Carnival and Halloween are great occasions to get creative and make original costumes yourself. The carnival costumes from the shop usually look nice, but they usually cost a lot and are made of cheap materials and fabrics. Therefore, a DIY costume is the better option for a costume party. Ultimately, you only wear the clothing on a single day and you shouldn't spend a lot of money on it. Luckily, most costumes can be made with a little creativity, some simple materials and clothes from your own closet. In today's post we have collected many ideas for Egyptian costumes that are perfect for women and little girls. Get inspired and dress up as Queen Cleopatra or an Egyptian goddess for Carnival or Halloween.
The peculiarities of clothing from ancient Egypt
Since the climate in ancient Egypt was very mild, the Egyptians only wore light clothing. They were usually light, white robes that protected against the extreme heat and kept people pleasantly cool. Other colors and brightly woven fabrics were mainly worn by kings and queens. Belts and ribbons with magnificent decorations adorned the simple white robes of women and men. The rich wore sandals as footwear, while the average citizen went barefoot.
What made the appearance of the Egyptians even more noble was the colorful jewelry. It was also typical of kings and queens, as well as people with a high status in society. Many women wore decorative collars, collars and various bracelets, although the headdress was particularly typical of the pharaohs and queens. Another form of headdress for the Egyptians were the wigs, which were worn not only by women but also by men.
A model for women's costumes from this era is without question the last queen of Egypt - Cleopatra. Her iconic eye make-up with generous eyeliner is still very popular today. When putting together an Egyptian costume, many people follow Cleopatra's look. Her character has been adapted into films several times over the years, providing many ideas for inspiration for a costume.
Egyptian costume for women and children
If you or your daughter have chosen the Egyptian costume as a disguise for the next costume party, then you will find many DIY ideas for the right look. Basically, the costumes for children and adults hardly differ from each other. However, many women often tend to wear slightly tighter clothing during Carnival and Halloween. You can make a simple disguise yourself using clothes from your own wardrobe. Colors such as black, white and turquoise are best. The most important elements of a successful outfit for women and girls are:
- a white/black/turquoise dress or homemade robe
- decorated belt or ribbon for the waist
- wig
- Jewelry – headdresses, bracelets and clasps, necklaces
- Sandals
- eye-catching eye makeup
Ideas for dress
The first thing you need for the Egyptian or Cleopatra costume is a suitable dress. This should resemble the typical robe from ancient Egypt and should preferably be long and with a straight cut. As for the color, you can choose between white, turquoise and black, with white being recommended.
However, a simple long dress is not enough for this costume. The costume should also have a decorative collar that can be sewn or made. If you have a gorgeous statement necklace in your jewelry box, you can use that too. However, it should be large and add an accent to the outfit.
You can also make the decorative collar for your costume yourself from soft leather or fabric. First, cut a wide U shape out of the fabric by measuring the exact length at your shoulders or the child's shoulders. Then use spray paint to color simple glass beads in gold, turquoise and pink and use the hot glue gun to glue them in rows to the collar.Made of gold foilCut out thin strips and glue them to the collar as shown in the picture above. The belt and bracers can also be made using the same method.
If you don't have a suitable dress and don't want to buy a ready-made costume, you can make a robe yourself from bed sheets. Whether with or without sewing, the options are diverse. For small children, you don't even need a whole bed sheet - a pillowcase is usually enough.
Wercan use a sewing machine well, you can also sew the dress for the Egyptian costume yourself. A children's dress is easy to make and all you need is white fabric and, if necessary, a suitable pattern. Dresses with wide straps and no sleeves are the easiest to create.
Another part of the dress is the cape. Although it is not mandatory, it completes the Egyptian costume quite well. Light blue fabric is usually used for this, such as organza or tulle.
The best way to attach the cape is to the wristbands and the back of the collar. You can either sew it on or attach it with a hot glue gun - both work equally well.
DIY Cleopatra costume without sewing
In the video you can watch a great DIY project for a Cleopatra costume that doesn't require a sewing machine, needle or thread. The costume takes a little more time, but the result will impress you!
Make jewelry for your Egyptian costume yourself
One of the most important parts of an Egyptian costume is jewelry. The most famous pieces of jewelry from ancient Egypt are the decorative collar worn over the dress, the headdress and the bracelets. We have collected some ideas on how you can make the necessary jewelry for the costume of Cleopatra or an Egyptian goddess yourself from various materials.
Bangle bracelets made from cardboard rolls and pasta
For this simple project, you only need a few simple materials that can be found in almost every home. With pasta, for example, you can not only make jewelry, but alsomake entire costumes. Here are the necessary materials for this project:
empty cardboard rolls, e.g. B. from kitchen or toilet paper
small croissant noodles
self-adhesive glitter stones in different colors
Gold spray paint
All-purpose glue
Scissors
1. Use scissors to cut the paper rolls to the desired width.
2. Draw a circle in the middle of the bracelets, where the rhinestone will later be placed as an accent.
3. Apply a small amount of glue to each piece of macaroni and stick them to the bracelets in three rows. Make sure they are as even and as straight as possible.
4. Make sure the circle you drew for the rhinestone remains empty.
5. Spray the bracers evenly with gold spray paint in a well-ventilated room. Just one coat of spray paint is usually enough, but you can do another if necessary.
6. Now stick the glitter stones in the designated places.
7. Add small gold rhinestones above and below the large rhinestone to give the finishing touches to the arm jewelry.
DIY ideas for the decorative collar
In some costumes the collar is part of the dress. But if you make the costume yourself from the start, then you can decide for yourself whether you want to sew on the neck collar or make it and simply wear it over the dress.
Any material is suitable for crafting - whether paper plates, cardboard, construction paper or foam rubber, just use what you have at hand or what you like most as the material to work with.
Since the jewelry of the ancient Egyptians was particularly colorful, you should use different colors and shapes when decorating the jewelry collar. Let your creativity run wild!
Make the headdress for the Cleopatra costume yourself
Cleopatra's headdress resembles a crown with a snake's head on the front of her forehead. There are also a lot of DIY ideas in this case. For example, you can take some soft leather and first cut a thin strip out of it. This should not necessarily correspond to the head circumference, but can be equipped with an elastic band for easy adjustment. For the second element of the crown, you will need a pentagonal piece of leather and two small wooden handles to hold the crown rigid. A colored glass bead at the top creates a truly magnificent look.
If your child wants to make the Cleopatra headdress themselves, then you can try this simple paper project. First measure the circumference of the child's head, add 5 cm and draw a rectangle with the resulting length on white craft cardboard. The width can be between 5 and 10 cm. Draw the snake's head directly in the middle and then cut out the crown including the snake's head. Now the child can decorate the headdress as desired - for example with colored pencils or acrylic paints.
Or you can simply take some gold-colored craft card, cut out a strip that is a little longer than the circumference of your head and use it to create a simple crown. Make the snake head from another piece and attach it to the front of the crown. If desired, further decorate the headgear with a few rhinestones and you're done. Use a simple paper clip to attach it to your head.
Since Egyptian women usually wore wigs, you can perfectly round off the look for Carnival or Halloween with a DIY wig. The DIY project is easy to implement using black wool. The hairstyle you will achieve is a sleek bob with straight bangs. If you can wear your hair like this in everyday life or simply style it, you probably don't need the wig.
Putting makeup on Cleopatra
The outfit is simply not complete without the right make-up, as the Egyptian women and especially Cleopatra are known for their strikingly made-up faces. To make up Cleopatra, you should first prime the face, then emphasize the eyebrows, draw an eyeliner below and above the eyes and continue making up the eyes with gold and turquoise eyeshadow. Finally, paint your lips dark red or pink and you're done.
Tip: A great addition to the Egyptian costume is a matching nail design. Above all, rely on colors such as white, black, gold and turquoise and integrate suitable elements into the design, such as the Eye of Horus.
DIY Egyptian Goddess Costume
If the idea of dressing up as Cleopatra sounds too mainstream for you, then you can opt for an Egyptian goddess costume instead. An example of how you can make such an Egyptian costume yourself can be found in the video below.
Inspiration from the stars for the Egyptian costume
The Cleopatra costume is a popular choice among famous ladies for Halloween. At the many Halloween parties that take place in Hollywood every year, there is always at least one woman who takes on the role of the Egyptian queen. The most famous looks include the costumes of Anne Hathaway, Blake Lively, Nicole Scherzinger and Chrissy Teigen, which you can take a look at in the picture gallery. Gather inspiration for an Egyptian costume from your favorite stars.
