After watching Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, I became slightly very obsessed with all things ‘Wonderland’. I love all Tim Burton’s style, so just before the movie was released in 2011 I attempted making a DIY Mad Hatter costume for Carnival.
DIY Mad Hatter Hat
Let’s start off with the most important part of the costume, the Mad Hatter’s hat. I purchased a clown hat from a costume shop, which had a blue half wig attached. This was because I didn’t want to wear a separate wig and hat. I sprayed the blue wig with an orange fun coloured hairspray and I found some old lace to cover the hat and make it look less ‘clowny’.
I dabbed black shoe polish onto the lace to stain it, allowed it to dry then hot glued and stapled it all over the hat. I think this really toned it down and added more of a Mad Hatter vibe to it.
For hat pins, I borrowed 2 of my Mum’s old knitting needles and attached 2 fancy buttons onto the ends. The 10/6 card was made from white card glued onto cardboard. The orange sash was one I already had and it fitted nicely round the base of the hat. I found a large feather for the other side of the hat and hot glued that in. You can buy a Mad Hatter Hat on Amazon if you don’t feel like making your own.
DIY Mad Hatter Costume
Onto the clothes, I found this tweed looking jacket at the local market, it was about 3€ and I just loved the arrows on the lapels. I had loads of lace left over from the hat, so I asked dear Mum to sew some ‘frilly bits’ onto the cuffs of the jacket. Prior to this we dyed them in a bowl of water and old teabags.
The shirt was from Next, the oversized bow was from a costume shop. You can’t see in the photo but I wore some old grey/brown office trousers.
I made the cotton spool bandolier from my Mum’s old spools. I used ribbon to attach them all together and then tied that around me once the rest of the costume was on. If you don’t have the supplies, you can buy a Mad Hatter Bandolier on Amazon.
I found a vintage Hermes handkerchief in my local second hand shop, which was attached to one pocket and strips of ribbons where attached to the other.
RELATED: 5 Awesome Halloween Costumes
Mad Hatter Makeup
The Mad Hatter’s face is very pale, so for the base I painted on white Snazaroo face paint with a brush. To set it I used a white eyeshadow all over my face. You can see I used my brightest pinks and blues on my eyes and an orange liquid eyeliner was used on my eyebrows to make them look really bushy.
On my lips I used a pinky/purple lipstick and enhanced the cupids bow. I took it a step further and used a black liquid eyeliner on my front teeth to create a tooth gap. This wore off quickly, but was good for photo purposes. If you are looking for a more toned down version of the Mad Hatter’s makeup, check out this Wearable in Wonderland makeup tutorial.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Mad Hatter costume and if you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them.
What are you going to be this Halloween?