Carl may be the one running around the dungeon barefoot in heart boxers, but we all know who the real star is.
Her Royal Highness Princess Donut, the Queen Anne Chonk.
And if you’re going to dress as Donut for Halloween, a convention, or simply because you’ve decided your wardrobe could use more tiaras and unreasonable levels of self-confidence, you have two jobs:
Look like a cat. Look expensive.
Fortunately, neither requires an actual Persian-cat grooming budget.
The Easy Princess Donut Costume
The trick with a human Princess Donut costume is making sure you don’t end up looking like you grabbed a pair of cat ears on the way out the door and called it good.
Donut is a tortoiseshell Persian, so start with dark, mottled neutrals—charcoal, smoky gray, brown, taupe, and black. Add plenty of fluff to suggest that glorious Persian coat.
Then pile on the things that make Donut unmistakably Donut: the crown, the glasses, a butterfly at her neck, and enough metallic sparkle to suggest that this particular cat has better armor than you do.
The basic formula:
tortoiseshell + fluff + crown + glasses + butterfly + armor + staggering self-importance.
Easy enough.
Your Princess Donut Costume Checklist
- Dark brown, charcoal, gray, taupe, or black base clothing
- Fluffy faux-fur collar or cuffs
- Cat ears
- Butterfly choker
- Tiara
- Oversized round sunglasses
- Silver armor-inspired skirt
- Optional cat tail
- Optional additional furry cuffs
- Completely non-optional attitude
Let’s make a Princess.
1. Start With a Tortoiseshell Base
First things first: Donut is not a white cat. Avoid this n00b and sloppy, AI-generated art mistake.
She’s a tortoiseshell Persian, so skip the all-white kitty costume and raid your closet for darker neutrals instead.
Black leggings, a charcoal top, a brown dress, dark tights, a taupe bodysuit—there are plenty of ways to build the foundation without buying an entire outfit you’ll never wear again.
And don’t worry about getting every shade perfectly matched. Tortoiseshell coats are naturally a mix of colors, so combining black, charcoal, brown, and taupe can actually make the costume work better.
Storyworld Supply tip: Spend your costume budget on the pieces that make people recognize Donut. Nobody needs an affiliate link to a black shirt.
2. Add the Persian Fluff
This is where we stop looking like person wearing dark clothing and start moving toward enormously fluffy royal Persian cat.
Donut needs some volume around the neck and chest. A faux-fur collar or scarf is an easy way to create that big Persian ruff without encasing your entire body in fake fur.
Our pick: Faux-fur collar/scarf set
(paid link)
If you’d rather keep things simpler—or if Halloween where you live does not remotely qualify as faux-fur weather—fur cuffs alone can give you the same idea with considerably less insulation.
Alternative: Faux-fur wrist cuffs
(paid link)
Just don’t feel obligated to wear every furry thing we’ve found simultaneously. You’re portraying a Persian cat, not being absorbed by one.
3. Give Yourself Some Ears
Yes, you need cat ears.
Without them, the tiara and sunglasses are going to raise considerably more questions.
Our pick: Cat-ear headband
(paid link)
We’re keeping this part inexpensive because the ears have one job: establish that you are a cat.
They do not need Bluetooth connectivity, Swarovski crystals, or their own line item in your retirement plan.
Save the drama for the crown.
4. Add the Butterfly
This is one of those little details that separates Princess Donut from strange, random glamorous cat person.
A butterfly at the neck gives DCC readers another recognizable cue without requiring you to build some elaborate dungeon-accurate prop.
Our pick: Butterfly choker
(paid link)
It’s small, easy, and inexpensive—and exactly the sort of detail another fan will notice.
Everyone else will simply assume your cat has excellent taste in jewelry.
Also acceptable.
5. Crown Her Royal Highness
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Donut is a Princess. She requires a crown.
Our pick: Crystal tiara
(paid link)
This is not the place for tasteful restraint.
You’re dressing as a talking Persian cat with a royal title who has absolutely no doubts about her own importance. A little sparkle is not only permitted; it’s practically character development.
Perch it over the cat ears, secure it well enough to survive the evening, and proceed as though everyone in the room is fortunate you’ve chosen to attend.
6. Put on the Sunglasses
The oversized round sunglasses are one of the easiest ways to push this costume from princess cat toward Princess Donut.
Our pick: Oversized round sunglasses
(paid link)
Crown on. Glasses on. Judgment activated.
At this point you should already be looking considerably more important than Carl.
As nature intended.
Give Donut Some Armor
Here’s where this costume gets really fun.
Donut isn’t merely a fluffy cat wearing accessories. She’s a Dungeon Crawler, and incorporating something metallic into the outfit helps connect all that royal-cat glamour back to the dungeon.
You could certainly make elaborate cosplay armor.
Or—and hear us out—you could wear a shiny skirt.
The Easy Armor Option
Our pick: Silver sequin triangle skirt
(paid link)
This is our favorite shortcut for an easy Halloween Donut because it gives you that overlapping, metallic, armor-ish look without requiring actual metalworking skills or the ability to sit comfortably in chainmail.
Layer it over dark leggings, shorts, a skirt, or whatever you’re using as your tortoiseshell base.
Is it actual armor? No.
Will anybody at the Halloween party attempt to stab you with a goblin spear? Also hopefully no.
The “I Have Committed to the Bit” Option
Of course, some of you saw easy costume guide in the title and immediately decided that wasn’t going to be good enough.
We respect this.
Upgrade pick: Chainmail skirt
(paid link)
Actual metal takes the armor element to another level and gives the costume considerably more dungeon credibility.
It’s heavier, more expensive, and wildly less necessary.
Which, depending on your personality, may make it irresistible.
More of a Good Thing
Do You Need a Tail?
Need? No.
Want? Possibly.
Optional pick: Cat tail
(paid link)
A tail makes the cat silhouette more obvious, especially from behind, and it’s an easy addition if you want to lean farther into the costume.
But once you’ve got ears, Persian fluff, a butterfly, a crown, giant sunglasses, and armor, nobody is standing there thinking:
I’m just not sure what she’s going for. If only there were a tail.
Consider this one optional.
Want More Fluff?
If the Persian ruff isn’t enough for you, add faux-fur cuffs at the ankles, too.
Optional pick: Ankle cuffs
(paid link)
This is particularly useful if your base outfit is fairly plain. A few strategically placed furry areas break up the human silhouette and give you more of that enormous Persian-coat effect.
You can also mix slightly different shades of charcoal, brown, gray, or taupe. Donut is a tortoiseshell; perfectly matched fur isn’t the goal.
There is, however, a point at which adding additional fur stops improving the costume.
We cannot tell you precisely where that point is.
We trust you’ll know it when you can no longer fit through a doorway.
The Attitude Is Not Optional
You can buy the ears.
You can buy the crown.
You can buy enough faux fur to become a significant fire hazard.
But nobody can sell you the most important component of a Princess Donut costume:
the absolute certainty that you are the most important creature in every room you enter.
Donut doesn’t merely wear a tiara.
Donut believes the tiara is an acknowledgement of an obvious fact.
So straighten the crown. Put on the sunglasses. Look around the room as though you’re mildly disappointed by the accommodations.
You’re ready.
Make It a Carl and Donut Costume
Of course, Princess Donut gets even better when you bring along a Carl.
Fortunately, we’ve already done the work for him.
Pair your Donut costume with our Dress Like Carl: An Easy Dungeon Crawler Carl Costume Guide and you’ve got one of the easiest DCC couples—or friends—costumes to pull together.
He gets heart boxers, knee pads, a vest, a gauntlet, and no shoes.
You get jewelry, sunglasses, a crown, and armor.
We don’t make the rules.
Want to Take Your Donut Costume Further?
The version above should give you a recognizable Princess Donut without turning Halloween into a six-week fabrication project.
But there’s plenty of room to level up.
Add more elaborate armor. Build custom accessories. Experiment with tortoiseshell makeup. Weather the armor. Create paw-like gloves or boots. Add more book-specific details as your cosplay ambitions—and tolerance for spoilers—allow.
Just remember that the best Donut costume isn’t necessarily the one with the most stuff.
It’s the one that combines Persian cat + royalty + dungeon crawler so clearly that another DCC reader spots you across the room and immediately knows exactly who you are.
And if they don’t?
Take off the sunglasses.
Look them directly in the eye.
And silently judge them. Mongo would be appalled.
