HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL JR
High School Musical Costume Guide
Planning Tips, Inspiration & Links Included…
VARISTY CHEER
Top: Child and adult sizes cover all needs. (These are not cheap $30-$35, but we knew we would be doing this show again. It might be less expensive to rent!)
Skirts: The skirts offered enough sizing for all our needs. (Same as above $20-$25, might make more sense to rent)
Base layer: The white base layer looks great and protects the cheer uniform from body order stains. I recommend purchasing from the 32 Degrees website to find the best price. I paid around $5.00 per piece because they were on sale. Very soft and thin (no overheating). Well made!
Cheer briefs, yoga, and bike shorts work well under the skirt. Color: Red (Hint: The actor purchased these as they are considered an undergarment)
Captains letterman jackets (See below under Jocks)
Socks: White crew
Shoes: White tennis shoes with minmal bright accent colors
CHEER BOW
“How-To” tutorial by Christi Creates “DIY Cheer Bow Tutorial How to Stiffen Your Bow!”
Cricut accessories: See my Costume Resource- miscellaneous page
Bow stiffener: Aleene’s Stiffen Quik. Use after applying Cricut applique. I recommend 2-3 treatments (Sold at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Amazon)
JUNIOR CHEER
White t-shirt: I prefer Gildan t-shirts for quality for price, sizing and range of colors (Sold at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Amazon, Jiffy.com)
Black “practice” cheer shorts: Amazon has the best deal usually (3 pairs for $15-20)
Socks: White crew
Shoes: Whte tennis shoes with minmal bright accent colors
JOCKS
Letterman’s jackets- These are lighweight (compared to true letterman’s jackets) and worked great! HINT: Beware when you wash them the red can bleed causing pink arms.
T-shirt: I prefer Gildan t-shirts for sizing options, range of colors, quality for price. (Sold at Joann Fabrics, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Amazon, Jiffy.com)
Basketball jersey-These are reversible, so for the end of the show performance we had a few boys turn them inside out (white) to be the opposing team.
Basketball shorts: Short are on the thinner side, I recommend dark colored underwear
Jeans: The actors provided their own blue jeans (no skinny/tight, no baggy, no holes, no black or colored jeans)
Socks: White mid-calf
Shoes: white with limited color
Mascot: We kept our mascot in his uniform and put the mascot “head” on him.
For our High School Musical production, we styled the Thespians using T-shirts from previous musical theater performances. Many students already had one, and for those who didn’t, we pulled from a leftover box of unsold shirts—nothing went to waste.
To finish the look, we paired the shirts with dark, moody clothing the students already had in their closets. This kept costs down, reduced new purchasing, and still gave the group a cohesive onstage presence.
For the Brainiacs, yellow was the primary color, with Taylor’s look inspired by Cher in Clueless—clean lines, classic pieces, and a polished silhouette. To keep the group cohesive, each actor was required to wear at least one yellow item.
Taylor was the only character allowed to wear bright yellow, including a blazer and headband. Keeping that color exclusive made her stand out immediately as the group’s leader while still tying her visually to the rest of the Brainiacs.
