Marvel Comics Superhero Costumes

They're fast, strong and have groovy superpowers... superheroes you just have to love them and some of the very best have to be Marvel Superheroes. There is a huge range of fully licensed Marvel heroes fancy dress costumes available. With characters like The Hulk, Spiderman, Captain America and Iron Man.

Incredible Hulk Costumes
The Incredible hulk costumes are based on the story of Bruce Banner who gets caught in a gamma bomb blast, absorbing massive amounts of radiation making him transform into the Hulk every time he gets angry.

Iron Man Costumes
There are also officially licensed Marvel Iron Man Costumes available. This superhero costume is made up of a one-piece fancy dress jumpsuit, realistic looking foam padded chest, abdomen, deltoid, bicep and triceps muscles. The Iron Man is usually found as part of the Avengers and possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons.

Pimp my Iron Man Costume

Other Superhero Costumes
Then there are the old favorites of Batman, Robin and Catwoman who tend to have a love/hate relationship. Catwoman spent her early years helping out Batman fighting crime, but returns to her life of crime and becomes a true Batman villain. The Catwoman fancy dress costumes have evolved over the years, in fact Catwoman wore no costume or disguise at all in her first appearance. The current Catwoman costume on has a much more hi-tech look and includes a mask, jumpsuit, belt and boot tops. Unlike the Catwoman costume, Batman costumes have, apart from some details, remained consistent over the years.

Did you know that the image of a bat on the Batman fancy dress costume is there to frighten criminals... woo scary stuff!

UK Shoppers:
Superhero Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

US Shoppers:
Superhero Costumes on Amazon.com

X-men Origins Wolverine Costume

With the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine film due to be released on the 1st of May, it makes for an excellent opportunity, if you are going to a fancy dress party, to dress up in a Wolverine Costume.

The Wolverine Costume
What is interesting is that the costume for the Wolverine has changed over the years and sometimes more often than a contestant on "America's Next Top Model". So what costume should you wear if you want to be the Wolverine?

I think the most iconic look, and the costume that most people think of, when they think of Logan (Wolverine), is the blue and gold costume. It is also the the Halloween costume that is most often sold by fancy dress companies. This Wolverine costume has a long history as it made it's first appearance way back in 1975, in the Marvel Comic Book Giant-Size X-Men #1. Logan was to wear this costume again for a long period during the 1990's and that is why I think this is the costume that most people think of, when they think of the Wolverine.

Other costumes over the years have included a brown and tan costume, a biker look with plenty of black leather, and in X-Force Logan wore a blue red and gold costume.

Where to buy the Wolverine Costume:
Shoppers in the USA:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.com


Shoppers in the UK:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

Check out my previous post: The Wolverine costume, for the X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer and if you want to learn a little more about The Wolverine character.

If you are in the USA, you may wish to check out this page on the X-Men Origins Wolverine Costume

Zorro Costumes

The Zorro Fancy Dress Costume
Zorro is usually depicted in films and books wearing a black costume with a flowing Spanish cape and wearing a flat-brimmed Andalusian style hat. Zorro also wears a black face mask that covers the top of the head from eye level upwards.

For authenticity, you should use a rapier as the correct style of "sword" Zorro uses this to slash his famous "Z" as his mark. Most Zorro costumes come with the Zorro sword, or you can purchase it as a separate accessories. Zorro has also been known to use a bull-whip and some costumes come with one included. If you cannot find one being sold with the Zorro costume, you could check the accessories for Indiana Jones as their whips are similar.

Child Zorro Costumes - World Book Day Costume Idea
The Children's Zorro costume available is almost miniature replica's of the adult costume and for me makes an excellent fancy dress idea for World Book Day as not only has Zorro been featured in many books, but the costume is undeniably cool, which you know as well I do, is extremely important at school!

Why a Child Zorro Costume makes a perfect World Book Day Costume
Did you know that Zorro who was often called Señor or El Zorro in the original stories about him was first created in 1919 where he appeared in the serialized story of "The Curse of Capistrano" written by Johnston McCulley. The original story "The Curse of Capistrano" was reprinted by Tor books in 1998 under the title "The Mark of Zorro". ISBN 978-0-8125-4007-9 (see below for links to the books, DVD's and costumes)



Adult Zorro Costume

Of all the Zorro costumes, I think the official deluxe version is the best. The Zorro outfit comes with a one-piece black jumpsuit complete with a padded muscle torso, chest, bicep, triceps and deltoid muscles, that makes you look like you have spent the past decade in the gym! The costume comes with attached black knee-high vinyl boot covers that makes it look like you are wearing Zorro's boots. This costume also comes with the long black cape, Zorro's black Andalusian style hat has a 3D raised golden trim and Zorro logo. Finishing touches include a belt with printed decoration and Zorro logo and the Zorro face-mask.

To complete the look you will probably have to buy the Zorro sword and whip separately.

Other Zorro Fancy Dress Costumes
Other than the child and adult Zorro costumes, there are also infant Zorro costumes, Pet / Dog Zorro costumes and women's Zorro costumes (La Bandida) costumes available.


Where to Buy Zorro Costumes
To buy the adult, child, women's, infant and pet Zorro costumes, I would suggest the websites below:

UK Shoppers:
Zorro Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

The Mark of Zorro on Amazon.co.uk

Amazon have the adult men's and woman's Zorro costumes as well as the child and infant outfits. There are also the accessories like the masks and swords. As well as the books and DVD's!

US Shoppers:
Zorro Halloween Costumes on Amazon.com

The Mark of Zorro on Amazon.com

Like the UK site, Amazon.com have every Zorro costume that you could ever want including all the available accessories for sale.

Fancy Dress Films in 2009

My last post on events before April 2009 where dressing up in fancy dress is not only acceptable, but encouraged: Fancy Dress & Halloween Costumes 2009 got me thinking into what other fancy dress ideas for the coming year are there? Films are always great for fancy dress themes, so here are the films that I could find that will be showing at a big screen near you that can also be used at a fancy dress party:

Films Due For Release in 2009
Another great fancy dress idea is to dress up in blockbuster film of the moment, here are a few films that also have great potential for fancy dress in 2009:

The Pink Panther 2 (February 2009)
With an all star cast that includes Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese and Andy Garcia, there is hope that this return of the Pink Panther could be really good. What is always strange is that there is no actual Pink Panther in the film, it is in fact a diamond! Still there are plenty of really Pink Panther costumes available that I think make a fun fancy dress costume.

Shoppers in the USA:
Pink Panther Costume on Amazon.com


Shoppers in the UK:
Pink Panther Costume on Amazon.co.uk



Star Trek: May
A new Star Trek film id due for release in May this year, to be followed by a TV series. Winona Ryder will play Spock's mum, Amanda Grayson. Simon Pegg plays Scotty, and Zachary Quinto from TV’s Heroes plays a young Spock. With the new star Treck film, you can expect tricky time travel shenanigans, freak transporter accidents and a clever, ubiquitous and ultimately slightly annoying viral marketing campaign. There are plenty of Star Trek costumes out there already and I expect, the closer we get to the release of the film, the more we are going to see.

Shoppers in the USA:
Star Trek Costumes on Amazon.com


X-Men Origins: Wolverine: May
Superhero costumes are always popular and the release of a new superhero film always makes that particular superhero costume sell like hotcakes. This year instead of Batman costumes, will we see everyone wearing a Wolverine costume? The new film follows the early years of Logan, the indestructible mutant who will one day be X-Man Wolverine. Cameos from future X-Men and the chance to see how Logan acquired his deadly claws and curious hairdo suerly make it worth seeing alone!

Shoppers in the USA:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.com



Shoppers in the UK:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.co.uk


Terminator Salvation: June

Yes!, the much anticipated ‘future war’ part of the Terminator series, which was previously only hinted at in the first three movies will hog the storyline of this killer robot film. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he was too busy running California to play the main part of the iconic cyborg killing machine, which will be taken by Roland Kickinger. A Terminator costume makes an excellent idea for a fancy dress outfit, lets hope they bring out a few new ones this year. For more info check out the Official site & Trailer

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: June

Let's hope that this year with the new film, that somebody out there creates some Transformers costumes. Thissequel to last year’s film is said to offer even more action, more laughs, and more shape-shifting robots.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: July

Harry Potter fans are eagerly awaiting the sixth film in the hugely popular series of films adapted from JK Rowling’s incredible books. Harry Potter costumes have always been popular and I predict that they will get even more popular this year.. sometime around July!

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra: August

G.I Joe is big name in the US, just think of Action Man and you will get the idea, this film could be interesting and if they don't develop an official G.I Joe Costume, it should be pretty easy to create an army or action man costume.

Nottingham: November

Robin Hood costumes are great and I think in some ways are timeless. The release of this new film where Russell Crowe will play the role of Robin Hood.

Lara Croft Costumes

I have always thought that Indiana Jones and Lara Croft costumes would make great couples costumes and perfect to wear to any fancy dress party especially if there is a movie or some kind or action hero theme. It was though doing some research into Lara Croft Tomb Raider costumes that I found out that initially she was going to basically be the Indiana Jones of computer games, until one of the designers of the Tomb Raider game noticed that many of his friends would often choose female characters when playing the then popular computer game called "Virtual Fighter"

Once they had decided to make the hero in the game a female it was then decided that she would not be the steriotypical blond bimbo that were used in many games at the time and so Lara Croft has always had long brown hair and brown eyes.

The Lara Croft Costume
Though the Lara Croft tomb raider costume has changed a little over time, like in Underworld, Lara now wears a brown and black halter top with green and black shorts, her traditional iconic costume of the classic green or blue sleeveless shirt, short, tight, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, white socks, fingerless gloves, a small backpack, and two holsters on her utility belt has always remained pretty constant and is probably the most recognisable image of her.

Lara Croft Fancy Dress Costumes
Most of the fancy dress Lara Croft costumes tend to be based on her classic look and I guess you need to have a pretty decent figure to pull off stepping into Angelina Jolie shoes. Still if you can pull it off, I think it is an excellent womans costume.

Where to buy the Lara Croft Halloween Costume
There are a few officially licensed Edios Lara Croft costumes and non licensed look alike costumes available from most fancy dress and Halloween Stores and so you should not have any trouble in finding it. Just make sure that if you think you are buying a licensed costume that you actually get it and because Lara has manny accessories, just check to see if the costume comes with her guns and backpack included in the price and not as an extra.

US Shoppers
Lara Croft Costumes on Amazon.com



UK Shoppers
Jokers' Masquerade Lara Croft Costumes

Lara Croft Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

The Indiana Jones Hat

Apart from his jacket and his whip, the Indiana Jones hat is probably the most distinctive part of the Indiana Jones costume.

The Indiana Jones hat is actually in the style of a fedora hat, which are made from soft felt and have a crease down the length of the hat and are pinched on the front and on both sides of the hat. The term fedora goes back right to 1891 and comes from the title of a play by Victorien Sardou. Princess Fédora, who was the heroine of the play who wore a hat similar to a fedora in 1882.

The reason for the fedora hat to be used as the Indiana Jones hat was because Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas wanted to give the character and look of the Indiana Jones costume a distinctive silhouette. And after looking at many different styles of hat they decided to use the fedora, and that is why the Indiana Jones hat is so distinctive!

As an added point of interest, the Indian Jones hat was made by Herbert Johnson Hatters in England for the first film. The Fedora Indiana Jones hat for the film The Temple of Doom was made by Eddy Baron of Baron Hats. And lastly, the Indy hat for "Crystal Skull" were made by Steve Delk and Marc Kitter of AdventureBilt Hat Company.

Indian Jones Hat – The Myths
Did Harrison Ford staple the Indy hat to his head?
Because the distinctive style of the Indian Jones hat became so iconic, the film makers could not really remove it and so Harrison Ford had to wear it for almost every scene and if it ever fell off, they would have to stop the scene, replace the hat and start again. As a joke, Harrison Ford placed a stapler gun against his head during shooting of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and so this is where the urban legend that Harrison Ford stapled the Indian Jones hat to his head!

US Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.com

Buy Costumes.com:



UK Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.co.uk


Check out a previous post on the Indiana Jones Costume

Indiana Jones Costumes

Indiana Jones returns with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth film in the series due for release on the 22nd May. The leading role will once again be played by Harrison Ford who joins an excellent cast that includes Cate Blanchett. Directed by Stephen Spielberg and Produced by George Lucas, the film is set in the late 1950's and squares off an older and wiser Indiana Jones against an agent of the former Soviet Union, played by Cate Blanchett as they search for the crystal skull.

The Indiana Jones Costume
As always the Indiana Jones costume is instantly recognisable with the distinctive Indiana Jones hat and leather jacket and the famous Indiana Jones Whip. Many of the Indiana Jones fancy dress costumes available for sale come with a whip, the leather jacket and the distinctive Indiana Jones hat.

Check out a newer post on the the Indiana Jones Hat

Places to buy your Indiana Jones Costumes online include:


US Shoppers
Indiana Jones Costumes on Amazon.com

Buy Costumes.com:



UK Shoppers
Indiana Jones Costumes on Jokers' Masquerade Fancy Dress

Indiana Jones Hat on Amazon.co.uk