If you’re looking for an easy DIY Willy Wonka costume then you’re in the right place! My son insisted that his Book Week costume be the Johnny Depp version from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Given the little time I had, we decided to hit up the thrift stores for most of this costume. I did a little crafting too!
When you’re thrift shopping for costumes, you need to be flexible. For a perfectionist like me, that’s a difficult thing to do.
But I decided to roll with it. That was good for me. I can do with a little more flying by the seat of my pants haha.
You may not find the exact color or item you’re looking for. But it’s good fun to see what creation you come up with.
Sometimes purchasing a ready-made costume is just what you need to do. Don’t get me wrong, I have definitely done this before (and will likely do it again).
But since you’re here and on a DIY blog, as you can guess… creating my kid’s costumes is one of my favorite things to do.
I love coming up with something original. Sometimes they don’t always look as obvious or ‘polished’ but nobody else has them!
When I don’t have time for a full-on crafting session, the next best thing is to shop my own creation. This approach is also great for older kids.
After acing last year’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid costume, I wasn’t sure we would be able to come up with something NOT daggy for my bigger boy! But we did…
Check out our version of a DIY Willy Wonka costume… Johnny Depp style below!
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Table of Contents
Willy Wonka Costume Inspiration
First things first, I had to find the inspiration for our costume. My son specifically wanted the Johnny Depp Willy Wonka costume version.
I used an image similar to the one below. I got this image from Etsy – If you don’t want to make your own cane, you can buy a replica cosplay Willy Wonka cane.
DIY Willy Wonka Costume Supplies
First I will go through the crafty part of this costume. The majority of the costume was sourced from thrift stores, aside from the cane.
- Metal dowel
- Plastic silver Christmas bauble
- Silver spray paint
- Hot glue gun
I found a cutoff piece of metal curtain dowel in my garage. I spray-painted it silver. If you’re buying silver paint, make sure it’s metallic, not matte. I think it looks much better!
I then used my hot glue gun to attach an old silver Christmas bauble to the top. And that was it! Nice and simple.
If you’re a die-hard fan and/or prefer to buy a cane, I found this cool cosplay Willy Wonka cane replica.
Willy Wonka Costume Pieces
My son is between sizes which makes things a little easier! He can fit into larger boy’s clothes but also smaller men’s clothing.
We scoured the racks in the kids, men’s, and even women’s sections. The coat is a women’s jacket.
If you span your search across further sections, with a little imagination you’ll have more luck sourcing items. Friends and family may even have some of these items they can lend you!
I found this cosplay Willy Wonka costume for purchase at quite a reasonable price. If you don’t want to go searching, it’s a great alternative.
Below is a list of pieces that make up the Willy Wonka costume. I’ll also link to some of these products that I’ve found on Amazon.
- Fancy top hat
- The hair
- Long burgundy coat
- Dress pants
- Vest/Waistcoat
- Collared shirt
- Dress shoes
- Cane
- Pocket watch with chain
- Gloves
- Glasses (optional)
- Handmade Golden Ticket (optional)
Assembling our Costume
Our top hat was actually purchased from a party store as we couldn’t find anything at the thrift stores. I also found a cheap ladies’ wig from the same party store.
I couldn’t find a nice luxurious velvet-looking coat so decided to work on finding the right color and a similar length.
We used a collared shirt my son already owned. I found some really amazing shirts but they were just too expensive, even for a thrift store.
I was really pleased with my pocket watch find! It was actually a necklace with a small working clock attachment. It was perfect. You could also attach any costume necklace chain across the vest.
We weren’t able to source gloves in time so we left those. Willy Wonka actually wears grey latex rubber gloves as his father was a dentist. But play gloves in white or silver would work too.
Willy Wonka’s glasses aren’t included in the image inspiration and you could totally leave them out. I actually did find some cool big glasses.
However, the silver sparkles put my son off and he refused to wear them haha. Can’t win them all I guess!
Campbell came up with the idea of making his own Golden Ticket. He was so excited about it. That’s in the image below where he is holding the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory book.
Summing Up
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was such a big deal in our house coming up to Book Week. It made complete sense for my son to be a character from the book.
That one last pic of him is with his brother who was a Minecraft Creeper for Book Week. I’ll be sure to link that tutorial here when I have written it up.
I hope you get some inspiration from our Willy Wonka costume! Just try to be flexible and go with what you can find. It will be fun!
There is a group of thrift stores all in the same complex that I always like to visit. This way there’s less running around.
I’d love to see your own creations – tag me @avisualmerriment on Instagram or Facebook.
Other Resources You May Like:
FREE PRINTABLE: 59 At-Home Activities for Kids Article with Printable Checklist
FREE PRINTABLE: Backyard Scavenger Hunt
ARTICLE: Easy Super Mario & Luigi Costumes for Boys
ARTICLE: 52 Unique Kids Halloween Costume Ideas
FROM MY SHOP: Children’s Chore/Reward Charts
