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Britney Spears Costume – “Slave 4 U”

Feb 14, 2023 | Other Costumes

My youngest child left for college a couple of years ago. She was part of a Musical Theatre BFA program where the kids have (pretty much) weekly theme parties. At these parties, the kids almost always dress in costume. So, of course she decided she wanted to go to the Halloween party as Britney Spears. She wanted to dress in the iconic “Slave 4 U” costume that Britney wore for the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. So I agreed to make a replica of the costume.

Britney Spears Costume Top

Materials for the Top

The Top Process

I started the top with a dark green swimsuit top. I purchased the top at Target for a deep discount at the end of the summer. Target and Walmart offer pretty deep discounts on their swimsuit separates starting around September. So if you time your purchase right, you should be able to pick up a green swimsuit top for $5 – $10. Otherwise, Amazon always has some good choices, such as this one.

Alternatively, you could start with a green bra. But I prefer to use a swimsuit top. Swimsuits were intended to be worn in public, and bras are intended to be worn under an outer garment. So a swimsuit usually provides a bit more coverage. If you don’t mind spending a bit more money, you could start with a ready-made top (like this one). A ready-made top doesn’t need much work- you could skip most of the steps that follow.

I covered the bra cups with dark green stretch mesh fabric. I then draped a piece of mesh fabric from the center to each side of the bra. I also added scarves made from the green mesh to the back of the top. I attached these at each side of the center back hook.

The only green stretch mesh fabric I could find was darker than I wanted. So, after adding the fabric to the bra, I did a quick once-over with bright green fabric spray.

Then, I added embellishments at the center front and on the straps. I found an old rhinestone hair clip and some leftover pieces of rhinestone trim. I broke those apart and re-glued to make my embellishments. Any old rhinestone costume jewelry that you can have around can be used. If you don’t have anything available to use, a rhinestone applique can be cut into pieces and used. I used E6000 glue to attach my embellishments. Note: Gluing the heavier jewelry pieces requires a generous amount of glue. For more information on my methods for embellishing costumes, see this page.

Britney Spears Costume Shorts

Materials for the Shorts

The Shorts Process

I have seen this costume created with blue metallic shorts. But I started with these black dance shorts. I made them shorter to look more like the tiny shorts in the original costume. To do this, first I removed the waistband. I re-sewed the waistband further down, removing 1.5” of the length. Then, I shortened each leg by turning under the original hem an additional time. I machine-sewing around the new hem, using a zig-zag stitch to maintain the stretch in the leg. I shortened the leg by about an inch.

The Skirt

For pieces that hang down for the skirt, I used a mixture of fabric. I used purchased scarves (one blue and one green), fabric scraps, and recycled pieces of thrift store formal dresses. I attached the front pieces on each side (the green panels). I attached the scarves to silver-colored o-rings. Then I sewed the rings to the waistband of the shorts. The other pieces I attached by sewing them directly to the waistband of the shorts. I used a zigzag stitch to maintain the stretch of the waistband.

For the decorative embellishment on the front of the shorts, use a panel cut either from brightly-colored sequin fabric, or from a sequin or beaded applique. I found a colorful sequin fabric (stretch works best here). I cut out an appropriately-sized panel, and hand-sewed the panel to the shorts. I was careful to stretch the shorts along the way. This assures that the shorts will still stretch after the panel is attached.

For the waistband, I applied a scrap of stretch glitter fabric over the waistband of the shorts. Then, I hand-sewed a jeweled trim to the edge of the waistband. I gently stretched the waistband as I applied the trim.

The Boots

Boot Materials

The Britney Spears costume I was using as inspiration included mis-matched embellished boots. I bought cheap tan high-heeled boots on Amazon to use for this costume. Then I embellished the boots to resemble the originals. The ones pictured here were ~$27 when I purchased them. They were originally over-the-knee boots, which would have been cute. But I decided I would rather have them look more like the originals. So I made them into knee-high boots by removing the top section. I sewed a piece of elastic to the inside of the tops to hold them in place. If you choose to do this, make the elastic 1.5” shorter than the wearer’s calf circumference. Sew the ends of  the elastic together. Then tack the elastic to the inside of the boot near the top edge, stretching to fit the boot.

To embellish the snake boot, I started with an air-soluble marker. I drew an outline of the winding snake onto the boot. I free-handed this drawing, using the picture of the original boot as a guide. Then, I glued the green and gold sequins over the outline, one sequin at a time. I overlapped the sequins slightly to give a scale effect. After the snake was complete, I added a red rhinestone for each eye, and a line of 3 red rhinestones for the snake tongue.

For the other boot, I used clear AB rhinestones, red AB rhinestones, peacock AB rhinestones, and random plastic flat-back baubles. I glued these in a pattern that resembles the one on the original boot. Here are some close-ups of the original boots that I used as a guide.

The Snake

The snake is just a purchased stuffed snake. I sewed two elastic loops on the underside of the snake. This allowed the wearer to slip her arms through the elastic bands so she could wear the snake around her shoulders (a la Britney) without having to hold on to the snake.