Make me a cheap wizard

July 6, 2007 8:23 PM

So I want to indulge my inner child by waiting in line at midnight to buy the new Harry Potter book. Yeah, that's right--I fully intend to knock innocent children over to get to the front of the line when the doors open. How can I dress up as a wizard for less than 10-20 bucks?

I don't care if my costume looks shitty. Looking like Harry Potter on welfare is perfectly acceptable. I just want to have fun.

posted by HotPatatta to clothing, beauty, & fashion (15 comments total)

Bathrobe. Magic wand. Big floppy hat or silly pointy hat. Beard. Basically if you can get a bargain basement Santa suit and toss a bathrobe over it and wave a wand around (think toilet plunger wiht rubber removed and tin foil star on the end of it) you'll be doing fine in the Wizard on Welfare category, Extra points for stuffed black cat or lizard. You could also consider a boom box playing Harry and the Potters or other appropriate wizard music.
posted by jessamyn at 8:29 PM on July 6, 2007

Step one: buy a piece of black cotton, long enough to cover you from at least neck to knee, and wide enough to reach from shoulder to shoulder. How much this will cost depends on your luck.

Step two: safety pin it to your back.

Step three: grab a branch. Keep the branch in one hand at all times.

Step three, the more expensive version: go to a junkshop/yardsale, buy a cheap-ass stool with spindly legs. break off a leg, use it as a wand.

Step four, optional: Watch all the British movies you own so you can deliver a truly AWFUL, gut-wrenchingly bad British accent.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 8:31 PM on July 6, 2007

Yeah, that's right--I fully intend to knock innocent children over to get to the front of the line when the doors open.

You must be a Slytherin. I have a scarf that might interest you. (e-mail in profile)
posted by phatkitten at 8:32 PM on July 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

If you can borrow an academic/ graduation gown from someone, it will make a perfect Harry Potter costume.
posted by chickletworks at 8:46 PM on July 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wear a black hoodie and a cheap black face mask, and make a sign with the Dark Mark. Hold it over your head at opportune moments, and everyone in the know will know you are a Death Eater.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:47 PM on July 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Go to your local Fabric store and get a few meters of black cloth. Making a robe is pretty much one of the easiest thing to half ass. If you know a bit more about sewing, you can do more than the basic guide I've drawn out and hem the edges etc, but as HP on welfare is fine.... *grins*

Other than that, you can get balsa wood at pretty much any craft store for really cheap, and they look a tad nicer than branches. Paint it black/brown with dollar-store-tempera-paint, or leave as is.

Print out a badge or something from the net, stick it on cardboard, cut it out, take a safety pin and tape it to the back, and pin it to your robe.

And that's all the geekiness I can think of.
posted by Phire at 8:47 PM on July 6, 2007

Do you have a broom?
A wood-handled one with natural bristles would be good; an aluminum-handled one with green plastic bristles might actually be better.
Give it a suitably impressive astronomy-themed name -- Big Bang 2, Red Dwarf CL 600 -- and write this near the end of the handle with a Sharpie.

You'll also want a wand, but a chopstick would be a better bet than a plunger handle.
posted by Methylviolet at 8:56 PM on July 6, 2007

Don't forget the black glasses with white tape holding the bridge together. And a red Sharpie for a forehead scar.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:56 PM on July 6, 2007

Your profile says you're male, so you could do what I do - either go for a plain black t-shirt (wizard casual) or white dress shirt with tie (wizard uniform) as your base, which are clothes you probably already have. Then I bet you can find or make a cheap and easy black cape to go on over this.

If you want to go as Harry, definitely draw on a scar. If you're like me (a Ravenclaw and proud), feel free to add on anything in navy blue or grey/silver. And just have fun! Being a geek is so much fun, especially because there will be plenty of other people doing the same (and even if they're not)!
posted by Zephyrial at 9:14 PM on July 6, 2007

If you can borrow an academic/ graduation gown from someone, it will make a perfect Harry Potter costume.

I knew there had to be a reason to save that academic regalia. Brilliant!
A MeFi meetup around Harry Potter might be hysterical.
posted by lilithim at 9:25 PM on July 6, 2007

For cheap easy cape:

Buy 3 yards of black silky polyester from fabric store. Fold end to end. Cut a 1/2 circle on the fold in the middle large enough for your head to slip through. When placing your head through the hole, the length of fabric will be about 5 feet down your front, 5 feet down your back. The sides will be open. Tie a belt at your waist over the panels of fabric, this will create sleeves, nice bellowing ones.

Have fun for me too! My book was ordered several moths ago from Amazon, how boring.
posted by JujuB at 10:00 PM on July 6, 2007

In those books they play that one game right? With the mean balls that try to knock the little wizards down while they are trying to get the little fast ball with wings? Dress up as one of them mean balls and that way knocking down little wizard brats will be in character.
posted by jlowen at 10:36 PM on July 6, 2007

I have found several castoff choir robes for less than $5 at thrift stores. Bonus: they come in several colors, so if you're a fan of the series, you can show your house colors if you hunt a little bit (here's a house quiz if you're not sure).

Do you have any kind of an old hallowe'en costume with a cape or cloak? Dark or plain-colored sheets? A girl with a kilt-type skirt (or a kilt of your own?) There are a lot of ways to have fun with this, and if you've read the whole series, just recall that some wizards have trouble with muggle clothing, and wear a really flowery nightgown and put a tea cozy on your head. Alternatively, you can buy a striped tie cheaply and wear it with a white shirt and a dark (or grey) sweater. If the tie doesn't exactly match any house colors, make up your own house name and claim you're from the American school of Witchcraft and Wizardry (speculated about but not known, so feel free to name that, too).

You don't need to knock down any kids; most bookstores will be giving out bracelets, and many of them will be staying open the whole time, not opening the doors for the book. Find out what your store is doing. And get a reservation at the store of your choice, like, now, or they'll put you at the end of the line anyway. (I work for a major chain bookstore, and am all about Harry Potter this month).
posted by Cricket at 11:49 PM on July 6, 2007

You don't need to knock down any kids; most bookstores will be giving out bracelets

Drats! I was hoping to cause mayhem. Why do they have to take all the fun out of it?

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone. Being a nerd is the best. Seriously, there's nothing more fun. The ironic thing is that I have always made fun of those losers who go to Star Trek conventions and dress up as the characters. Little did I realize that I was one of those losers the whole time!
posted by HotPatatta at 9:44 AM on July 7, 2007

Yay! I'll be going to one in LA!

Dead quick'n'easy hooded cape with sleeve-esque projections:

Requires: twin-size flannel sheet; piece of chalk (sidewalk is fine); needle; thread; large safety pin.

Take a flannel sheet (twin size is what I've always used; full would be okay but much larger and it will be horribly unwieldy). Lie it flat on the floor. Find the vertical midline (long-ways, top-to-bottom). Lie down on the vertical midline, holding a piece of chalk. Scootch down so that the bottom of the sheet hits your ankles/calves where you want the bottom of the cape to fall. Make sure you're still lying on the midline. Reach over your shoulder with the piece of chalk and put a mark just above both your right and left shoulders. The marks should be about six inches apart horizontally (at least, they are for me, but I have a skinny neck). Stand up.

At the head of the sheet, put a mark about ten inches out from both sides of the midline (again, depends on how big your head is. The hem of the sheet between the two marks will form the hood that goes around your face, so keep that in mind when deciding where to place them.) The two sets of marks should form a large vee-shape with no point.

Use the needle and thread (I usually double up the thread for extra strength; you'll need it) to sew large (1" between each entry and exit) running stitches between the right-side neck mark and the right-side hem mark and between the left-side neck mark and the left-side hem mark. DO NOT CUT OFF THE THREAD.

Gather up both sides along the stitches fairly tightly and tie a knot in the end (sew repeatedly around a little bit of fabric and then tie the thread to itself). Put the hood on your head and use the safety pin to pin the two front dangly-bits together. The hood goes on your head, the tail streams behind you, and the front dangly-bits make sleeve-looking things. Best part is, when your night of revelry is over, you just snip the thread and launder and voila! You have your sheet back again!
posted by fuzzbean at 2:07 PM on July 7, 2007