Choosing a character from a book or novel to use for a costume if going to a fancy dress or Halloween party is not always easy if you want to be easily recognised as the character you are dressed as. The reason for this is that books are comprised of words and not pictures, so there frequently is a lack of a visual image to associate with the character.

Consequently, those books that have been made into films and television programmes are the easiest to come up with costumes for as there is a visible depiction of the character and, for the most popular series, often pre-made costumes available to buy. Quite often popular series of books are also made into films and television programmes. A few examples are the Twilight Saga, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and The Hunger Games.

A bigger challenge is to come up with a costume if the character only exists in a book, with no illustration available. It is possible with a description of the character that is in-depth enough to come up with a costume that is recognisable as such, although such characters are likely to be less well known.

There are ways around this. For example, superheroes are not limited to comics and graphic novels (as well as film and television) and, even those that haven’t been televised or seen in films may still have been present in book. Because most superheroes have their origins in comics, there is already an existing image which again, like with cartoons, films and television, makes it much easier to come up with a costume. One option, if you are willing to “cheat” a little, is to broaden the definition of a book to actually include graphic novels and comics – that will increase the number of characters available for which an image of them actually exists.

You should choose a costume that is recognisable as such, and not just simply normal dress. As a consequence of this, some of the best genres to look for inspiration in are fantasy, science fiction and fantastical horror as well as their derivative and sub-genres. Characters in these genres of books are more likely to look or dress distinctively than those from others, such as thrillers or romance. On the other hand, period romance, such as the novels by Jane Austin, does tend to have distinctive costumes, as they are set in the past, although the character may not be instantly recognisable. A similar example would be James Bond; he may have been in a lot of films and books, but it might not be immediately obvious that that is who you are by dressing up in a tuxedo with a gun. Children’s books are also a good source of ideas, especially for costuming children themselves.

Some costumes are likely best steered clear of. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom series would be an easy source of costumes, but as what the characters wear is basically jewellery, straps and weapons, these really aren’t that suitable, being cold at best and possibly illegal at worst.

Here, then, are some ideas to use as a starting point for your costume:

– The best-selling Harry Potter series is one of the easiest to choose a costume from, as they are readily available, and the films provide plenty of images to choose from. You can dress as a wizard or as one of the major characters – not being limited simply to Hogwarts students.

– Similarly, the Lord of the Rings series – including The Hobbit – is, like the Harry Potter series, easy to find a variety of costumes and images for. Once again this is due to the films.

– The two Alice books, by Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass have a host of interesting and identifiable characters to choose from, although dressing up as them may be a bit complex in some cases. Alice herself, the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter and the March Hare; the various card soldiers and the Red Queen, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee and many more.

– The Land of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. The most famous characters are, naturally, Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witches, although there are many more.

– For children, the Winnie the Pooh stories of A. A. Milne are a great source of costume ideas. There’s Winnie the Pooh himself, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl, as well as the human Christopher Robin (perhaps a costume for an accompanying adult), as well as a host of minor characters.

As you can see, all the ideas suggested here have migrated from books to other media, predominately film. Once a book becomes well known enough, it frequently spreads to other mediums.

Take a look at more ideas:

Harry Potter Costume Ideas

The Zombie