How to Make a Superman Costume

Homemade Superman costume patterns.

Homemade Superman Costumes

Going to the next Halloween costume party as Superman makes you one of the most instantly recognizable costumes at the bash. When you show up in the blue leotard, red undies and red cape, no one's going to have to guess who you are. The problem is, if you buy a good Superman costume, it can cost you an big chunk of kryptonite.

Learning how to make a Superman costume yourself eliminates a lot of the cost, while letting you custom-make a costume exactly the way you want it. Adding a personal touch or two to your Man of Steel outfit, with your own cape design and logo design, is so much more rewarding than buying a store-bought version. You're also likely to get a few more laughs, if you make your Superman costume the right way.

Different Superman Costumes

You actually have your choice of many different costumes Kal-El has worn over the years, including differences in the size of the cape and the colors inside the "S" logo. In fact, Superman has had both a triangle logo design and the more recognizable diamond logo design, so those are options.

The 1940 Fleischer animated Superman had a black background on his "S", which I always thought made the Man of Steel look more imposing, though you'll probably want to choose the classic Superman red S with yellow background on a red-trimmed diamond shape. If that's too complicated for your design skills, sow a red S on a yellow background and everyone's going to get the idea.

There are other versions of the Superman costume, of course, though only comic book fans and pop culture geeks are going to recognize them: options like the black Superman costume, Red Superman, Blue Superman, the Cyborg-Superman and Bizarro-Superman. If you have a friend going as Superman, showing up as Bizarro would be funny, as long as your look different enough and bizarre enough to get the point across.

Another option is the "Red-Blue Blur" look from the Smallville tv series. Clark Kent from Smallville doesn't have a costume and he doesn't fly, but he moves at superspeed, so when he's seen by the public, he appears as a blur. Because Clark Kent wears a red jacket over a blue t-shirt most of the series, the color scheme of Superman is preserved when blurred, and the newspapers refer to the mystery figure as the "Red-Blue Blur".

Wearing that costume is a cheap way to do Superman, because it's a red jacket over a form-fitting t-shirt, and probably the pleasant smile of a farm boy. It probably helps to be tall and bear a resemblance to Tom Welling, too.

Best Superman Costume

The best Superman costume is the classic look, the one everyone at the party is going to recognize. That means blue form-fitting body piece, red shorts, yellow belt, red cape, red boots and a nicely-designed red-and-yellow Superman logo. Everything else is non-essential.

How to Make a Homemade Superman Costume

How to Make a Superman Costume But let's get down to the dirty work: putting together the homemade superman costume. There are several pieces of the costume to assemble. Remember to give yourself plenty of time, so you don't have to rush the job or stress about time limitations.

1. Buy a Blue Unitard

The blue unitard is going to be the framework of the costume you add to. One you have a blue body-length one-piece, you'll be able to add a design that mimics Superman's costume. Search online for unitards, or look online for local sales in your area. This may take some searching, because there aren't many reasons to wear a blue unitard, unless you're moonlighting as a crimefighter.

This is one you might have to break down and buy at a costume place on the Internet. My advice is to spend a healthy amount of time searching for an affordable unitard, which mimics the Superman unitard relatively closely, but doesn't show every flaw in your figure. If it's not quite as tight to the body as Superman's, people will forgive you, and you'll still get the point across.

2. Dye the Unitard (If Needed)

If you can't find a unitard in the right color, find one of a lighter color and dye it with a blue dye. When going in this direction, you can die red trunks at the same time. Mix two separate shades of blue to get your color right, if needed. You'll probably need 2-3 boxes of dye for this job.

3. Making a Superman Belt

The yellow belt is going to be next-to-impossible to find and buy, so you're going to need to know how to make a Superman belt.

Buy yellow vinyl. Measure the belt you're going to wear, then cut out a corresponding length of vinyl. Use adhesive to stick the vinyl to the belt, which gives you a yellow belt. You're only half-finished, though.

Make a belt buckle out of foam and fashion it to your regular belt buckle. Then cut yellow vinyl to stick to the foam. This should mimic Superman's yellow belt.

Finally, use red vinyl to stick red belt-bands on your belt, either directly on your belt, or on your regular belt loops. The red belt loops should stand out and really tie your costume together. It's a nice touch.

4. Rubber Riding Boots and Plastidip Paint

Buy some rubber riding boots - it hardly matters which color, though you're likely to find them in black. Next, purchase some red Plastidip or other brand plastic paint. Search online for the best deals on plastic paint, as well as to get an idea of what to buy.

5. The Big Red S

Next, print off the Superman "S" from the Internet. There are a hundred different places to get this design. If you can't find one, or size one, large enough with your printer, get a S as large as possible, then take it to a printer shop or copy shop and have the staff print off the right size "S" for your needs.

Using leftover foam from creating the belt buckle, fashion a foam S, using the same pattern you printed off. Then use the plastic paint to paint the S in the same color red as your boots.

Use the yellow vinyl from before to create a yellow diamond the right size to act as the background of the Superman S logo. Use adhesive tape (2 way tape) to place the red S on the yellow background.

6. Don't Tug on Superman's Cape

You'll need a body-length amount of red polyester fabric to create the Superman cape. Use an iron-on hemming product to hem the edges of your cape, both at the neckline and the bottom of the cape. Consider inserting a thin cable along the bottom length of your cape, so your cape doesn't hang limply, but tends to billow.

If the cape continues to hang limply around your shoulder area, or if it doesn't want to stay in place, consider cutting armholes at the top of the cape, so the cape covers your shoulders and hangs more like Superman's cape would.

For those who want to go all-out and add the Superman symbol on the back of the cape, search online for the yellow S on the back of Superman's cape. Use the yellow vinyl to build this design.

7. Don't Forget the Spitcurl

Since superman doesn't have a cowl or a domino mask, one of the most recognizable Superman features is his spit curl. So when it's time to complete your Superman costume, don't forget to spend a little time styling your hair. If you're like most of us, a spit curl is going to require a little work and a lot of gel.

Wash your hair. Gently towel dry your hair, until it's damp, but not wet. Comb out the tangles in your hair. Finger curl the center hair on your forehead, then apply setting lotion, if the curl isn't holding. For people with really difficult hair, add a bobby pin to keep in place until the setting lotion or gel takes effect.

Remove the bobby pin before going out to fight crime. You don't want Lex and Brainiac laughing at you.

Superman Costume Accessories

There are a few Superman costume accessories you need: yellow belt, red boots and red cape. You'll find the yellow belt is going to be harder to find than you would expect, so start your search early. The cape we've already discusses, while the boots require some work, too.

If you have your basis costume, but you want to add a few accessories, you can buy online Superman accessories at a number of Internet costumes stores, like buycostumes.com. Once you learn how to make a Superman costume ensemble from scratch, buying one or two hard-to-find parts of the costume isn't too expensive. For those who use that option, I suggest you save your money for the yellow belt and red boots.

Superman Contact Lenses

There are also places you can buy Superman contact lenses, if you don't have the baby-blue eyes to match your Superman costume. This might be one step too far for some, but cosmetic lenses don't cost less than you would think.

Clark Kent Costume - Clark Kent Accessories

One cool idea would be to make both a Superman costume and a Clark Kent costume, and wear both. You would need a gray or navy blue pin-striped suit, depending on the Clark Kent era or genre you want to mimic. You'll also need a matching fedora, black leather oxford shoes and a diagonal blue striped tie with red and/or silver.

The essential Clark Kent accessory is horn-rimmed glasses, which is essential to portraying Superman's alter ego. Finally, you would need to cut up the suit down the sides, then add velcro down the cut lines, so you could put the suit back on. At the most dramatic moment of the party, rip off the Clark Kent costume, to reveal Superman underneath.

Obviously, you might want to search a while at rummage sales and thrift shops for an old suit that fits the bill, to avoid spending too much money on your Clark Kent costume. Phone booths are optional.