Famous Female Duos for Halloween

This Halloween, or for the next costume party you go to, take your best bud and go as a famous female duo. Whether you dress as Thelma and Louise, Mullins and Ashburn from Heat or give party-goers a blast from the past with Laverne and Shirley or Lucy and Ethel, look for most of the costume material in your own closet or the local thrift store. If you can't find it, make it.

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock teamed up in the movie Heat as a pair of at-odds enforcement agents. McCarthy's street-wise, liquor-chugging, foul-mouthed cop contrasts with Sandra Bullock’s laced-up-tight, stiff-necked FBI agent. For contrast, dress McCarthy’s character in jeans, a solid-colored T-shirt and zippered vest, while Bullock’s character wears the female version of the FBI business suit. Make fake IDs to hang on a ribbon, crafted lanyard or cord for each character with your computer, a printer and plastic laminate. On the back of Mullins' vest, paint the word "POLICE" with a stencil. For Ashburn, stencil the words "FBI" on the back of a navy blue windbreaker for her to wear.

A costume or Halloween party without Thelma and Louise is missing a pair of characters ready to take on the world. Susan Sarandon plays Louise, while Geena Davis is Thelma. Louise wears belted jeans and a tucked-in sleeveless white blouse or T-shirt, while Thelma wears a black boutique T-shirt tucked into her faded jeans. Both wear dark sunglasses and cowboy boots. Tie a bandana around Louise’s neck to go with her white cowboy straw hat. Add artsy sayings to each of the character's T-shirts, or simply paint sayings such as, "I'm with Louise" and "I'm with Thelma" -- each with an arrow pointing to the other character when they stand side-by-side.

Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance played best friends Lucy and Ethel who were constantly getting into trouble on I Love Lucy. Choose a scene from one of the shows, such as the episode in the chocolate factory in which Lucy and Ethel are supposed to be wrapping chocolates – but end up eating them instead and placing them back on the conveyor belt before they go to the packing room. Both women wear chef’s hats and a waitress-type uniform with dark collars and cuffs that contrast with the light color of their uniforms. Make fake chef's hats for each character by forming two pieces of 8 1/2-by-11 inch card stock into tubes and gluing. Glue a cut circle of muslin to the inside of the tube larger than the circumference of the tube for the top of each chef's hat.

A spinoff from Happy Days puts Laverne and Shirley working as bottle cappers in a Milwaukee brewery. Played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, Laverne -- Penny Marshall -- wears a blouse or sweater with a large cursive L over her heart, a string of pearls and a tight-fitting 1950s below-the-knee straight dark skirt. Shirley wears a full or poodle skirt, a soft blouse or sweater, and a neck scarf to match the color of her blouse or skirt. Shirley has a brown bob and bangs for her hairdo; put on a dishwater bob blonde wig to go as Laverne. Make a poodle skirt for Shirley and cut out a black poodle silhouette from felt to glue onto the skirt. Draw a large script font "L" with a black felt pen or glue one on to Laverne's blouse. Download a poodle silhouette online.