Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider video game franchise is considered one of the most significant game characters in popular culture. Lara Croft has gathered a strong fan following over the years, since the original Tomb Raider video games in 1996, to when she was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the 2001 movie Tomb Raider, to the Tomb Raider games on ps3 or xbox 360.
Her popularity makes her one of the most popular halloween costumes each year, and we can see why! Lara Croft portrays strength, intelligence and sex appeal, which makes her a perfect costume choice. With this OneHowTo article, we will show you how to make an easy Lara Croft costume.
Basic Lara Croft costume items
These are the basic clothing items you will need to create a Lara Croft costume:
Green sleeveless shirt
You can buy a green sleeveless shirt or a tank top from any thrift store or even from eBay.com. If you can't find one, you can just buy one with sleeves and simply cut them off.
Brown shorts
You might already have a pair of brown short shorts lying around at home, or even a long pair of pants that you can cut. Otherwise, a thrift store would be your next stop!
Combat boots
For Lara Croft-style combat boots, they should be preferably brown and leather. You could also use black. Get some red shoe laces and thread them through. Wear the boots with thick, white socks that are long enough to be visible above the boots.
Black gloves
You might already have a pair of black gloves at home but if not, the next stop would be a costume store. If they are little too pricey, it can be worth looking for a cheap pair on ebay. Once you have the gloves, cut the fingers off so that when you put them on, your fingers and thumbs are exposed.
Brown backpack
Any old backpack will do, especially if it's brown and leather!
Lara Croft costume accessories
Belt
The most important Lara Croft accessory is her belt. Make sure you have a thick leather belt. It needs to be sturdy because it will be carrying your costume weapons.
Guns
You will need two metalic grey guns. You can find some at a toy shop, but if you have some old water pistols at home you can spray paint them grey.
Gun holster
You can buy fake gun holsters from a toy shop, but you can also make your own at home using the following items:
- Two sheets of craft foam
- Two strips of elastic with velcro (usually found at dollar stores)
- Empty cereal box
- Craft glue
- Scissors
- Screwdriver and screws
Method:
- Using your gun as a size reference, cut a square from the cardboard from the cereal box and onto the craft foam
- Glue the cardboard and craft foam together
- Cut a slit close (but not too close) to each corner of the cardboard foam and thread the elastic through
- For the gun pouch, place the gun on the foam and fold the foam over the gun, glueing the ends closed
- Trim the edges away
- Glue the gun pouch to the backing
- Secure the pouch to the backing with screws at the top and bottom and use some craft foam to cover the points of the screws
And there you should have a great homemade gun holster!
Tactical knife and sheath
You should be able to find a fake knife and sheath from any toy store.
Ammo pouch
A small leather, or dark coloured bag that can be hung off the belt will work as a great ammunition pounch.
Lara Croft hair and make-up
Hair
One of Lara Croft's best known features is her braided hair. If you have hair that is at least at shoulder length, you will be able to braid your hair. If your hair is too short for a braid, you can buy clip on braids and wigs from costume shops. All you need to do is make a low braid in your hair and sweep it over your shoulder!
Make-up
To dress up as Lara Croft, make-up is optional because we're sure that a archarologist-adventurer would have no time for applying mascara. That being said, if you're heading to a party dressed as Lara Croft, a little makeup never hurt anyone, right? To emmulate Angelina Jolie's rendition of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 2013, you should focus on creating full, defined lips and choose a lipstick colour that is slightly darker than your natural lip colour. Use a nice amount of black mascara, or apply fake lashes. For eyeshadow, we suggest checking out this OneHowTo article on how to get smoky eyes.
We hope you have found this OneHowTo article on how to make an easy Lara Croft costume useful in putting together your next halloween costume! Just remember: If you have made purchases online to complete your Lara Croft costume, make sure you check the delivery and arrival time. The last thing you want is to go to the effort of organising a costume, only to have one piece not arrive in time.
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