How to Dress as Art the Clown

Halloween costume plans usually start with a character and end with a shopping list that doesn’t match what’s on screen. Art the Clown is a good example: simple silhouette, and the details are what people notice.

Dressing as Art comes down to five parts: the face, a black and white harlequin suit with a ruffled collar, the tiny top hat, white cut-off-finger gloves and a prop. The face carries the whole look, so it’s the part to settle first.

We stock the UK and Europe’s largest horror mask range and we’re the only European stockist of Immortal Masks, so we’ve seen which Art builds hold up on the night. Below we’ll cover each part in the order you should buy it, plus the UK rules on props.

What Art Actually Wears

Before you buy anything, it helps to know how many pieces you’re assembling. The look breaks down into five:

• The face: a white clown face with heavy black detail around the eyes, nose and mouth, under a white head covering.
• The suit: a harlequin jumpsuit with a ruffled collar and matching cuffs.
• The hat: a tiny black top hat, worn cocked to one side.
• The gloves: white gloves with the fingertips cut off.
• The shoes: black clown shoes.

A prop sits on top of that, and fake blood on top of the prop. Our Art the Clown costume range covers your costume, excluding shoes.

Start With the Face, Not the Paint

The face is where an Art build is won or lost, so it deserves the first decision and most of the budget. Painting it is a route people take, and hand-drawn black detail over a white base photographs well. It also runs to 45 minutes or more, it smudges the first time you touch your face, and there’s no fixing it at eleven at night. A mask goes on in seconds and looks the same at two in the morning as it did at eight.

Masks come in three routes, and people tend to move up them over time: a cheap latex mask off a marketplace, then a licensed one, then silicone.

The practical route. Our Terrifier 2 Art the Clown Deluxe Injection Mask is a hard plastic face on an elastic strap, and it arrives with Art’s white head covering and the little hat already attached. The hood and the tiny hat are the hardest pieces to source separately, and people end up trying balaclavas or 3D printing the hat. It’s latex-free too, which is why plenty of buyers pick it.

The screen-accurate route. Our Terrifier Art the Clown Mask from Trick or Treat Studios is a full-head latex pull-on sculpted by Russ Lukich, with a bloodied Killer Mask version alongside it. The Terrifier 3 Art the Clown Mask goes further: Tinsley Studio scanned David Howard Thornton wearing the actual prosthetic, so the proportions are the film’s own. There’s a trade. A full-head mask sits closer to your skin than one on a strap, so it runs warmer, and your side vision narrows in a dark room.

The top of the ladder. The Immortal Masks Art the Clown Silicone Mask pulls over your whole head with a sculpted chest piece, moves with your expressions and arrives with the small black bowler in place. We’re its exclusive European stockist.

One mix-up worth heading off: our Fright Rags Art the Clown Mini Mask is a four-inch retro collectible, not something wearable. You’ll find every version in our full range of Art the Clown masks.

The Suit, and Three Things That Give a Cheap One Away

With the face settled, the suit is a choice between buying it made and building it from separate pieces. Our Terrifier Art the Clown Costume from Trick or Treat Studios was copied one-to-one from the screen-used costume, so the harlequin pattern, collar and cuffs are the film’s own. The mask isn’t included, which catches people out. Tinsley Studio’s Terrifier 3 costume covers the later look, clean or bloody, in one size cut to fit medium to large.

Building it yourself means a harlequin jumpsuit, a ruffled collar and cuffs, white cut-off-finger gloves and canvas high-tops. Cheap sets are where the look falls down, so check three things:

• The hood should tuck into the suit, not sit over it. It’s the most visible sign of a rushed build.
• A baggy hood needs pinning or taking in until it sits close to the head.
• Watch the armholes. If the whole side of the suit lifts when you raise your arm, it’s been cut short of material.

Notre Terrifier costume pages show the pieces in detail.

The Details That Finish the Look

The gap between a good Art and a great one is a handful of small things that cost very little.

• The hat sits cocked to one side, never square on the head. Fans notice immediately.
• Black around the eyes and nose. With a mask on, your own skin shows through the openings and breaks the illusion. Black makeup underneath fixes it, and it’s the one bit of face makeup the look needs.
• Dirty fingernails, blackened at the tips, with blood on the gloves and fingers.
• Teeth dark, not black. Fully blacked-out teeth read wrong; yellowed, with dark red gums, is the look people are after. Our Bitemares Art the Clown Teeth are a painted upper and lower set that mould to your own teeth with heated pellets.
• Sunflower glasses. The licensed daisy shades from the second film sit over the mask, sold as a display piece rather than eyewear.

One warning from a builder who learned it the hard way: don’t paint a mask’s teeth. Black nail polish went on and would not come off. Any change you make should be one you can undo.

Pick Your Prop

Our Hacksaw Prop and Bloody Hacksaw Prop are lightweight plastic, and the Bloody Butchers Knife in our premium range is hand-painted PU foam, a soft moulded foam with no hard edge, which is what events mean by convention-safe. The licensed Terrifier 2 Art the Clown Hacksaw from Trick or Treat Studios is closest to the film version. They’re all in our replica weapons range.

Which Art Are You Going As?

Deciding which film you’re recreating narrows the shopping list. The first film’s Art is the cleanest: white face, clown suit, very little blood. The second adds the daisy sunglasses and a lot more of it. Terrifier 3 brings the Santa look, covered by our Santa Art the Clown Deluxe Injection Mask. Pick the film first and the mask second.

Making It Last the Whole Night

Most of the effort goes into how a costume looks, and some should go into how it wears.

• Full-head masks are warm, so plan somewhere to step outside and lift it.
• Glasses under a full-head mask are awkward. Contact lenses if you have them, or the strap-on injection mask.
• Eating and drinking in a full-head mask isn’t practical, so expect to take it off.
• Fake blood transfers onto car seats, sofas and anyone who hugs you. Let it dry properly and take a bin bag for the seat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Things people tend to ask before committing to a build.

Is Art the Clown wearing a costume?

Yes. In the films, Art is a man in a clown suit, with a bald cap and prosthetic nose doing the work on his face. The clown is a costume rather than a creature, which is why the look can be copied so closely.

What does Art the Clown look like without the costume?

Art is played by David Howard Thornton, who looks nothing like the character out of the makeup. ScreenRant has side by side photographs.

Why doesn’t Art the Clown speak?

Art has never spoken a line in any of the films. Everything is done through mime and gesture, a deliberate choice by writer and director Damien Leone. Stay silent, slow your movements right down, and the character does half the work for you.

Which Art the Clown mask should you buy?

It depends on the night. For a single party, a hard plastic injection mask with the hood and hat attached gets you there with the least fuss. For photographs, a convention or a scare event, a licensed latex or silicone mask holds up to close inspection.

Getting Your Art the Clown Look Together

Dressing as Art works from the face outwards. Settle the mask, then the suit, then the small details people photograph, and keep the prop covered until you’re through the door. If you’re weighing up two masks and can’t decide, our team are horror fans first and happy to talk it through. Thanks for reading.