Christmas
Christmas Vacation Costumes: How to Dress as Cousin Eddie, Ellen and the Griswolds (2026)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) is the Christmas movie people dress up as. Its costumes are cheap, easy to recognize and funny without trying: a white sweater over a black dickie, a bathrobe on the front lawn, a white lace blouse with a brooch. This guide covers every Griswold look, what you need for each one, and where to get the pieces.
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Cousin Eddie: the white sweater and black dickie
Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie arrives uninvited in a rusty RV, and his outfit is the most requested costume from the movie: a tight white V-neck sweater with a black dickie (a false turtleneck collar) underneath, brown slacks and slicked-back hair. Everyone at an ugly-sweater party will know who you are.
- Cousin Eddie costume – white sweater and black dickie (two-piece set)
- Cousin Eddie dickie costume – Christmas Vacation sweater set
- Uncle Eddie dickie costume – sweater and dickey
- Cousin Eddie turtleneck sweater – one sweater with the black collar built in, if you don’t want a separate dickie
- Cousin Eddie V-neck sweater and dickey
Finish the look: brown slacks, loafers, a can of beer or a cup of eggnog. Stand too close to people.
Cousin Eddie: the bathrobe and hat
The second Eddie look comes from the morning he empties his RV into the storm drain in a white bathrobe and a hat (“Merry Christmas! Shitter was full!”). It is warmer than the sweater, and it works as a lazy last-minute costume.
- Cousin Eddie hat and robe costume – robe, belt, hat and a pipe
- Cousin Eddie costume – white robe and trapper hat set
Finish the look: black socks, slippers, and a garden hose over one shoulder.
Ellen Griswold: the white blouse and green skirt
Beverly D’Angelo’s Ellen Griswold is the calm one in the family, and her white high-neck lace blouse with a brooch, worn with a long green skirt, is the outfit people search for as “the Beverly D’Angelo Christmas Vacation blouse”.
Finish the look: soft curled hair, pearl earrings, and a patient smile.
Clark Griswold
Chevy Chase’s Clark needs no costume set: a Christmas sweater or a cardigan over a collared shirt, slacks, and a string of Christmas lights over your shoulder. A sled works as a prop too.
Catherine, Eddie’s wife
Eddie’s wife Catherine is easy to put together from a thrift store: a loud patterned blouse or sweater, big curled hair and large glasses. Pair it with any Eddie costume above for the best couples costume from the movie, or start from the Cousin Eddie and wife costume (Eddie’s robe, hat and hose set).
Couples and group ideas
- Couple: Cousin Eddie (sweater and dickie) and Catherine, or Clark and Ellen.
- Family: Clark, Ellen, Audrey and Rusty, with one friend as Cousin Eddie in the bathrobe.
- Office party: everyone in Christmas sweaters, one Cousin Eddie, one Clark with the lights.
More Christmas movie costumes
- Leg lamp costume – the Old Man’s “major award” from A Christmas Story (1983), as a gold lamp-shade skirt; comes in a plus size.
- Hermey the dentist elf – the elf from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) who wants to be a dentist.
Quick answers
What does Cousin Eddie wear in Christmas Vacation? A white V-neck sweater over a black dickie with brown slacks, and later a white bathrobe and a hat when he empties the RV.
What is a dickie? A false collar: just the turtleneck part, worn under a sweater so it looks like a full turtleneck.
What is the easiest Christmas Vacation costume? The Cousin Eddie sweater and dickie: two pieces and you are done.
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