When my son was 3 (he’s 7 now), he was obsessed with marching bands. His favorite toy was a plastic silver trumpet. So of course, when it came time to talk Halloween costumes, the only option was a marching band uniform. For a 3-year-old. Right.
Luckily, I like a challenge, especially when it’s shopping related. I was certain I would never find a proper band uniform for my toddler, so I went about putting one together myself. The only place I considered for costume sourcing was Goodwill.
I hit up as many Goodwill stores as I could without pushing the creation deadline: I was looking for all black — pants and a jacket — a solid-colored canvas on which I could work a little magic. I worked overtime, but my search came up dry. I found black pants without issue, but the military-inspired jacket in my mind was nowhere to be found. I improvised.
I took the buttons off a toddler suit jacket, shortened the hem, stood the collar up and turned the lapels in, making a modified band uniform jacket. Using peel-and-stick Velcro and a few basting stitches, I attached wide ribbon and brass buttons to mimic a military-style jacket.
I jazzed up the pants with a bead of silver trim down each leg. The look was finished with a baseball-hat fitted with an oatmeal container that had been covered in tissue paper squares.
The look was absolutely marching band worthy and absolutely one of a kind.
-Rachel Sutherland
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