Australia's ample offering of wildlife, celebrities, landmarks and products presents many possibilities for costumes.
For an Australian-themed costume party, the possibilities for costumes are endless. Party-goers can choose from dressing up as Australia's varied wildlife, famous Australians like Nicole Kidman or Mel Gibson or even famous Australian symbols, products and landmarks. Costumes can be as simple as an animal mask and clothing the same color as the animal's fur or as complex as made to order copies of celebrity clothing.
Australian Wildlife
A koala costume is easy to make.
Dress up as an animal native to Australia. Australia has some very unique animals like koalas, kangaroos, emus, crocodiles, platypuses, echidnas, Tasmanian devils and wombats. Animal costumes can be as simple or as complex as the wearer prefers. Look up images of the animal you prefer online or at your local library, and get creative.
An easy tactic for simple animal costumes is to glue or fasten paper or felt ears to a cheap plastic or cloth headband and a tail to pants, skirts or leotards.
Make an easy kangaroo costume from a brown hooded sweatshirt with a large front pocket, with matching brown sweats or tights and ears sown or safety-pinned to the hood. Creative face painting and makeup will make this costume shine.
Make an easy emu costume by combining flesh colored tights, a gray leotard and a fluffy ballerina skirt or tulle slip with gray felt pinned over it. Glue or sew grey feathers onto the felt and leotard, or draw them on with fabric paint. Glue some of the feathers on a white baseball cap, and draw red-brown eyes on the sides with permanent markers or fabric paint pens. Color the bill of the cap black or dark gray to make the beak.
Alternately, visit a local or online costume shop and search out a full-body suit or mask of the Australian animal you prefer.
Famous Australians
Another option is to dress up like famous Australians, be they film characters, actors, politicians or athletes. Crocodile Dundee is a very recognizable Australian character (played by Australian actor Paul Hogan) and Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe are all internationally recognized Australians. To dress up as a famous Australian, do an online search, or get to your local library, and look at how the celebrities dress. Choose wigs, hats and clothing accordingly.
To dress up as Nicole Kidman, you should either be blond or red-haired, or acquire a blond or red-haired wig. Try to make your costume look as similar as possible to clothing a celebrity has worn at a recent event or in a popular movie so that other party-goers will recognize you.
Dressing up as Crocodile Dundee is another option. Wear a sleeveless leather vest or a blue denim shirt with fitted black jeans or khaki trousers. Wear a black Australian outback hat, and decorate it with teeth (plastic animal teeth or even paper cutouts will do). For a laugh, bring along a rubber or blow-up crocodile.
Alternately, visit a seamstress or a costume shop with pictures of your celebrity and discuss made-to-order options.
Australian Symbols, Products and Landmarks
The Australian Flag makes an easy-to-wear, easy-to-create costume.
A unique option is to dress up as well-known Australian products, symbols and landmarks, such as the Sydney Opera House, the Australian Flag, Coat of Arms, a jar of Vegemite (yeast extract spread typically eaten in Australia) or even the Australian continent itself.
To dress up as the flag, buy a large Australian flag, and wrap it around your body toga style or paint the flag on two large poster-boards and connect the tops of them with string and hang them over your shoulders. Australia's flag has the "Union Jack" in the top left corner (a miniature version of the British flag) and a blue background with six six-pointed stars. A larger star sits directly under the Union jack and the other five stars form the Southern Cross constellation of stars directly opposite the large star and Union Jack.
To dress up as the opera house, draw or print out two large pictures of the opera house on poster board. Cut out the pictures, punch two holes spaced at about shoulder width in the top of each picture and connect the two pictures with string. Wear the opera house hanging from your shoulders.
To dress up as Vegemite, draw or print two large pictures of jars of Vegemite. Cut them out and punch holes in the top, and string them together so that they will hang on your shoulders.
