How to Make a Cow Costume

Reviewed by Shaelynn Haning

Last Updated: April 8, 2021 References

If you’ve decided to dress up as a cow – for a school play, for an upcoming Halloween party, or for Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day – you’re in luck. A cow costume is one of the quickest and most comfortable costumes you can make! All you need is a white base outfit and some black felt for spots. Accessorize your look with a rope tail, glove udders, and ears or horns and you’ll be ready to join your herd in no time!

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Attaching Spots to a White Base Outfit

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1
Choose a white base outfit. You’ll want to pick a solid white top and bottoms as the base for your cow costume. For the top, a loose-fitting white t-shirt will be lightweight and comfortable. Or, you can dress warmer in a white sweatshirt. Find some white sweatpants to complete your base outfit.
- Feel free to use a white dress or skirt if you prefer.^{[1]
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- If your white base garments have visible logos, don’t worry! Plan to cut out spots large enough to cover these up.^{[2]
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2
Draw spot shapes onto a piece of black felt. You’ll need a few letter-size felt sheets from a nearby craft store.^{[3]
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Research source} Using a white or yellow wax marking pencil, draw large- to medium-sized organic blob-shapes onto the felt.
- Felt works best because it is easy to attach to clothing and it won’t unravel when you cut it, but you can use scrap fabric or fake fur if you prefer.
- Look at pictures of Holstein cows for reference on spot shape and scale.
- Feel free to give your cow brown spots instead. Or, if you’re creating a fantasy cow, go wild with color! For example, you could add purple spots to a light blue background. It works best when the spots are much lighter or much darker than the background.
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3
Cut out the black spot-shaped felt pieces. You can use paper, craft, or fabric scissors to cut out the felt pieces along the lines you marked. Cut just inside the marked line so that your markings won’t show up on the finished spots.
- The more care you take in smoothly cutting around the curves, the cleaner the shapes will look on your finished costume.
4
Apply spray adhesive to the back of each piece. Working in a well-ventilated area, use a spray adhesive that bonds with fabric. Hold the spray can a few inches away from the felt and spray until the felt has a light coating of adhesive covering the middle and edges.
- If your marked cut lines are still visible, spray the adhesive onto that side so that they won’t show up on your finished costume.
- If you’d rather remove the spots from your clothes later, safety pin the spots around the edges instead of using spray adhesive.^{[4]
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- If you have hand-sewing skills and a little more time, you can pin the spots in place on the garments and then whipstitch them with black thread instead.^{[5]
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5
Press the spots onto your base costume, adhesive-side down. Working on one garment at a time, smooth out the area of the garment where you plan to add one of the spots. Place the adhesive side of the spot down onto the garment, and press around the center and edges to make sure it’s completely attached. Let it dry for a few moments before repositioning the garment.
- Refer to the directions on your spray adhesive for the necessary drying time.
- To avoid getting your cow costume confused with a dalmatian costume, don’t add too many small spots or place the spots too close together.^{[6]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Making the Tail, Udder, and Horns

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1
Cut a length of thick white rope to represent the tail. Measure your rope so it’s about same length as your elbow to fingertips. Tie a double knot at the top, and fray the bottom end to make it look like the tail has hair. Tie the knotted end to the center of a piece of white string that’s long enough to wrap around your waist.
- You can use the tail from a black cat costume if you have one.^{[7]
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Pink nitrile gloves – similar to the ones worn by dentists – work best for this. Hold the end of the glove so that only a small opening is left and blow it up like a balloon. Tightly tie the end closed. This will be your cow’s udder.
Get into your spotty cow clothing first. Then, tie the rope tail around your waist using the white string. Tie a small but secure knot at the center of your stomach and tuck in the loose ends.
4
Tie the udder around your waist with string. Hold the glove udder in place in the center of your stomach, with the fingers sticking outward. Then, wrap the white string around your waist and the udder. Secure the string with a knot.
- If you don’t have someone to assist you, tie the knot in the front and then twist it to the back.
With the same black felt you used to make the spots, cut out a teardrop-shaped piece slightly larger than the size of your palm for each ear. If you have a pair of devil horns or Viking horns from a previous costume, feel free to repurpose these and paint them black for your cow.
If you’re using felt ears, attach them to a stretchy elastic headband with safety pins or stitch them on with black thread. If you’re using plastic horns, hot-glue them to a sturdy plastic headband. This accessory will top off your cow costume.
Cows are known for their lovely long eyelashes, so feel free to dress up with fake eyelashes.^{[8]
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Research source} If you want to add some jingle and pizzazz to your costume, make a cowbell necklace using some rope and a golden bell, which can be found at a craft or costume store.

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Question

Why would someone want to do this?

Community Answer

There are tons of reasons: Halloween, theatre productions, videos, free chicken sandwich day at Chick-fil-a, etc.

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Question

If my pants are black or grey, should I simply cut out and affix white shapes?

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While you could attach white "negative space" to dark pants, it may be easier and simpler to purchase white pants and then add black or brown spots.

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Can I put milk in it?

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No. Instead, you can carry an empty milk carton as part of your costume.

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