (I love mine, but they are not practical). If flat black boots are good enough for Santa, they are good enough for you.

You’ll also notice I’m a big fan of the red and white striped socks because they have a white fur cuff that pokes out perfectly over the top of the boots. This may be my favorite accessory.

Weather

If you’re going to be outside in the cold, think about layering. You can add tights under the tutus. You can add a long-sleeve tee under the corsets. Hats and faux fur coats will help keep you warm.

Lights!

To add a little custom flair, I like to add battery-operated fairy lights to my costume pieces. You can put the battery pack in a baby sock and safety pin it inside the neck of your coat and safety pin the lights down the arms and across the back of the coat.

On a tutu you can safety pin the baby sock with battery pack to the inside of the elastic band on the side of the tutu, then down that side and pin to the underside of the hem around the front of the skirt.

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Try on your costume before you need to wear it

Gather your pieces and try everything on, yes everything; tweak and revise as needed; document the final outfit, on and off of you.

I gather all my pieces and put it all on. I try to take a picture in a full length mirror partly for my own documentation and partly to see how it looks from a little distance.

After I take the costume off I shoot it on a 30” X 40” foam core board. I find that documenting what all is included in a single costume is great to refer to when I am putting it on “for real” so I don’t forget anything. It’s often a stressful time crunch and having something to refer to helps me maintain my zen.

Have fun!

When the occasion arrives, put on your costume, look fabulous and have fun!

And hopefully you’ll have someone other than you take your photo to document your fabulousness.

I will leave you with 2 valuable tips:

1. Don’t wait until the last minute to start planning your costume. Give yourself 2-3 weeks if you can. eBay purchases from China can take a while to ship. Not everything is Amazon Prime. If you want to visit some brick and mortar stores, that takes time too.
2. Don’t buy a canned costume from Amazon or Party City. They’re usually cheaply made (but cost $30-50) and you won’t be the only one wearing it. If you spend a little time combining costuming basics that you may or may not already have with some accessories, you’ll end up with a completely unique and perfect-for-you costume.

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Do you have a favorite winter costume? Or are you the type that wears an Easter Bunny costume to a Santa gathering?!? Comment below with your favorite costume hack or trick you’d like to share.