Tips for the reluctant costume designer

Step 3: A few key accessories

Quick and easy costumes are essentially a combination of accessories. Any single element does not create the costume, but put together they gel. Walking around in an over-sized white shirt won't make anybody look like a doctor, but add a stethoscope, perhaps tape E.M.S. on the back and the kid will feel perfectly entitled to ask his or her friends to strip...

If you base elements of the costume on real clothes you can continue to use them on any other occasion. My son used the sweater and hat from his tiger costume for more than a year after Halloween -- on their own they didn't look like a costume, just cute clothes. With the King costume I reclaimed my velvet shirt on November first but my son kept acting like a tyrant till I took his crown (and the candy) away.