High School Musical Halloween Costumes

Whether you want to look like the athletic Troy, brainy Gabriella or always-in-the-spotlight Sharpay, putting together a costume from this movie can be as easy as heading to your closet or as complex as getting a whole group of friends and giving them each the perfect role to play.

High School Musical Costume Basics

A red dress from your closet can make you Gabriella.

The characters of High School Musical are high school students, of course, so it's easy to dress in your regular clothes, belt out a tune from the movie and call yourself in costume. But watching the movie will give you a more specific idea of what to wear for High School Musical Halloween costumes. Here's a primer:

• Troy: dark jeans, blue T-shirt, green zip-up hooded sweatshirt, basketball shoes. Add a basketball if you like, since he's the captain of the team. Anything sporty would do.
• Gabriella: lighter jeans, an orange cardigan layered over a green shirt and a white shirt. She's a little brainy and not that interested in high fashion.
• Sharpay: the glamour girl of the group, Sharpay loves anything sparkly. Dress in heels, silver pants with rhinestones, a sparkly pink top and a glittery shrug. Don't forget tons of bangle bracelets for extra bling.
• Ryan: black shoes, black pinstriped pants, a blue and white striped shirt and a newsboy cap.
• Taylor: a cutie and a brain, Taylor dresses for comfort and style. Try boots, brown corduroy pants, a light-colored shirt, a pink corduroy blazer and a colorful scarf in your hair.
• Chad: a true jock, dressing like Chad is as simple as putting on athletic shoes, track pants, a blue T-shirt and wristbands.

Of course any character can also be glammed up. Think about Sharpay's wild blue stage dress, Chad's preppy off-court look, or Gabriella in cords and a soft green sweater in the karaoke scene. Planning a Halloween costume is a great excuse to watch the movie again and take notes.

Buying High School Musical Halloween Costumes

There are some costumes for High School Musical characters that are available for purchase. You may be able to find them at your local costume shop, but shopping online is a better bet.

• Costume Box has a girl's cheerleader costume straight out of Eastwood High School. It can also be found at eToys.
• Halloween Costumes4U has a girl's Sharpay costume, with a fancy, frilly blue dress, as well as a plain red dress for Gabriella, a basketball uniform or warm-up outfit for Troy and Chad and a couple of different cheerleader outfits. They also have a "dress up kit" including lots of fun accessories.
• Celebrate Express has an EHS cheerleader, a Sharpay dress and a Gabriella dress. You can also buy EHS basketball jerseys here.
• Anytime Costumes also has the basic cheerleader and basketball costumes, as well as dresses for Gabriella and Sharpay.

Making High School Musical Costumes

Of course it's not that difficult to take clothes from you closet or the thrift store and make them into High School Musical Halloween costumes if you can't find a costume that suits you.

If there's a school nearby with red as one of its colors, you may be able to find cheerleader outfits and basketball jerseys at local used clothing stores. Use a seam ripper to remove the logo of the real school, cut EHS out of felt and sew or glue to the shirt of your cheerleader uniform and you're ready to go.

Any red or blue dress out of your closet can be dressed up with sequins, feather boas and other accessories to pull of a Sharpay or Gabrielle costume. Or just dress in your favorite comfortable school clothes, grab a prop microphone and learn a song for a quick "this is my costume" costume.