DIY Miss Peregrine Hollowgast-Killing Costume
Miss Peregrine’s black leather is what she wears when she goes hunting for the Hollow, hence it is a Hollowgast-killing outfit. This is her ‘take no prisoners’ attire worn while defending her young charges from the invading Hollowgast.
Her black coat makes a brief appearance in the movie, but the leather coat is the outfit chosen for the main movie promotion poster (at the right), so was the outfit most associated with the character initially.
The leather coat was one of designer, Colleen Atwood’s favorite pieces to create. In a HelloGiggles interview Atwood remarked that, “I really liked the shape and fit of Eva’s black coat that she briefly wears.”
Many fans would agree with Atwood about the black jacket and skirt being a favorite outfit.
This look has somewhat of a contemporary feel because of the leather fabric and could be something that fans could wear as normal daily clothes.
For those interested in recreating her Hollowgast-Killing Costume we’ve broken down the basics the black coat on this page to help you create your own version.
Designed by Award Winner Colleen Atwood
The costumes for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children were designed by Colleen Atwood, a three time Academy Award winner and multiple time Tim Burton collaborator (eleven!). Atwood combined Victorian, 1940’s (Second World War) and Gothic/Steampunk influences along with qualities of each peculiar’s unique power into their garments.
Some of the birdlike elements in her black coat:
- A peplum (an extension of a garment below the waist) at the back of the jacket that extends down the back
- Pointed ends at the front of the collar (possibly the back) and the jacket sleeves
- The ‘winging’ up of the inverted box pleats in the shoulder (evident in the photo)
- Blue piping edging along the front, collar and sleeve cuffs, so subtle that you might miss it
- Black and gray spotted lining on the inside of the cuffs of her sleeves
- An open sleeve cuff creating a V ‘winging’ effect
Colleen Atwood’s designs are very detailed can be quite challenging to recreate. We’ve broken down the basics of Miss Peregrine’s the two outfits to help you make, modify or mash-up your own unique version. The black coat is on this page.
To learn more about Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine and her blue suit take a look on the DIY Miss Peregrine’s Costume Ideas page.
Costume Basics
Miss Peregrine has two main outfits in the movie, her black leather Hollowgast-killing attire on the left, which she wears briefly when she goes hunting for the Hollow. This page covers the black leather outfit. Her blue bird suit on the right, which she wears for her normal daily duties, is covered on the separate page for her blue suit.
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 Bird-inspired Suit |
How to Create Miss Peregrine’s Hollowgast-Killing Outfit
In breaking down the design there are two options for recreating her black leather jacket and matching skirt. Using premade clothes, along with style hair and makeup it is possible to create an overall impression of the movie look. Those interested in a version that may last longer or making garments that can be worn many times will want to look into sewing one.
- Premade Options – Take existing clothes and modify them in a few hours.
- Sew Your Own – Use clothing patterns to sew your own unique version.
Out of all of the garments created for the movie, the leather coat would have been the one most likely to have been turned into a commercially available one considering how popular the vintage leather look is with Steampunk and Cosplay. Perhaps by next year.
Black Leather Hollow Shooting Coat
The list of clothing items and shoes needed for her black leather Hollowgast Shooting Coat from top to bottom include:
- Black Leather Jacket
- Black Leather Skirt
- Low Heel Ankle Boots
- Accessory – Crossbow
Of course to complete her prim and proper look you also need to do her makeup, hair and nails in her stylish manner. See Miss Peregrine’s Makeup, Hair and Nails page for more details.
Jacket Suit Sleeve Blue Piping Detailing
Black Jacket Blue Piping Details
If you look carefully you will notice the subtle blue piping detailing around the edges of the jacket front and sleeve cuff areas. The piping detailing is so subtle that you would thing the entire jacket is black, without any blue at all.
Another subtle, almost hidden element is the black and gray spotted fabric making up the linking materials inside the cuff.
We have included suggestions for incorporating these hidden costuming details in the next section.
For more ideas about her other essential accessories see the DIY Miss Peregrine’s Costume Ideas Page. This page has information about her all important time keeping pocket watch and her humorous tobacco smoking pipe, which makes her seem even more eccentric.
How to Create Miss Peregrine’s Hollowgast-Killing Outfit
Premade Suit Pieces
If you need to pull something together in a relatively short amount of time, the taking existing clothing and modifying them is the fastest way to go.
Leather Blazer
A leather jacket is an item that many might already have or would like to have. If you plan on getting a leather jacket to reuse, then opt for a better quality jacket do not add in the blue embellishing highlights.
If you want to embellish your jacket, so it looks more like the movie version, keep reading.
Embellishing the Leather Jacket
For a DIY version of her black leather coat, start with a premade blazer (leather or faux leather). Instead of adding in piping, create the blue edging with fabric paint or a fabric marker. Fabric paint like Dimensional Fabric Paint can create the blue edging. Highlight the blazer edges along the front, collar and sleeve cuffs, as seen in the detailing image above.
Recreating the open “V” sleeve cuff requires a bit of sewing to open up the seam 4 to 6 inches at the cuff. After the cuff is open, sew or glue in a small overlay on the lining (4 to 6 inches) with black and gray spotted fabric on the inside of the cuffs of her sleeves, so the hidden peregrine colors can be seen in the cuffs. A black and gray scarf, handkerchief or pocket square could also work to add the flash of birdlike spots.
Leather or Black Skirt
Her black skirt is probably the most reusable clothing item. It might even be something you already own. You can go with a leather or faux leather skirt, or even a black skirt to create the illusion of her outfit. The skirt doesn’t need any additional detailing.
Low Ankle High Black Boots
For stomping after Hollows through the fields of Cairnholm, the fictional island of in Wales, Miss Peregrine needs more sensible shoes than her blue heeled shoes. The low, loose black boots (almost look like ankle high uggs or bear paw boots) are briefly seen in the Florence + the Machine song “Wish That You Were Here” trailer.
Take a look at the video and decide for yourself the type of shoes or boots she is stomping around in. Start at 1:00.
Since uggs or bearpaws would not have been available in the 1940’s, I looked for some vintage combat boots along to complete her outfit, but I have to wonder if Eva Green might have been wearing comfortable uggs to shoot the shooting scene, since her feet weren’t seen up close.
DIY Patterns & Fabric
Several of the jacket and skirt patterns that we found to make the blue suit can be used to sew your own version of her leather Hollow-hunting coat and skirt only make them with faux leather, since it is an easier fabric to sew. The two riding jacket patterns have similar cuts to the movie version.
The two riding jacket patterns have similar front detailing with the movie version. The back will need to be lengthened in the back, since her black jacket has the same peplum effect as the blue suit. Incorporate the birdlike elements used by Colleen Atwood into the final design.
Accessories – Cross Bow
Carrying around a weapon that can injure people is obviously unwise, so getting a toy, wooden simulation model or prop crossbow is the safest option.
Two safer options that would work are included below, the Wooden Crossbow Simulation Model to the left and the Bear Archery Crossbow to the right.
To make the models look more authentic, paint the wooden bow parts black or the black bow wood colored. Combining different elements of the two bows together would make actually make a passable cosplay accessory.
For the finishing touch add in brass embellishments to look more like the movie one. Create brass-like elements from metallic paper or foam sheets and paint them the desired color.
  Wooden Crossbow Simulation Model |
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Note: The wooden model is also the crossbow we recommended as a Scarlet Overkill costume accessory.
If you are particularly clever with carving you could even create your own custom cosplay bow. Sofia and Ellen created a crossbow from a tree trunk for their cosplay. The cross bow information starts at 4:12.
More Costume Ideas
To make it easier to find the Miss Peregrine’s costume details we’ve split the clothing, shoes and accessories from the Make-up, Hair and Nails. Clothing breakdown ideas pages for several of the other peculiar children costumes will be coming on their own separate pages.
- DIY Miss Peregrine’s Costume Ideas
- DIY Miss Peregrine’s Makeup, Hair and Nails
- DIY The Masked Peculiar Twins Costume from Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children
- DIY Emma Bloom Costume from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
- DIY Olive Elephanta Costume from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Our Pinterest Board for Miss Peregrine & Peculiar Children Costumes
Visit our Pinterest Board where you will find a collection of ideas and images for making your own costumes featuring Miss Peregrine and the Peculiar Children Costumes
Follow our Pinterest board for more ideas.
Images from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on Facebook.