How to Make a Robin Costume

Making the Outfit

Buy a short sleeve green T-shirt. Get a tight fitting green t-shirt to wear for Robin’s green sleeves. You will wear this shirt underneath another one so that only the sleeves show. You can also use a long sleeve t-shirt or ¾ sleeve t-shirt if you want. You can use a shirt that isn’t completely green as long as the sleeves are solid green. Only the sleeves will show with the costume.

Wear a sleeveless red t-shirt over the green t-shirt. Get a sleeveless red t-shirt that you’ll wear over the green shirt. You can buy a short sleeve shirt and cut off or tuck in and pin the sleeves if you can’t find a sleeveless shirt. If you use a long sleeve or ¾ length sleeve green t-shirt, you can wear a short sleeve red t-shirt. You shouldn’t use a “v” neck shirt because you don’t want the green to show at the neckline. If you're planning to dress up as the classic version of Robin, leave the red shirt untucked.

Make and attach Robin’s logo on the shirt. Cut a circle from black felt to use for the “R” logo on the shirt. Cut an “R” out of yellow felt and glue it onto the middle of the black felt circle using fabric glue. Then, use the fabric glue to glue the logo onto the left side of the chest of the red shirt. You can print out an image of Robin’s logo to use as a template if you need it to help you cut the felt. Modern Robin's logo is a stylized "R" on a black oval tilted at 2 and 8 o'clock position.

Draw or paint yellow horizontal laces down the middle of the shirt. Add stripes for the laces starting at the top of the shirt. Classic Robin has laces all the way down to the belt, while the modern incarnation has laces all the way to above the abdomen.

Buy green leggings, tights, or pants. Find leggings, tights, or pants in the same color green as the shirt you have. The pants should be tight fitting and shouldn’t have many pockets. Classic Robin wears flesh leggings, tights, or pants.

Wear a pair of red briefs. You should wear a pair of red briefs on top of the green pants. Ideally the red briefs should be the exact same color as the red shirt you’ll be wearing. If you can’t find red briefs, you can use short red shorts. Classic Robin wears green briefs that is the same color as the green shirt you'll be wearing.

Crafting the Accessories

Make a mask. Use black felt and elastic to make Robin’s mask. Robin’s mask has a unique shape, so print out a template for Robin’s mask or draw your own template on paper. Use the template to trace the mask shape onto the felt and cut the mask shape out of the felt. Sew or use fabric glue to attach one end of the elastic to the side of the mask. Put the mask on your eyes, and pull the elastic around your head to measure where to cut the elastic. Cut the elastic and then attach the other end to the mask by gluing or sewing it. Classic Robin wears a mask in a style of a sleep mask or a sash of fabric.

Buy or craft a black belt. Robin wears a black belt with a gold buckle. A military style belt works best if you want to buy a belt. To craft a belt, you can use a 2 inch strip of black fabric or felt and glue on a yellow buckle made from felt or fabric. Modern Robin wears a yellow belt. Glue a yellow circle made out of fun foam on the buckle.

Make a cape. Robin wears a long cape in addition to his costume. The type of Robin you want to be depends on what color cape you should wear. To be classic Robin, you should wear a short length completely yellow cape. To be modern Robin, you should wear a long length black cape or a black cape with a yellow underside. Get a rectangle of fabric that is about a foot wider than your body and long enough to drape on your shoulders and extend down to your calves. If you want a black and yellow cape, sew together the black and yellow fabric on all four sides. Cut the fabric into a cape shape. You can use a cape template or freehand cut the cape. Fold the fabric rectangle in half. Cut one end of the rectangle so that the folded side has a semi circle cut out about 1 ½ inches from the top and the non folded side has a rounded corner. The semi circle should be wide enough for your neck. Cut the folded side above the semi circle apart to create the neck hole. Glue or sew a ribbon onto either side of the neck hole to use for tying the cape. Classic Robin's cape has an oxford collar while the modern version has a kung-fu collar. You can also make a collar for the cape separately from the cape.

Add gloves. Robin wears green, elbow length gloves. If you can find green, elbow length gloves to wear, it will be a nice added touch to the costume. You can also wear black, elbow length gloves if you can’t find green.

Wear black boots. Wear tall black boots to complete your outfit. Rain boots work best. If you don’t have black boots, you can wear any black shoes. Classic Robin wears green kung-fu slippers.

Carry a bo staff to complete the look. Robin carries a collapsible bo staff in some of his appearances. A bo staff is a straight fighting stick. Purchase a bo staff from a costume store. Create your own bo staff from a broom stick. Wrap the center of the broom stick with a thin strip of fabric or thin rope to create a grip in the middle of the staff. Classic Robin should skip this step, since he doesn't carry this weapon.