How to Make an Elvis Costume for Kids From Things Around the House
Your child will be "dancin' to the jailhouse rock!" in no time with this Elvis costume. Because Elvis enjoyed fame for several decades, it's easy to choose an instantly-recognizable, yet simply rendered costume from one of his early movies or stage appearances. "Jailhouse Rock," released in 1957, was Elvis Presley's third film. In it he portrayed Vince Everett, an ex-con who was trying to break into the music industry. Presley's famous dance sequence from the film has been credited by many historians as the first-ever music video. So, scour your closets, chests and drawers for the necessary ingredients, and remember to be flexible.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Black jacket, black coat or over-sized black shirt
- Black pants or jeans
- Tailor's chalk, chalk, or a white fabric marking pen
- White fabric or paper
- Scissors
- Glue or iron-on fusible webbing
- Bold striped T-shirt or button-down shirt
- White or light-colored socks
- Black shoes
- Hair gel, styling mousse or petroleum jelly
- Eyebrow pencil
- Guitar
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1
Illustration A
Use the tailor's chalk, chalk or white fabric marker, to make white dashes along the indicated seams and areas on the black coat, men's dress jacket, or over-sized black shirt as noted on Illustration A.
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2
Repeat the above step using the chalk to make dashes on the zipper fly of the black jeans or slacks.
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3
Trace or draw the numbers "6240" on a piece of white fabric or white paper. Cut out the numbers with a pair of scissors.
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4
Glue, stitch or iron on the numbers to the upper left jacket or shirt pocket. If there is no pocket, place the numbers in the area where the pocket should be.
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5
Dress the child in the basic costume--the black jacket, black pants (preferably a size too small), a bold striped T-shirt or button-down shirt, white or light-colored socks and black shoes.
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6
Apply hair gel, mousse or even a dab of petroleum jelly to the child's hair to create that famous slicked-back, Elvis look.
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7
Take the eyebrow pencil and draw modest sideburns on your child's face--Elvis's sideburns didn't become longer and more elaborate until the 1970s. Use your finger to fill in and blend the sideburns.
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8
Complete the look with an old guitar if you have one, or possibly a guitar used in popular video game systems.
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- Photo Credit Illustration by Mary Osborne
