When we were pitching ideas for this year’s collection of Cult Classic Movie Costumes, I really had to push hard to sell Troop Beverly Hills to the rest of the team. It turns out that I’m the only one in the office who’s old enough to have really grown up on this film, but I KNOW there are others of you out there who can quote the entire thing. I’ve been wanting to create my own Phyllis Nefler costume since I was a kid, and this year my cookie dreams finally came true. Camille and Phoebe modeled this look, which works perfectly as the cutest mom-and-me costume idea. Scroll down to discover how I created the Phyllis uniform. Note: You may have noticed that our uniforms don’t involve patches… we don’t need no stinkin’ patches!
photographed by kristen kilpatrick
I started with a plain khaki shirtdress I scored on eBay for about $20 (similar one available here). Then I headed to the fabric store and bought several yards of green piping, khaki fabric, and green silk. I also picked up a green boy scout belt on Amazon for super cheap.
I hand stitched the piping everywhere I could on the shirtdress — around the pockets, lapels, and every seam I could get to. I then made a simple tie out of the green silk with my sewing machine.
The real “wow” factor of this costume is definitely the cape! I had a cheap black nylon Halloween cape in my closet that I used as a pattern, and I sewed a simple cape with the khaki fabric and lined it with the green silk. I then put a simple hook-and-eye closure onto the front of the cape. Voila!
I found the hat at an army surplus store, and added the green piping there as well. Finally, I stitched a few pheasant feathers into the hat to give it that Phyllis Nefler touch.
Of course this costume wouldn’t be complete without at least one real Wilderness Girl! I bought Phoebe’s shirt dress on Amazon, and used the green leftover silk to create her bandana. The green socks and beret were also Amazon finds.
Our production assistant Carmen crafted the cute cookie retro cookie box, then filled it with Chips-a-Hoy (to Phoebe’s delight!)
Together they make a pretty cute pair, don’t they?
A simplified version of the costume (without the cape) is really just as cute. This is DIY you can definitely tackle. Beverly Hills, what a thrill!
