Costumes for Western-Theme Party

Series Summary

No matter how old one gets, there is nothing like the joy of dressing up in costume. Whether it's for a holiday, special event or party, people love the playful excitement of dressing up as someone else. There are literally thousands of costumes out there to buy; however, some people may not be willing to spend the extra cash for their playtime clothes. By learning how to assemble a homemade costume, create a unique look on a budget. In this free video series on costume fashion, a costume designer offers advice for assembling a variety of outfits for several occasions. Find out how to put together a western-themed costume, and learn to disguise a man as a woman. Discover how easy it is to make a grass skirt for a luau, a toga out of a sheet and a sarong for a beach party. Get creative, assembling pieces from a wardrobe to make a stunning costume, using this helpful dress-up guide.

Video Transcript

"Costumes for western theme parties. Well when you think of western I think right away you think of a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and of course if you have that in your closet, then you're halfway there. Some jeans, some kind of underneath shirt, dress shirt, any of those would work and you're really good and set to go. Other looks though and ideas for western is a little bit of what Justin is sporting here, this is a little bit on the Billy the Kid side using the bowler and I always like to use bowlers for western looks, it's a very good western look that is fun to bring out and often you find bowlers in your closet stashed away from some other kind of event that you use. So bring those out if you don't have the cowboy hat because that makes a great alternative. As well there is riverboat gambler style hats, very much like Doc Holliday wore, of course any kind of Tombstone look usually just sports a regular cowboy hat but definitely that riverboat gambler's dedicated to the Doc Holliday's out there. Now just an easy thing Justin has an undershirt here, the long john style, this is a great way to go. Any shade for the most part, blues, grays, browns, a striped print you can even go. This is a great alternative to having a traditional bib front western shirt which is what you would have seen back then. The bib fronts are the ones with the buttons around the front very much look like a little bib. So you have one of those, definitely a good way to go. Of course you could put a vest on this, leather or a striped fabric, and that is a good look for a cowboy as well. Also you can add a neck scarf here, some red or blue bandanna, something that they would have kept the dust off. And speaking of dust, a long trench of course is great. Bad long duster if you happen to own one of those, that's a great thing to add as well. And of course finishing it off if you don't have the jeans, you're going to want to do some kind of striped pants. These are great authentic striped pant jean style from that time period but you could use a dress slack with a pinstripe stripe in it or a double stripe is OK as well. Just keep that to your grays, blues, browns family so that you're not doing anything too modern and your more natural fabrics would be better choice then over a poly blend or something like that. So try to keep that in mind. But most of all just doing something stripy definitely versus sweatpants or something like that would be a better option for your cowboy. Of course cowboy boots with some spurs are going to go a long way. If you don't have cowboy boots then a half boot or a boot like looking shoe would work as well. So try to keep those in mind. Justin could very easily with his long hair take it to a cowboy side with a little bit of Indian flair in it we could easily braid up his hair and put some feathers in it, you could also throw some moccasins on his feet versus a cowboy boot and give yourself kind of a cowboy Indian blend that you very often saw. Ponchos are very good to add to that as well. You could do the bandito valero style versus the cowboy gun and belt. But the cowboy gun and belt is definitely a nice effect here. If you can't pull something like that off, maybe you can get a hold of some kind of shotgun look. Bring in the weapons as a cowboy is kind of an essential thing. If you cannot or are not allowed to for your party, then I would highly suggest a cigar and whether you smoke or not, do some gnawing off, burn it down, look like you've been smoking it. Maybe a bottle of whiskey to kind of give you that cowboy recreational look. So those are all good ideas for costumes for a western themed party."