When it comes to an escape room, the name of the game is immersion. You’ve got your eerie ambience, kooky décor, and maybe even an eccentric puzzle operator or two.
But immersing yourself in a strange setting is really only half the fun. If your escape room staff get to play the role of a character, then why can’t you? To level up your escape room experience, you should consider dressing up in a costume!
But details matter here—you need to solve puzzles in style, after all! Perhaps you’ve already asked about what to wear to an escape room, and you know what pieces you want to bring with you. The next riddle for you is this: how do you dress on theme during your escape room experience?
Here is everything you need to know for coming up with your own escape room outfit ideas!
Why What You Wear Matters in an Escape Room
Now, there is no official escape room dress code, per se, but what you choose to wear when participating in an escape room does matter. You should be dressing with comfort and mobility in mind since you’ll be solving physical puzzles, bending your arms and legs, and moving around a lot—maybe even crawling on all fours!
This means the best clothes for an escape room are probably stretchy pants and comfortable shirts. Avoid wearing long dresses and dangling jewellery, too. Although wearing a fully-modular suit of metal armour would be epic, it might not be the most feasible choice for your escape room night, especially since some escape rooms can take a long time to complete.
There are certain safety considerations to keep in mind, too. Try to avoid wearing high heels or heavy boots and restrictive clothing. These may get in your way and keep you from exploring the details of the puzzle room. Choose closed-toe shoes or joggers instead.
While dressing in theme can help enhance your story experience, you should aim to dress for comfort and ease of movement. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to wear boring sweatpants and t-shirts; you can still have plenty of fun dressing up for your escape room!
Wear These!
- Comfortable short-sleeve or long-sleeve shirts
- Stretchy pants or joggers
- Shorts
- Hoodie or jacket
- Closed-toe shoes or runners
DO NOT Wear These!
- Restrictive clothes
- Too long or too short dresses
- Short shorts
- High heels
- Thongs or sandals
- Hard-toe boots
- Heavy or bulky jewellery
Dressing on Theme: Outfit Ideas by Escape Room Genre
Once you have your head wrapped around what you should and should not wear to an escape room, then you can have fun coming up with all kinds of costume ideas for different themes and genres! There is a wide variety of different escape room themes available, so use your imagination to come up with different options depending on what type of puzzles you may be solving.
Some genre-specific outfit ideas include:
Detective & Mystery Rooms
Release your inner Sherlock Holmes and solve a mystery in style! For detective mystery or who-dunnit escape rooms, consider donning a loose trench coat, vintage hat, and other quizzical, turn-of-the-century-inspired clothing.
Feel free to bring your own pipe, spectacles, and magnifying glass, too…unless there’s one in the room already, which there could be! Adopt some accents for extra immersion, and you’ll have an indubitably invigorating evening foray! Hurrah!
Pro tip: the intrigue of mystery escape rooms also make for great date night experiences, so if you wanted to dress up as Sherlock and Watson or even Poirot and Agatha Christie, feel free to come along with your deerhunter hat or classic black boater.
Horror Rooms
For the thrill seekers out there, you can have extra fun dressing up super spooky for all your favourite horror-themed escape rooms. Wear dark clothing with plenty of black and spooky (but still practical) accessories and props, like fangs, claws, and sunglasses. Wear some kooky makeup, too!
Dress up like you’re in your own scary movie. Some horror theme escape room outfits include the Nerd, Cheerleader, Witch, Zombie, Monster Hunter, and more! And if you’re looking to celebrate Halloween in Australia with a spooky escape room experience, then you kill two bats with one stake and get two excuses to wear your costume!
Adventure Rooms
If you’re gearing up for an adventure-themed escape room like our Mine Escape, then you may be inspired to dress up like your action hero favourites, like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. Wear some cargo pants or safari-style ensemble pieces to really get in the mood for a jungle escapade.
Put on some makeup dirt to truly blend in, or if you’re feeling extra adventurous, try dressing up like an animal! You’ll certainly be immersed if you blend in with the leopard-print fabric on the wall!
Fantasy & Magic Rooms
Now, yes, the suit of armour mentioned before does qualify for the DO NOT wear list, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still live out your escape room fantasies in another way! Adopt the persona of a wizard and wear a robe with wide sleeves or a dramatic cape so you can peruse the mystical bookshelves like Merlin really would. Glow-in-the-dark clothes and shoes would also look great here, matching the mysterious atmosphere of a Magic Escape Room.
Bring some whimsical accessories like a wand or a stuffed dragon toy. And if it’s safe, bring a toy sword, too! Although there may be plenty of props available in your escape room for you to borrow, but, what-oh! The more the merrier!
Sci-Fi & Futuristic Rooms
If your escape room is set amongst the stars and features an alien or a spaceship, then MAYDAY MAYDAY, you need a futuristic outfit! Try dressing in metallic colours with shiny elements. Anything space-inspired is prime for a moment like this.
You can commit to talking like Star Trek commanders or dressing up like Jedi and Sith. While you’re in space, make the most of it and dress like you’re really from the year 3000. Wear those sunglasses, because, in space, you need them!
A Group Outfit Is Even More Fun!
All of these tips and outfit ideas are applicable to individuals, but the chances are high that you’re in a group! Most escape rooms will require at least two or more participants, so if you’ve got a group of friends joining in on the fun, try organising themed outfits for the whole team! Your bucks/hens night or office Christmas party will be twice as memorable if everyone is matching in their escape room!
Coordinating outfits can also be another team building activity on top of your shared escape room session. Coordinate amongst your squad who will dress as which character, and perhaps delegate specific people to bring specific props and costume pieces. Your group photo will look even better if you’re all wearing coordinated outfits! In fact, if you need some inspiration for escape room group outfit ideas, check out the photo wall and see what other groups have thought up!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to wear a costume for an escape room?
You don’t need to wear a costume for an escape room, but you can! And why not? Wearing a costume will add to your immersive experience, so please consider it!
Can I wear high heels to an escape room?
We recommend you do not wear high heels to an escape room. There is a lot of moving around involved in an escape room, and you could step on someone’s hand or foot by accident. Proper escape room etiquette, please!
Should I dress formally or casually for an escape room?
We suggest you dress comfortably for an escape room. Button-up shirts with pants and short dresses may be comfortable enough for some to navigate an escape room’s puzzles, but we do not recommend wearing any formal attire. Please dress in theme if you want, but comfortably!
What’s the best outfit for a scary escape room?
That’s a subjective question… What is a scary outfit to you? Are you the killer, the monster, or the next victim? When you’ve made up your mind, show us what creepy costume you come up with! An escape room is as scary as you want it to be.
You can find more escape room FAQs here!
Enhance Your Escape Room Immersion By Dressing on Theme
The key to a successful escape room outing is embracing the experience. The theming, the wordplay, the puzzles, the atmosphere—all of it adds up to a memorable experience!
If you’re looking to upgrade your escape room experience, then consider dressing on theme! Get creative and be sure to balance comfort with thematic commitment. Book your next escape room adventure and dress the part! We can’t wait to see how you look!
