Best Elf Costumes for Women, Men and Kids: Harlequin or Party Elf?

To dress as an elf, wear a red and green top or dress with a pointed, jagged hem, striped tights or trousers, a belt, a pointed hat, and curled shoes or shoe covers. A good elf costume pack covers most of that in one go, and we make them for women, men, and kids. Women come first here: of the elf costume searches that showed our UK site on Google last Christmas, 29% named women.

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What do you wear to dress as an elf?

An elf outfit has five parts, and with all five on, nobody at the party has to ask what you came as:

• A tunic or dress in red, green, or both, with a zigzag or pointed hem. This is the piece every elf pack includes.
• Striped legs: red and white or green and white tights, socks, leggings, or trousers.
• A belt, usually black with a buckle, which pulls a loose tunic in at the waist.
• A pointed hat, often with a bell or a pom pom on the tip.
• Curled, pointed shoes, or shoe covers over your own trainers.

The pointed shoe is the oldest part. In medieval London the poulaine, also called the "cracow", was high fashion, and the London Museum holds examples with points more than 10cm past the toe (London Museum). The curled elf shoe echoes it. Pointed ears are optional, and none of our elf packs includes them. For Santa, reindeer, and the rest of the grotto, see our guide to Christmas fancy dress for adults.

Should you go for a traditional harlequin elf or a party elf?

Choose a traditional harlequin elf for full coverage and a workshop look, and a party elf for a shorter dress, a quicker change, and a night of dancing. The harlequin version echoes Harlequin, the commedia dell'arte character known for his "multicoloured lozenge costume"; the commedia developed in 16th-century Italy (V&A). The Christmas elf came much later: the 1823 poem now known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas" calls St Nick himself "a right jolly old elf" (Academy of American Poets).

Which elf costumes do we make for women?

Our women's elf costumes in this guide are a full-length harlequin elf and two party elves, one green and one red and white. Between 3 November and 31 December 2025, 29% of the elf costume searches that showed our UK site on Google named women, against 10% that named men and 42% that named children (our own Google Search Console data). More than one elf search in four, then, is a woman looking for her own cut, not a unisex tunic. For Mrs Claus and reindeer dresses too, see our Christmas party costumes for women.

Women's Harlequin Elf Christmas Costume

Five pieces, head to toe: a harlequin top with a jagged hem and a pom pom collar, matching harlequin trousers, a belt, a hat, and boot covers. The Women's Harlequin Elf Christmas Costume is 100% polyester, in M, L, and XL, and its listing suggests a thin long-sleeved top underneath for an outdoor winter event. It is the one to pick if you will be on your feet outside, at a switch-on or a Santa's grotto. Pair it with our Adult Christmas Elf Jester Collar: six 7-inch red and green felt points, each tipped with a gold bell.

Women's Flirty Elf Costume

The Women's Flirty Elf Costume is the green party elf: a halter neck dress with faux fur trim and bell details, green and white striped knee-high socks, a black buckled belt, and an elf hat. It is sized by UK dress size, small (4-6), medium (8-10), and large (12-14), and the belt adjusts at the waist. Boots come from your own wardrobe. For a hat with a bit more noise, swap in our Adult Elf Hat with Jingle Bell: red felt with a curled point and a gold bell, about 56 to 58cm round.

Women's Naughty Elf Costume

The red and white option, and the pack with the most pieces: a red top, striped leggings, a snowflake skirt, a hat, gloves, and an inflatable candy cane. The Women's Naughty Elf Costume runs from S to XXL, the widest women's range here, and the leggings give more coverage than bare legs for a cold walk between venues. Pair it with our Light Up Elf Hat for Adults, red and green felt with pom poms that flash red, batteries included.

What can men wear as an elf?

Men can wear a full elf pack, or build the look from a red top, striped trousers, and an elf hat. Our Men's Naughty Elf Costume does the first in one box, in sizes up to 3XL, and it sits next to the women's Naughty Elf for a couple or a team.

Men's Naughty Elf Costume

The Men's Naughty Elf Costume has a red top with a white pointed collar, striped trousers, a hat, white gloves, and an inflatable candy cane. It comes in M, L, XL, XXL, and 3XL, sized by chest, and the listing says to check your chest measurement against the chart rather than go by your usual size. Feet are the one gap. Our Adult Elf Shoes fill it: one pair of red and white elf shoes, one size for adults, and one of the pairings our own merchandising team lists with this costume.

Building your own? Start with a plain red or green long-sleeved top, add striped trousers or tights, a black belt, and our Long Curly Elf Hat, a tall striped hat with a jingle bell and a bendable wire tail you can curl to the side. If you would rather be the man in the red suit, our Santa costume guide covers that route.

Which elf costume suits a child?

A child's elf costume should be a full pack in the right age size, with the tights and hat included so there is nothing to hunt for on the morning of the nativity or the fair. Children's dress-up costumes are generally treated as toys under the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, and the current flammability standard for them is BS EN 71-2:2020+A1:2025 (Business Companion, Trading Standards). That matters: when the Office for Product Safety and Standards tested 128 children's Halloween costumes in 2024, more than 80% failed basic safety tests, and its advice was to buy from trusted sources and take care near open flames (OPSS). All of our kids' products are safety tested by accredited labs.

Girls Christmas Elf Costume

The Girls Christmas Elf Costume is a green velour dress with a satin collar, white squiggle trim, and candy cane buttons, plus a pom pom hat, red and white striped tights, and a black belt with a buckle. It comes in five sizes, from Toddler (3-4 years) through S (4-6), M (7-9), and L (10-12) to XL (12-14), and the listing says to size up if your child is between two. School shoes or boots finish it.

For boys' elf costumes, toddler sizes and the rest of the festive range, browse our kids' Christmas costumes, and our guide to the best Christmas costumes for kids covers the school play and the party.

What is in each elf costume pack, and what do you add?

Every pack below includes the top or dress and a hat; none includes shoes, and only the harlequin elf has boot covers. Contents and sizes come from each product page.

Three add-ons do most of the work on any of these: a hat with a bell, curled shoes, and a jester collar. All three are in our Christmas costumes range, along with the rest of our festive fancy dress.

Can you wear an elf costume to the office party, Christmas Jumper Day or the school fair?

An elf costume works at all three, as long as you match the version to the event and check the rules first:

• The office Christmas party. Check the invite for a theme or dress code before you buy. Acas advises employers to consider "setting standards of behaviour for work social events" (Acas), so a full-coverage harlequin elf is the safe call for a work do with clients in the room, and a party elf suits a night out with friends.
• Christmas Jumper Day. Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day 2026 is on Thursday 10 December, with a suggested donation of £2 for adults and £1 for children, and the 2025 event raised £2.6 million (Save the Children UK). The day is about the jumper, so wear yours and add an elf hat or a jester collar on top.
• The school Christmas fair. Helpers in elf costumes make a stall easy to find. Keep trailing hats and bells away from candles and fairy lights, the same care OPSS asks for near open flames.
• Outdoor events. Layer up: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust advises wearing "several layers of clothes rather than 1 chunky layer" (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust), so wear a thermal top under the tunic and opaque tights under the stripes.

Which elf costume size fits, and how do you wash it?

Women's elf costumes in our range go by UK dress size, letter size (S to XXL), or body measurements, the men's by chest measurement, and the girls' by age, and each product page has a size guide with the numbers. Every costume goes through over 30 measurement checks. Between two sizes, size up on the girls' elf, as its listing advises, and on the adult packs check your chest and waist against the chart.

Velour, felt trim, and bells all wash best by hand: give every fabric piece a cold hand wash and an air dry. Take the inflatable candy cane out of a Naughty Elf pack before washing and set it aside. The hats, collar, and elf shoes sold separately are spot clean only, and the light-up hat needs its batteries out first.

Frequently asked questions