Comfortable clothes, leg holsters and guns all equal the perfect Halloween costume
Halloween costume decisions always take me months to decide. But with less than one month until Halloween, the Lara Croft costume one that always hot and comfortable while being able to use the different accessories several times over.
To find out exactly "What does Lara Croft wear?" To my surprise, there are several different costumes that are considered to be "Lara Croft". Those costumes are based off the various video games or the costume that Angelina Jolie wears in the movie version of Tombraider.
For those that are not aware, Lara Croft is an icon in gaming culture. (You can watch the history of Tombraider here) She is one of the first females that was both beautiful and bad ass. Consider her the female version of Indiana Jones (which is one of the reasons why she was created in the first place--sort of a modern day Indy).
From the many selections of costumes, the all-black movie version was chosen (as seen to your right) because it ultimately looked like clothing you either already own or if purchased, you would wear again.
However how to obtain the other items needed worried me, read on to discover why....
The main items needed for the Tombraider costume are:
The belt buckle
The guns
The Gun Leg Holsters
The Boots
Of course the clothing plays a role, but with the clothing being all black shorts and a tank top, it's the the least of my worries for right now.
If you are like me, costume price is an issue so my main goal was to get required items as cheap as possible while not compromising the integrity of the overall costume.
Detail #1 Belt Buckle had to be gold and have a skull on it.
After googling for hours, I decided to give ebay a try (I mostly made the switch to Amazon, but will continue to take my chances with ebay).
There happen to be plenty of store owners that have the "Tombraider Inspired" belt buckle with a belt and gun leg holsters!
And it was a reasonable price at around $30. If you were to try and make this yourself, you would probably spend more on materials then it would cost to buy it.
Detail #2 The Guns must look very similar to the guns used in the movies AND the guns must shoot.
Seriously what would be the point of dressing up as Lara Croft if you cannot shoot anyone? It was also surprising in how many sites sell replica Tombraider guns.
I found a great website that sold spring loaded air soft replica guns that looked very very real. So real that I didn't bother to spray paint the tips of the guns because they would have looked real should I chose to go out on Halloween dressed up.
The guns I found were a bit pricey at $20 each for a Halloween costume accessory but they could always be used to have fun with after Halloween!
Detail #3 Boots are a must purchase: Cannot be too pricy and must be worn again!
This by far took the most time. I hate shopping for shoes online because you really never know if something will fit or not. I looked on every frickin shoe site you can imagine (Amazon, Zappos, Payless, Amazon again, Ebay, Google Shopping...etc...) I always ended back at Amazon.
For some reason, they have the largest amount of replica Tombraider boots. I wanted to make sure that the pair I bought looked enough like Lara's but not too goth where I wouldn't wear them again.
So I put an emphasis on getting a pair of boots that fit the looks/price requirements and those were found on Amazon for about $40.
Other Costume Details
Other details included the black shorts and black tank top, both of which I found at Target on sale for a total of $15. I bought the leather cuff bracelets from Hot Topic for $4.99 each (which I really only needed one but accidentally bought 2 thinking I needed 2). I also bought slimming pantie hose to wear underneath the shorts because with wearing an outfit like that, its never a bad decision to go without something that is gona suck you in!
In Closing
All in all, I spent about $150 total on the costume. It is rather expensive but when I compare to the Mario costume (cost around $80) or Batman costume (cost around $200), I have to factor in that the boots, leather cuffs and clothing can all be worn over and over again. Not to mention the guns provide entertainment outside of Halloween.
I have to say, I really loved wearing the Tombraider outfit. The guns were the best part of the outfit and definitely a hit at my work party and my Aunt Missy's famous Halloween party. You never realize how much stuff you can shoot with a plastic bb gun. I will be finding those little bb's for years to come!
As cheesy as it sounds, dressing up as Lara Croft makes you feel like more of a bad ass and you can suddenly leap off of a waterfall cliff to escape the locals who are chasing you with bows and arrows. OK I wouldn't go that far but it did cross my mind at least once!
If you're still not sure what to be, I definitely recommend trying your luck at a Tombraider Costume.
Rest of the Pictures from Halloween
