How to Dress Like a Zombie

Zombies are regular people like you or me - the only difference is that they've come back to life. Zombies traditionally rise up from their graves so you'd expect their clothes to look shabby, dirty and rotting depending how long they have been underground for.

A Zombie costume could be anything at all because the outfit would be whatever the person was wearing when they died or were buried. You can purchase pre-made costumes or you can have some real fun learning how to dress like a Zombie.

The introductory or top image is supplied by Eric Ingrum from Flickr under a Creative Commons Licence.

You can rub some dirt or coffee over clothes to make them look dirty, rub clothes with sandpaper to make them look worn, cut clothes and pull at threads to fray the edges, burn or cut holes so it looks like insects have been eating away at them underground.

And don't forget the blood! You can purchase fake blood (make sure it's safe if putting onto skin) or make your own by mixing up some corn syrup, water and red food coloring. Splatter, dribble or paint over your designated Zombie clothes to get that gruesome effect.

Zombie hair is often shown as being grey and unkempt. Remember that zombies might have been laying in the dirt or in a grave so their hair isn't going to look all nice and slick and heavily styled.

Clumps of the hair might be falling out and it might have bits of mud stuck in it or other, less savory, things. If your own hair isn't going to fit the zombie look, then a wig comes in really handy.

Zombies would really wear whatever shoes or footwear which they had one when they died. So they could have barefeet, pumps, stilletos, trainers or even a plaster-cast at the end of their body.

How to Make Your Own Blood Splatter Shoes

One idea I love is blood-splattered shoes. If you get a pair of inexpensive canvas shoes then you can draw on fake blood using a permanent ink pen or splatter over thick red acrylic paint and leave to dry. You can also do this with t-shirts and other clothes which you're not going to worry about messing up.

Please don't do this to clothes which don't belong to you - like 'borrowing' something from mom or pop's wardrobe!

As zombies are actually just regular people who've been brought back to the land of the living, you don't really need a special costume at all. A zombie would simply wear the clothes it was wearing when it died which explains why you get zombie doctors, zombie brides and even zombie ninjas.

So if you don't want to plump for getting a whole new costume, then don't. A mask, however, is a great idea - especially if you don't fancy playing around or taking the time to apply lots of fancy makeup techniques so you look just like the undead. Latex masks should be aired out after purchasing because they can have a strong and unpleasant smell which you want to get rid of before you put it on. Be aware that some people are allergic to latex and, if in doubt, consult a medical professional about how to patch test for a potential latex allergy.

Zombies might walk or wander around with sharp implements (cleavers, knives etc) sticking out of them - perhaps the reason for why they died in the first place or perhaps bullet or other wounds from uninfected humans. They might have bandages wrapped around wounds.

Depending on what state of decay the corpse was in before it was brought to life as a zombie, it might have peeling or flaking skin and bits of flesh hanging off. Nails might be blue or black for which nail polish comes in handy. Really vile looking zombies can have maggots coming out of skin wounds - gross - you can purchase fake ones for this purpose. And you definitely expect to see zombies covered in splatters of blood from human victims.