3 Adorable DIY Doctor Who Costumes For Children

Tenth Doctor
Photo by Roger Chang

Here in the U.S., Doctor Who costumes are largely a do-it-yourself affair, particularly for children.  When I decided to put together a role play outfit for my son of his favorite Doctor (Ten), I wasn't sure where to start.

Fortunately, to create costumes for two of the most popular Doctors, normal clothing can be used for the most part.  Our children may already have some of what they need in their closets; local thrift stores can usually help with much of the rest.  I'll include Amazon products, where available, for your convenience.

It's not at all uncommon for girls to to portray the Doctors themselves (Quirky, brainy hero who saves the universe?  Why not?!), but that's not a little girl's only choice.  Amy Pond, too, is handily normal in the basics of her outfits, giving us another easy costume to put together for little Whovians.

Tenth Doctor

For Ten, we needed a long, cinnamon-brown trench coat, and either a brown or blue pin-striped suit. His shoes were red or white converse with the logo on the side colored out. The brown suit was worn with the red converse, the blue suit with the white.

The trenchcoat in the right color in a child's size will be the hardest to come by.  For my little Who fan, I picked up a man's shirt in a shade that would do, and adapted that.  Glasses are optional.  David Tennant didn't wear them until late in his run as the Doctor.

Amazon offers a couple of choices in sonic screwdriver replicas to complete the look:

Eleventh Doctor

Photo by Adrian Rogers

Eleven's costume has been a plaid or tweed jacket with brown suede elbow patches, a red or blue bow tie, suspenders, black pants, and black boots. The shirts of his on-screen costumes would be striped, either red or blue to match the bow tie, but for a child's costume a solid color dress shirt would be close enough.

As you can see in the picture to the right, his costume recently changed a bit, to a darker, longer jacket, matching bow tie and suspenders.  The fez is a running joke, and quite appropriate as an alternate costume option.  Fezzes, as he says, are cool.

Like Ten's costume, the jacket is the hardest piece to find, particularly in a child's size.  A lucky find at a thrift store may be your best option.

The Girl Who Waited

Little Amy Pond was utterly precious.  Her most iconic outfit was a white nightdress with red designs, with a red sweater worn over it, and bright red boots to match.  In this, along with her child-sized suitcase, she was ready to set off for adventure in the TARDIS with the Doctor.

A recognizable child Amy Pond can be fashioned from your choice of red cardigans and red and white nightgowns or simple red and white dresses.

Don't forget the bright red boots:

 

Want to see more Doctor Who inspired costume ideas? Check out my DIY Doctor Who Costumes page.