How to Dress Like a Lawyer for Halloween

While Halloween costumes traditionally require extensive face paint and gaudy attire, dressing like a lawyer for Halloween could be a fun and educational experience for both you and your children. While your child could get away with wearing a simple suit and tie, adding thoughtful flourishes will help make the costume fun and entertaining for both you and your viewers.

While private law firms have their own unique dress codes, it is traditional for lawyers in the U.S. to wear a suit, dress shirt, tie and dress shoes. As a basic starting point, dressing your child up in a suit will give him a professional look that falls in line with lawyers and other business professionals. English lawyers, referred to as barristers, wear distinct robes and wigs to court. If your child's suit does not give off a distinctly legal air to it, more traditional attire may help him stand out.

While makeup is not needed for an individual to dress like a lawyer, it may help make your child appear older and more distinguished. Giving your child a beard or mustache with face paint is a fun way to make them look older and more age appropriate for the position of a lawyer. You can also attempt to give your child an aged look by adding white paint and wrinkle lines to his face and hands.

Adding accessories to your child's legal costume will help make his costume easier to decipher upon first viewing. If you give your child an important legal document, such as the Constitution or a famous legal book to hold, this will help people understand what your child is dressed as for Halloween. Other distinctly legal accessories include a gavel, business cards and the scales of justice. Other accessories, such as the O.J. Simpson bloody glove, can tie you to a famous legal case.

If you are having trouble creating a unique legal costume for your child, thinking of a specific theme or scenario may help you create something more distinct. Creating a paired costume, such as a lawyer and a car accident victim may help further emphasize your child's costume. You also can be literal with your costume creation, turning your child into a literal "lawsuit" by dressing them up in a suit with legal documents attached to it.