Biblical Costumes

For those wanting to make the Bible and its stories more real, there's nothing more enjoyable and compelling than to put together some period costumes in order to create a realistic portrayal of what happened in days of old.

Whether it's for adults or children, many times visual effects are the best way for someone to learn, and it definitely is all the time for certain people.

As for using the costumes for cosplay or on Halloween, they're an opportunity to do something as a group, displaying possibly a story or tale of the Bible in an unobtrusive manner.

An interesting thing about Bible costumes is they definitely draw smiles and attract attention. And for those wearing them, they're also a way to get a feel of what it must have been like living in those tumultuous but interesting times.

One other thing to think about concerning Biblical costumes, is because of the look of the period, in most cases they can be very easy to make, although it depends on the degree of sophistication and reality you want to create.

For a lot of fun with only a minimum amount of work, you can put together some interesting Biblical costumes which will please the vast majority of people.

The nativity is almost certainly the most told story of the Bible as far as using visuals in a play, and that of course means the costumes associated with the story of the birth of Jesus will be the most used as well. In the photo below we see the typical style of clothes used to tell the virgin birth of Jesus.

It was funny to see the disparate costumes below in what appears to have been a just-completed play. The guys playing the parts of the Roman soldiers evidently just gave their accessories to the children and other adults to try on. Either that or there were only enough pieces for a smaller number of people. Either way, the Roman soldier costumes look great.

In the play below you can see it doesn't need to take a lot of money to create some great period-looking costumes, as these appear to be combinations of sheets and similar fabric to generate the desired effect of the clothing of the period.

In the next couple of photos I've included groupings of Biblical costumes to give you an idea of what they look like and what you may need for a project. There sure are a lot of bearded faces represented in the lot. I'm glad Mary didn't have one.

But for guys, just get these longer types bears and hair and you'll fit right into the mold of what most people consider men to have looked like back then. For the women, the picture of Mary below is a great template to follow for your costume.

You could follow the design but change the color and fabric if you prefer.

And of course something the majority of us enjoy is the appearance of our children or grandchildren in a Biblical play and costumes. Here are a variety of costumes many of us can relate to.

Let's face it, when we look at these two adorable children dressed in their Biblical costumes, this is what many of us think of when meditating on the idea. But whether it's children or adults, costumes based on stories from the Bible are always a great way to participate and learn of the spiritual heritage Christians have.

As for how to make some of these costumes, look at the simple design used to create that wonderful head piece for the boy on the left. For the girl, the headband is also a great and easy piece to put together for a cut character from the Bible.

That was a lot of fun looking at the various characters and stories in the Bible that can be made into plays, and ultimately, allow adults and children to dress up and place themselves in character with people that really lived in history.

These work great not only at church plays, but at Halloween or any other costume event. Just save the nativity scene for Christmas time.