Santa Costumes

Traditional Santa Costumes

Ho, ho, ho! Try this traditional costume.

Santa is probably one of the most recognized characters around the world, or at least in the Western world. Thanks to centuries of good marketing by the folks at the North Pole, we've all got a pretty good idea of what we want our mall Santa to look like:

• an old, fat man
• red suit with white trim
• red Santa hat with white pom-pom on the end
• a big, wide, black belt barely containing that huge stomach
• black boots
• beard and white hair

Most of the Santa costumes for men fall neatly within this description, though you may need to supply your own pillow to stuff the belly if you don't have a Santa-sized belly to start with.

Sources for Traditional Santa Costumes

If you want to go the traditional route, whether for an office party, to surprise your kids or even for your work at a department store, there are many places you can buy a Santa costume. If you live in a big enough city to have a rental shop that is open all year, odds are you'll find plenty of options there, too. This is probably the best solution if you don't plan to dress up as Santa every year.

If you prefer to buy your costume, check out these sources:

• Costume Zone
• Nightmare Factory
• Christmas Decorations and Gifts
• Costumes for Santa
• Santa Suits
• Santa Suits and More

You'll notice that the cost of Santa costumes varies widely, from less than $100 to more than $500. Of course the more expensive suits are more authentic, made from better materials, probably more washable and much better suited to those people who are professional Santas.

If you're just dressing up for your office party you can go with one of the cheaper options. Make sure you know what you are getting before you buy. Some costumes (again, often the more expensive ones) come with all the accessories such as beard, shoes, even padding for the stomach. Others just include the suit and maybe a beard. Figure out what you need and make sure you're getting all of it when you order.

Naughty Santa Costumes

This section is mostly for the ladies. Sorry, guys, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot of clamoring for sexy Santa suits for guys. Women, on the other hand, can have a lot of fun all year round by dressing up as a sexy Santa.

Sexy Santa outfits are usually a form-fitting red dress with white trim and a black belt. They may also come with a Santa hat. If you're feeling especially naughty, you can also find Santa-inspired lingerie to surprise your special someone.

Sources for Sexy Santa Costumes

• Cosmic Outfitters
• Eros Boutique
• Costumes 4 Less
• Halloween Express

Making Your Own Santa Costumes

Since Santa costumes are so ubiquitous, and everyone knows what they are "supposed" to look like, it's not an easy costume to replicate at home. You could use a red sweat suit for Santa's suit, trim the collars and cuffs with white felt or faux fur, add a wide black belt, black boots and a hat.

It's not going to be completely authentic, but most people will get the idea and you'll save a lot of money.

If you're a sewing diva, you can buy a pattern for a Santa suit and sew your own, but by the time you buy all the fabric you'll probably spend as much as you would on a store-bought costume.