Original Homemade Toddler Costume: The Dude from Big Lebowski

Elsa transforms into a tiny ‘The Dude’ this Halloween. Unfortunately, store bought costumes for girls are typically pretty limited, so I’ve made costumes for Elsa since her first Halloween. We’ve had a lot of fun with unique costumes — Team Zissou member, Rosie the Riveter – since she’s not quite at the age to choose what she wants to be. Until that day, mom gets to go wild.

This costume was conceived one Sunday morning when Elsa had woken up with some pretty terrible bedhead. My husband couldn’t get over how much she looked like The Dude. We’re big fans of ‘The Big Lebowski’ and realized we had most of the costume pieces around the house — tan robe, white t-shirt, long plaid shorts, sandals and sunglasses. I had to buy the facial hair and she was fortunately very patient having it stuck to her face for a very long photo shoot. Elsa’s attitude after the transformation really tied the look together — she’s very laid back once she gets into costume. Now whenever I show her this picture, she says, “I’m dressed as ‘The Dude.'”

I’m confident ‘The Big Lebowski’ will have staying power, but I imagine Elsa will still look back on this costume and the others and have no clue what we were thinking. I’ll always look back on these costumes and think about the silly pictures, the laughs she got at school and Halloween parties, and how patient of a kid she has been letting us dress and pose her and take a zillion photos. Pretty soon she’ll be making these decisions on her own and I hope she’ll have as much fun as my husband and I have had coming up with and executing costumes. Although we have another one due in February 2015, so that will at least give us another few years of calling the costume shots. :)

Related costumes:

Leave a Comment Cancel reply