Making a thrift store LARP costume
Putting together a good LARP costume can seem complicated or expensive… But the truth is, it doesn't have to be.
Not complicated.
Not expensive.
A good trick is to shop thrift stores.
But you might be thinking, "yeah, there's a lot of stuff at thrift stores… but not always super interesting stuff…" And you're not entirely wrong. But there are also plenty of gems and unique finds.
Full disclosure: You definitely can't build just any costume by buying all your pieces at thrift stores. It'd take an incredible stroke of luck to find a leather breastplate or chainmail at Value Village*. But depending on the type of costume, there's a real chance of finding some super interesting stuff.
So I decided to try the experiment myself, to prove to you there's stuff to be found. I asked Florence (one of the LARP pros who took part in my article on LARP wardrobes) to join me on this little adventure.
So here's a little recap of our experience.
Step 1: Inspiration
You probably already have a basic idea in mind. You likely have a rough sense of what kind of character you want to play, right? It's good to have a plan, but at this stage, I'd still recommend keeping it vague. If you have too specific an idea of what you're looking for, you're more likely to end up disappointed. So I'm not talking about a super detailed plan with sketches and all that, more of a general style of what you're going for. Just so you don't get lost wandering the endless aisles of Value Village.
You can get a bit of inspiration from Pinterest. Or by watching movies from the era / style of what you're going for. The goal here is to have ideas in mind, but stay open to options.
Our plan:
When I took on this little project, I decided to stay as open as possible. I had a vague idea, but nothing super fixed.
- A peasant costume, maybe? …So it'd be relatively simple to recreate.
- Something a bit gypsy-ish, kind of? …To make it easier to mix and match all kinds of clothes and fabrics.
Step 2: Shopping
Next, it's time to go shopping. This is where you need to remember to stay open-minded. It's totally possible you won't find everything on the first try. That's kind of part of the game. Sometimes you'll get lucky, other times, a bit less so.
By the way, thrift shopping is a skill. And like any skill, you have to work at it to get good. Maybe the first few times you go shopping, you won't find much… And eventually, you'll become a true thrift store god.
Also worth remembering: thrift stores aren't like regular fashion retailers. They don't switch out their collections with the seasons… they get new stock way more regularly than that. Obviously it depends on the location, but chains like Renaissance and Value Village get new stock every week (sometimes even every day!).
To get you started, here are a few things to keep an eye out for:
- The bedding and home linens section often hides fabric gems. You might find an amazing base for your next cloak there.
- Don't hesitate to check sizes a bit bigger than yours. LARP clothing is rarely super fitted.
- Check the fiber content. It'll be way easier to dye a cotton tunic than a polyester one (plus it'll be more comfortable on those hot LARP days).
- Don't forget to check out the scarves. Scarves are useful for so many things.
Our experience:
Florence and I walked into Value Village hoping to find enough to put together a decent base for 1 costume… And we walked out with 2 pretty much complete costumes.
It was a good day!
I should also mention, I realized it really helps to go with someone else.
- It's more fun (obviously)
- But it also means you can spot more stuff
- And brainstorm ideas on the spot
Here are the 2 kits:
📌 The first one is pretty much what we expected: a simple, colorful peasant outfit. It's gonna be so cute!
📌 The second one was a surprise (because you've gotta stay open to surprises when thrift shopping): a pirate outfit. It's gonna need a bit more work, but it's gonna be pretty cool too.
Step 3: Fitting and personalizing
Once you've got a nice loot of clothes and accessories, you need to make sure everything fits right and has the look you're going for.
Here are a few small adjustments that can be pretty easy to make (and so, also worth keeping in mind while you shop):
- Shortening a dress into a tunic.
- Dyeing a piece.
- Cutting up a scarf to turn it into several pieces.
- Adding an old belt buckle to a bag.
- Adding trim to a garment.
- Changing the buttons on a shirt.
- etc.
| For a few more tips, I've got an article on transforming store-bought cosplay (the article's focused on cosplay, but plenty of the tips translate really well to LARP costumes too. 😉 |
Our execution:
The first outfit, the peasant one, was really interesting as-is. But to give it a bit more personality, we still made a few tweaks:
- Added a few extra holes to the green belt so it'd fasten closer to the waist.
- Dyed the pouch, added a big metal buckle, and removed the shoulder strap to turn it into a belt pouch.
- Shortened the tunic (to reclaim the embroidery at the bottom that you couldn't see anyway).
- Added a hat (pattern available in my shop 😉).
- Transformed said hat using the embroidery reclaimed from the bottom of the tunic.
As for the pirate costume, the pieces we bought had a ton of potential, but we had to work a bit harder to get the look we had in mind:
- Dyed the pants (because they were a bit too pink for our taste).
- Changed the buttons on the shirt.
- Removed the shoulder pads from the shirt (hello, 1991 vibes!)
- Turned the hat into a tricorn (yup! a tricorn is simply a wide-brimmed hat folded up in 3 spots)
- Added feathers to the hat
- Cut the infinity scarf (black and white) so it'd be easier to wrap around the waist.
- Dyed the leather belt, which had ended up a bit too bright red for the rest of the costume.
- Added more belts, and pouches (patterns available in my shop 😉)
Step 4: Weathering
If you want to give your costume a bit more of a lived-in feel, you can always give it some weathering. It's an optional step, but it's still a great way to make your costume (and your character) feel more alive.
The advantage of a costume built from thrifted pieces is that you're already ahead of the game: the pieces you bought already have a bit of history to them. 🤓
But for a LARP costume, depending on your character's style, you might want to add a bit more…
| If you want to go further, you can check out my article on how to age your cosplay or LARP costume. |
Our tests:
📌 For our 2 LARP outfits, we dyed several pieces in coffee to make their colors less uniform. It works like a charm on pale cotton fabrics.
Worth noting that for darker fabrics and synthetic fibers, it works a lot better with a specialized dye. The trick is to test things out, mix, and experiment.
📌 To make the peasant's leather pouch look a bit less fresh-off-the-souvenir-shop-shelf, we "beat it up" a little... folded it, twisted it, crushed it until it softened up. On top of being more supple, it now has all sorts of creases like an old worn bag (which is so much more LARP friendly!). We even managed to make those creases stand out more with a light coat of leather dye.
📌 To give the pirate's scarf a bit more age, we ran it through a sander. Yup, you read that right. Be careful with this method, it'll chew through fabric fast! Be careful, and do some tests. But I swear, it does an amazing job.
Step 5: Add a few pieces as needed
Since it's entirely possible you won't find absolutely everything at the thrift store, you might need to source a few pieces elsewhere.
In fact, for those who sew, I've got a few patterns in my shop for making super versatile costume pieces that could round out a thrifted outfit nicely:
Our choices:
For the peasant, we added the little coif (made with my pattern), which we personalized so it'd really feel part of the outfit, plus a few pieces of jewelry.
And for the pirate, we wanted something a bit more layered, so we added belts and leather pouches (made with my pattern).
Here's the final result:
In short!
To wrap up, remember that, to nail your costume, don't forget a few key details:
📌 Keep your options open. You might change your mind along the way (if you're too locked in, you could miss out on something awesome). By staying open, you might get some great surprises
📌 Go shopping regularly. Thrift store stock changes often, a single visit won't necessarily show you everything that's out there. And don't forget to bring a friend, for more fun and better odds of finding cool stuff.
📌 Think about the potential. You'll probably need to give some pieces a bit of love. Don't hesitate to picture clothes shorter, in a different color, or with different buttons. Sometimes you can do something totally wild with very little.
📌 And keep in mind your costume doesn't have to come exclusively from thrift stores. In fact, thrift shopping for your costume can be a great way to save money so you can splurge on a custom-made piece. 😉
And if you want to stay in the loop on new releases, promos, and new articles to help with your creative projects, join the Harbour!
In the meantime,
Happy sewing! Happy crafting! 🤓✂🐙