Grim Reaper Costume Ideas

Every grim reaper needs a scythe to harvest souls.scythe image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com

A grim reaper costume can be as simple as wearing black and carrying a scythe to a more complex costume featuring makeup effects and wings. Keep in mind where you will be wearing you costume and what activities you will be participating in while you look for clothing. A floor-length cloak may look nice but will seem like a poor choice if you spend the night tripping over it.

Cloak

A black, hooded cloak serves as the base for most grim reaper costumes, although you can use other black clothing to put your own spin on the spectre of death. Pair a long, black skirt or a black pair of slacks with a black hooded sweatshirt to recreate the look of a cloak from items in your current wardrobe. If you do need to purchase clothing for your grim reaper costume, look at Halloween stores or sort through the racks at a resale shop to find suitable black garments. Add a creative twist to your costume by wearing a tropical Hawaiian shirt or Bermuda shorts over your clothing to dress as the grim reaper on vacation. If you would like a dingy looking reaper costume, dust baby powder lightly on the clothing and shake out the excess powder before wearing.

Give your face a deathly pale cast with a thin layer of white face paint. Add black makeup under your eyes and smudge it to give your eyes a sunken appearance. While this makeup may be sufficient, you can take it one step further by giving your face a skeletal look. Cover your entire face, including your lips, with the white face paint. Draw vertical lines on your top and bottom lips with black eyeliner to represent teeth on a skull. Liquid eyeliner works best but an eyeliner pencil can be used. Be careful not to lick your lips after applying the makeup, as it may smear and ruin the effect. A simple purchased skull mask may be worn instead if you do not want to bother with makeup.

A large scythe is the most important accessory for a grim reaper costume, and you can find a variety of scythes at costume shops and Halloween stores. Stick with a simple model or choose one with attached skulls and a bloody effect on the blade. Other accessories include skeleton gloves, which are black gloves with a white skeleton pattern on the back of the glove to complete a skeletal reaper costume. While you may not have seen many winged grim reapers, it isn't unheard of for Death to sport black wings. The figure of death featured large black feathered wings in the 1988 movie, "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" which allowed him to better pursue his prey.