Easy Last-Minute DIY Halloween Costume

Spotted Overalls, Dalmation Headband, nose & tail set (I got mine at Spirit of Halloween in the store, but that one is the most similar). Similar sets on Amazon here and here, Hamlet’s Faux Fur Vest

I’ve long loved Halloween, DIY Halloween costumes and especially what I call #Hammyween, which is Hamlet’s yearly foray into Halloween costume-ing, but shockingly this is the first year we’ve done Halloween on the blog. Shocking! I have no idea why that is, but this easier than easy somewhat homemade, last-minute costume idea was just too fun not to share, so here we are! So if any of you out there are in need of an easy, fun and let’s be honest, super comfortable last-minute Halloween costume that will take you from Halloween parties to passing out candy and beyond, you’ve come to the right place. Love + Specs to the rescue!

If I’m being honest, whether it’s last-minute or not, easy, comfortable, and fun are pretty much always the parameters within which I choose my Halloween costumes. And of course, creative! Has to be creative. Sometimes that means tackling a current pop culture topic, or something punny, but this year I wanted to tackle a mom and “son” costume that just plain made me laugh until I cried. I saw these spotted Topshop overalls about a month ago when I was perusing our Nordstrom store here in Phoenix, and as soon as I laid eyes on them I couldn’t get this hilarious idea out of my head – Cruella and her (his in this case) Dalmatian! Except this year the tables have turned, and Cruella’s the one on a leash. Boom!

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Of course some version of this could totally work as a couple’s costume and I’m sure C would have been game for it, or an adorable “mommy/daddy and me” costume with your human baby, but Hamlet totally rocked this Cruella costume with panache, don’t you think? Owning it. It’s like this was the part he was always meant to play, and C and I loved every single second of it. We were laughing so hard there tears were streaming down while we snapped these pics.

One of the things that I just love so much about this Dalmatian costume is that it’s definitely the kind of thing that you can keep in your closet and not feel the least bit bad when you reuse it again next year… and the year after that… and the year after that. Mileage… so important! These spotted Topshop overalls are on sale right now at Nordstrom for under $50, and Nordstrom has super fast two day shipping for $9 or next day shipping for $15, so you can definitely get them to your doorstep in time for the Halloween festivities this weekend or next week! Throw on a white tee and some white or black shoes and you’re there. And I picked this Dalmation headband/nose/tail set at The Spirit of Halloween which pops up all over town this time of year, but I found so many similar Dalmation costume sets out there on the interwebs here, here and here that will definitely arrive in time for the festivities!

As most of you guys know, Ham has some health issues that make it so we have to keep him as calm and stress free as possible, so we couldn’t go overboard or aggravate him in any way with his Hammyween costume this year. Which was perfect because this last-minute Halloween costume as a whole is made to be easy, effortless and fuss-free, so everything you see is a total cinch for both mom and pup (or significant other… or real baby… or whatever)! First, we had to find an easy answer for Cruella’s trademark white fur/mink coat. As I searched I entertained a few different iterations of it, but found the perfect, easy answer when I spotted this faux fur/faux shearling vest at Target in the kid’s clothing section! Ham’s wearing an Extra Small (for reference, he’s 11 pounds) and this vest is actually easier to slip onto Ham’s body than any dog coat or vest we’ve ever had and caused absolutely zero fuss which was a total win! Easy peasy. If you’re dressing a dog, you could also just wrap a cheap white faux fur stole (that’s meant for humans) around them for that same look. If you had a ton of time and were really going all out on a totally healthy dog, you could even do red dog booties to mirror Cruella’s signature red gloves, but I just didn’t have that kind of time and Ham hates those things with a fiery passion, so that was a no-go for us.

Then, I had to find an easy, natural, pup-friendly way to give his hair that signature half-black, half-white tint… that would be 100% safe and also wouldn’t upset him when applied. I’m not really into dog hair dyes, especially for our senior pup, so just wasn’t super pumped to go that route. So right off the bat that was out. After tons and tons of research to figure out how to pull this off easily with absolutely zero chance of harm or aggravation to Ham, I found that repeatedly, my friends out there in pup lover land recommended all-natural food coloring! For great general guides for making natural food coloring out of nature’s bounty, this guide and this guide are amazing. They don’t necessarily apply perfectly to what we’re doing here, but they’re useful nonetheless. For this purpose, I was able to track down black and white all-natural, pup-safe food coloring at this huge baking store here in Phoenix that has pretty much any and every baking supply possible, and I applied it to Ham’s hair by wearing rubber gloves and just softly and slowly running the glove with food coloring over each side of his hair. Basically, I was petting him with a rubber glove that had food coloring on it so… super weird but worked like charm. I didn’t go too far with the color because I wanted to be as safe as possible and make no room for aggravating Ham.

It worked perfectly! Ham wasn’t bothered in the slightest by my weird rubber glove petting, but be warned that if you go the natural food coloring route, it can rub off or splatter everywhere when they shake and it’s freshly applied. So cover yourself up if you don’t want to stain what you’re wearing.

So there it is guys! My hilarious, semi-homemade, last-minute DIY Halloween costume that’s as easy to create as it is comfortable. And if you happen to have an adorable dog, you can bring them in on the fun and hilarity, too! And babies. Also babies. Happy Halloween-ing, friends! We hope that however you’re celebrating in the coming week, you’re keepin’ it spooky!

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