Dressing the part
Harry Potter enthusiasts enjoy varying degrees of impersonation
London's Diagon Alley, the center of the wizarding world, is nearly 4,000 miles away as the broomstick flies, and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions has yet to open in Naperville.
It may seem local Harry Potter fans looking to dress the part for the releases of the latest book and movie this month are in more trouble than the boy wizard and his friends usually get into at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Photos by Emily Spence / Staff photographer
But any Muggle can conjure up a costume for the occasion, from the homemade to the store-bought to the things already in your closet.
"The main characters - the obvious ones, like Harry, Ron and Hermione - are the ones you see the most often," Anderson said.
Harry and friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are most often seen in their Hogwarts school uniform - white collared shirt, striped tie, gray sweater, black pants or skirt and black hooded robe.
Simplicity patterns, available at most craft stores, offer a generic cape, tunic and hat pattern - pattern number 9887 - that can be modified to resemble Hogwarts robes.
But Anderson said the best costumes at Muggle Magic were based on more obscure characters and creatures.
"There was a costume for the Whomping Willow that I don't think I'll ever forget," Anderson said.
The Whomping Willow is a tree on the grounds of Hogwarts that attacks anybody and anything that comes within reach of its branches. The costume was made of fabric and fake plants.
In addition to officially-licensed products available at most costume stores, Alivan's, online at www.alivans.com, specializes in handcrafted magic wands. It sells its own Hogwarts sweaters, ties and robes.
Alivan's wands are also available at Geppetto's Toy Box in Oak Park.
"We've had people calling from Tennessee and other places who have seen our store on the Web site, asking us about specific wands," said Meghan Ristau of Geppetto's Toy Box.
The Oak Park store stocks Harry, Ron and Hermione's wands. It also sells brooms, scarves and ties, and Ristau said she expects to offer robes soon.
Of course, sometimes wizards dress as they imagine non-magic folk do. In "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," wizards are described wearing ponchos with kilts and long, flowered housedresses. Any mismatched combination from the back of your closet will do.
"The more creative, the better, and have fun with it," Anderson said when it comes to costumes of any skill level.
If you're really after the Triwizard Cup of costuming at Anderson Bookshop's costume competition during The Party That Shall Not Be Named this year, there is one costume Anderson said he hasn't seen yet.
"I would like to see a really good dragon," he said.
The Chinese Fireball dragon is scarlet with a mane of gold spikes around its face. Hungarian Horntails and Norwegian Ridgebacks are both black. The Horntail has bronze horns and spikes on its tail, while the Ridgeback has a black ridge down its back.
Contact Emily McFarlan at emcfarlan@scn1.com or 630-416-5196.