Thread: Willy Wonka and Gypsy

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Hello all! So this year I've decided to dress up as a gypsy, a bit boring but when I went out to the thrift store last night I found a bunch of really great finds! My husband will be dressing up as Willy Wonka. If anyone has any tips/suggestions for either costume (that are not obvious!) please let me know!

For the gypsy costume so far I've got two skirts I am going to layer over each other, two 'shawls' going over the hips, a peasant shirt and a shawl for my head, oh, and on impluse I got one of those cheap wigs which I don't think I'll use, it's red, long and wavy but I think it's too red/orange, and don't gypsies usually have dark brown or black hair? I think I'll put up some more money and get a better quality wig! So I think all I still need for this costume is lots and lots of costume jewellery? If I'm missing something please let me know!

For Willy Wonka, I don't have anything yet, I think the jacket is the main part of the costume, so I'd like to get a nice one, I've searched the thrift stores but have only found ladies blazer type jackets that might work, I've seen the red ball jackets which are awesome although a bit pricey, not sure yet if we're going to spring for it. I love making/putting together costumes from scratch, but on ebay I've seen a few 'homemade' Willy Wonka costumes for sale, not sure if I should just go for it or do it all myself, that's usually the funnest part! Finding all the right pieces!

Any suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated!

Are you doing the Gene Wilder Wonka? Because he's pretty freaking awesome.
If your wig doesn't go with your costume colour wise I would say change it, and yeah I suggest a lot of big, gold costume jewelry; for some reason I have it in my head that they wear a lot of gold chains, like belly chains, so maybe you could work that in. You could also maybe use a nice velvet pouch to wear at the waist, for some reason I also visualize that on a gypsy lol. I'm basing most of this on the idea of a gypsy fortune teller, a lot of the gypsy costumes I've seen just look like medieval peasants and aren't too exciting. All in all it sounds like your costume is pretty much set so you shouldn't have much trouble accessorizing.

Thanks for your suggestions! I hadn't even thought of a pouch, but now that you mention it I can totally picture it!
And we're doing the Johnny Depp Willy Wonka, my husband is a huge Depp fan, he was Edward Scissorhands last year, he's planning on doing a different Depp character every year!

I think of gypsy's as having think gold bracelets along with lots of beaded bracelets. Also some kind of dangling earrings with stars and/or moons. Maybe a large cross necklace (to keep away count dracula).