How to Make Don Ramón Costume
Light Blue Bucket HatBlack Pocket T-ShirtRelaxed Stonewash JeansWhite Canvas SneakersFake Mustache and Eyebrows SetSaveTap any item in the photo to shop itClick any item in the photo to shop it
| # | Item | Description | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Light Blue Bucket Hat | Don Ramón's one real "costume" piece: a soft, floppy, washed pale blue bucket hat worn pulled down over his hair. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 2 | Black Pocket T-Shirt | A plain black crew-neck tee with a chest pocket, worn loose and a little faded. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 3 | Relaxed Stonewash Jeans | Everyday blue jeans in a relaxed fit, the kind that look like they have been washed a few hundred times. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 4 | White Canvas Sneakers | Plain white lace-up canvas sneakers finish the neighbourhood-handyman look. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 5 | Fake Mustache and Eyebrows Set | A bushy brown mustache with matching thick eyebrows, so the famous wide-eyed, eyebrows-up expression reads from across the room. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
Don Ramón is the easiest El Chavo del Ocho costume to put together because the character dressed like a real, broke neighbour: a dark t-shirt, old jeans, sneakers and a light blue bucket hat. The mustache and the face do the rest.
Getting the Details Right
- The hat is the costume. It is a pale, sky-blue, soft cotton bucket hat with a floppy brim (in Spanish-speaking Latin America it is often called a piluso or gorro). Pick a washed, light blue one, not royal blue or denim, and pull it down low.
- Keep the clothes plain and faded. The show never gave him a smart outfit. A black, dark grey or dark green t-shirt with a chest pocket is accurate. If your tee is too crisp, wash it a few times first.
- Jeans and sneakers. Regular blue jeans and white sneakers. Nothing fashionable, nothing branded.
- Face. Stick the mustache just under the nose and the eyebrows slightly above your own so the look is bushy and a bit wild. Black and dark brown both work; if you want a darker mustache, this black mustache and eyebrows set is a close alternative.
- Act the part. Raise your eyebrows, open your eyes wide, and complain loudly about being tired of work or having no money. Claim you used to be a boxer, a bullfighter or a guitarist, and make a big fuss if anyone mentions the rent.
Group Costume Ideas
Don Ramón is the central grown-up of the vecindad, so he is a natural anchor for a group costume. His daughter is La Chilindrina, and his constant rival is Doña Florinda, who is quick to slap him whenever Quico cries. Add La Popis to fill out the neighbourhood. A father and daughter pair (Don Ramón and La Chilindrina) is one of the simplest and most recognisable duo costumes from the show.
About Don Ramón
Don Ramón is a character from the Mexican sitcom El Chavo del Ocho, created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños ("Chespirito"), and was played by actor Ramón Valdés. He is an unemployed widower living in apartment number 72 of the vecindad, and he is the father of La Chilindrina. He is famous for owing his landlord, Señor Barriga, fourteen months of rent and always finding a way to avoid paying it.
Ramón Valdés debuted the character in 1972 in an early Chespirito sketch, "El Ropavejero", and played him in the series until 1979, with short returns in 1981 and 1982. Don Ramón has odd jobs and tall tales: he has tried plumbing, carpentry, barbering and mechanics, and often claims a past as a boxer, guitarist or bullfighter. Valdés famously wore his own clothes on set, so the only thing the production added to the outfit was the blue hat. The character remains hugely popular across Latin America, and in Brazil, where the show is dubbed as Chaves, he is known as Seu Madruga. Ramón Valdés died in 1988.
