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Academy Award winner Emma Stone just sunk her teeth into one of the most epic sports stories of all time: the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes.” Her movie by the same name premiered in theaters this month and is getting lots of buzz. If you own a tennis racket (or just want to swing one on Halloween) this is the perfect costume. Billie Jean famously beat the male chauvinist in the match–plus, you get to wear Adidas sneakers. It’s a win-win for fashion and feminism.
Emma Stone put her game face on (and gained 15 lb. of muscle!) to play tennis great Billie Jean King in “Battle of the Sexes”–and to get YOUR game face on for the Halloween costume, first thing you should do is study her look in the movie trailer:
“He made a bet. She made history.” is the tagline of the film–and the movie does a good job of showing how this epic spectacle of a match came to be. In it, Stone trains hard and steps up to the plate to be an example for an entire generation of women. Love the feminist message! Now, here’s what you’ll need to be her for Halloween:
1. A retro tennis dress
One of the signature tennis looks for women is a white pleated dress or skirt. Billie Jean’s dresses even back in the 70s were pretty timeless–so you can splurge on something from Adidas or Stella McCartney and actually wear it again after Halloween. I like this Adidas one–although it’s $140, and if you don’t want to spend that much simply check out your local Salvation Army or Goodwill (or sporting goods store for something in the under-$50 range).
adidas Women’s Pharrell NY Vintage Dress ($140)
2. A mullet (no offense, Billie Jean!)
All due respect to Billie Jean, but she definitely rocks a mullet hairstyle–especially at the time of the Battle of Sexes match. Hey, it was the 70s! You’ll need to come pretty close to her hairstyle to pull off this costume. Unless you want to cut your hair–which you definitely don’t–you’ll need a mullet wig. I found this one on Amazon–it’s one of the less offensive mullet wigs for women out there:
Mullet wig ($9.99)
3. A tennis racket.
Depending on how intensely you want to play the role–or how much you want to spend–you can go a number of ways. You can buy an actual wooden vintage/retro tennis racket to get *really* in character. But they aren’t cheap. Or, you can grab a cheap Wilson racket on Amazon–nobody will notice the difference between the wooden styles they played with back in the 70s versus a more modern synthetic racket. Or, of course, if you own a tennis racket–just use that.
Our pick: a cheap Wilson racket form Amazon ($14.99)
4. Round eyeglasses
One of the things Emma did to look the part was don round eyeglasses like the ones the real Billie Jean wears. You’ll need these! I found a quick and easy pair on Amazon–but you can use whatever round eyeglasses you’ve got. These are ugly–but they’re only $1.50. Gotta love Amazon.
Retro round glasses ($1.50)
5. Sneakers
Yasss–here’s when you can either wear something you own, or use it as an excuse to buy a new pair of Adidas sneakers. These Baseline sneakers will work just find. She also wore the black pair IRL.
Adidas Baseline sneakers (from $39)
6. Tennis balls
This is totally optional and just a fun prop that you can carry around and/or play with throughout the night. I mean a tennis player needs balls!
Tennis balls ($7)
So, there you have it–everything you need to kick some male chauvinist you-know-what this Halloween! This Halloween costume is an ace as far as we’re concerned.
One more thing, don’t forget to check out this year’s best pop culture Halloween costumes!
