These Fern Arable costume ideas make dressing as the lovable Charlotte’s Web character easy. Do it yourself by pulling these pieces from your closet and/or purchasing them on Amazon. Kids will love to see you dressed in real life as this popular female book character costume. Plan your outfit below.
Why You’ll Love This Fern Arable Costume from Charlotte’s Web
This costume is inspired by the little girl on the cover art of the classic children’s book about the friendship between a pig and a barn spider, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Published in 1952, Charlotte’s Web is a Newberry Honor Award Winner and one of America’s top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS’s The Great American Read.
In Charlotte’s Web, Fern Arable is a young girl. She has short, light brown hair and wears modest, practical clothing suited for farm life, including a dress and apron.
These costume ideas form the basics of Fern’s outfit from the famous book cover plus offer additional accessories for you to incorporate, including a PDF of a spiderweb that says “Some Pig,” which I created for you to print out and use.
To dress as Fern from Charlotte’s Web, choose a red dress. Add a pinafore apron and a simple bonnet. Complete the look with practical shoes to reflect her farm life.
Besides Halloween, it also makes a great Book Week costume.
Note: Alternatively, you can opt instead to wear other “farmer girl” clothes that Fern wears within the book, including rolled-up jeans, a gingham shirt, and black sneakers.
DIY Fern in Charlotte’s Web Costume Ideas
Red Collared Dress
This red collared dress is absolutely perfect since it also bears a white collar like Fern’s on the book cover.
Denim Vest
I’ve seen some iterations where Fern wears a button-up denim vest over her dress, and I do think this offers e a more farm-inspired look.
That being said, I don’t think it’s essential since it’s not featured on the cover art, so opt in or out of this particular item.
Brown Mary Janes and Socks
Like many classic literary characters, Fern wears flat brown Mary Janes with ruffled cuff socks.
You can also wear brown loafers or ballet flats.
Plush Pig
To look just like the cover art featuring animal characters including Fern’s beloved Wilbur, you should carry a plush piggie.
Another cute option would be to have your child dress as a pig!
Pigtail Holders
While note absolutely essential, Fern does wear red pigtail holders on her pigtails in the cover art.
Charlotte’s Web Book
Carry the original Charlotte’s Web book alongside your costume, and perhaps even read it to kids!
Another cute option would be to carry a little basket with your Wilbur toy.
“Some Pig” Printable PDF
Lastly, I wanted to incorporate Charlotte and her miraculous spider web into this costume in a way that wasn’t as freaky as spiders can be to some people and kids.
So, I decided instead to create a PDF of Charlotte’s miraculous web for you to download and use. Some ideas for what you can do with it include placing it in a little basket with your Wilbur toy or affixing a stick and carrying it.
Alternatively, wear a little black plastic spider ring, carry a plush spider toy, or even have someone else dress as a spider alongside you.
Download and print your “Some Pig” spider web below:
Shop the Fern Arable Costume
More Female Book Character Halloween Costumes
If you loved this post, you will love these adult book character costumes:
- DIY Nancy Drew Costume
- DIY Olivia the Pig Costume
- DIY Eloise at the Plaza Costume
- DIY Pippi Longstocking Costume
- DIY Coraline Costume
- DIY Junie B. Jones Costume
remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules
