The character Lara Croft is a gaming icon. She was one of the first powerful lead roles in a gaming franchise. Girls wanted to be her and guys wanted to be with her. So it’s no wonder that her costume, and the many variations of it, have made their way to Halloween parties, cosplay events and cons all over the world.
Since Lara Croft has been around for a while, she has many variations of outfits. For the sake of simplification, the article will help you find all of the items needed to pull off the all-black costume from the movie.
Here’s how to make the perfect Lara Croft costume.
Lara Croft Costume Items:
- Skull belt buckle
- The guns
- Gun holsters for the leg
- Black boots
First thing you’ll need for your Lara Croft costume are some of the basic items. 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.
Since the clothing worn is all black, all you have to do is find black shorts and a black tank top. The rest, however, will take some creative internet work.
Detail #1: Gold belt buckle with skull and crossbones
After googling for hours, I decided to give eBay a try (gaming items in particular are incredibly cheap on eBay).
There happen to be plenty of that have the “Tomb Raider Inspired” belt buckle with a belt and gun leg holsters! All for around a price tag of $40 or less.
Detail #2: Replica guns that shoot
Seriously what would be the point of dressing up as Lara Croft if you cannot shoot anyone? Or at least have the ability to threaten someone.
I found a great website that sold spring loaded air soft replica guns that looked very very real. The guns were a bit pricey when you think that they’re really just an accessory. But at $20 each, they could always be used to have fun with after Halloween is over.
Word of advice: make sure you don’t drop them. One of my guns fell just a couple feet and the shooting function immediately broke.
Detail #3: Black boots
Searching for these boots took the most time. Shopping for shoes online is always a little difficult because you really never know if something will fit or not. After looking on every 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 for about $40.
Other Lara Croft Cosplay Accessories
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!
Be sure to also braid your hair if you want to go completely authentic. And it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to practice her accent used in the movie.
In Closing
All in all, I spent about $150 total on the costume. It is rather expensive but when you compare it other costumes you won’t wear again, most of the Lara Croft “costume” can be worn again as everyday wear.
Not to mention the guns provide entertainment outside of Halloween. Even if you do find the airsoft beads around your house for years to come.
When you think about one of the most important aspects of Halloween, it really comes down to embracing a character that is not yourself.
And if you’ve ever wanted to break out in a sexy but still comfortable and fun costume, Lara Croft is the perfect character to choose.
*Editors Note: This was one of my first attempts at cosplay. So old that my photos were stored in the old internet wasteland, Photobucket. Thus all but one photo have been lost of this cosplay process.
However, I recently revisited the Lara Croft character, which I’m pretty proud of. You can check out my new Lara Croft cosplay here.
