Bonnie and Clyde Costumes - A DIY Guide

Real names Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow are perhaps one of the most iconic and famous make and female crime partners America has ever known. Riding to massive fame during the Great Depression, their crime spree lasted from 1931 to 1935, or better known as the “Public Event Era.” Best known for a string of successful bank robberies, their reign over the world of crime came to an abrupt end when both were killed in a shot out by police in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Although law enforcement thought this would be the end of the frightful pair, this was only the beginning of their impact on American popular media. But what made them so popular? Historians point to an iconic photo find of the couple found in an abandoned hideout in March 1933. Compared to today’s standards, it may seem like a tame photo of a happy couple posing by a new car, but to 1930’s America, Bonnie Parker have the public what male crime names likeJohn Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd could not. She gave the public sex appeal and just her presence implied intercourses between her and Clyde, this made them legends. Also another solo picture of Bonny smoking a cigar and holding a gun granted her the nickname of a “cigar smoking gun moll” that would lead to her very over exaggerated depiction in the local newspapers. Creating your own Bonnie and Clyde costumes will be fun, easy and iconic.

The true and sad irony of their story is that they truly were a product of a terrible time in western history. Both born in Texas to families with several siblings, Bonnie’s father, a brick layer, died when she was only 4. She worked reputable jobs until she ran away to marry a Roy Thornton, whose wedding ring she wore until her death. After their marriage ended with his imprisonment, she returned home where she would write detailed descriptions of her future brush in’s with the law, leading to her story being well documented and thus cemented in crime history. Clyde’s family were farmers who moved to the slums of West Dallas as part of a government relocation program for workers. His fists arrests included stealing turkey for his family and not returning a rental car on time, leading to him being imprisoned and murdering his cell mate after repeatedly being sexually assaulted with no involvement by his jailors. Another inmate described Clyde’s change in demeanor as a “change from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake.” After his release he started the Barrow gang and wrapped havoc with his notorious M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, often just called a BAR. Despite his success in robbing multiple banks, gas stations and small country stores, Clyde himself recounted that he was not in it for the money, rather to gain retribution against the Texas law men for their abuses against him. It would not be until the infamous “Eastham prison Breakout” of 1934 that he finally Achebe’s this goal, casting the Texas prison system in considerable negative light. The pair met in 1930 and accounts of those close to them said it was love at first sight. They remained together throughout the rest of their careers, waiting for a violent end they both described as inevitable. Bonnie and Clyde had become the villains in a fairytale as law men finally took them down with a massive total of 130 rounds, just to be sure.

Bonnie and Clyde Costumes: The Basics

Excellent options for both a couple cosplay and a group cosplay option, Bonnie and Clyde often were seen accompanied by a gang made up of a blend of family members and other notorious robbers of the era. Extended members included: gang included Clyde’s older brother, Buck Barrow, his wife Blanche, Raymond Hamilton, W. D. Jones, Joe Palmer, Ralph Fults, and Henry Methvin.