Tommy Vercetti's teal palm-tree shirt is one of the most recognizable outfits in gaming, and it's still the easiest Grand Theft Auto costume to pull off. Everything in it is ordinary 1980s Miami menswear, so you can wear most of it again after Halloween.
How to Make Tommy Vercetti Costume
Teal Palm Tree Hawaiian ShirtLight Stonewash JeansWhite SneakersGold WatchPearl NecklaceSlicked-Back Black WigSaveTap any item in the photo to shop itClick any item in the photo to shop it
| # | Item | Description | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teal Palm Tree Hawaiian Shirt | The whole costume hangs on this shirt: bright teal with navy palm trees, short sleeves and a camp collar. Wear it untucked with the top two buttons open. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 2 | Light Stonewash Jeans | Faded, straight-leg jeans with a relaxed fit, worn full length over the sneakers. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 3 | White Sneakers | Plain white low-top sneakers, like the ones Tommy wears in his default outfit. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 4 | Gold Watch | A chunky gold wristwatch on the left wrist. Tommy wears it in almost every cutscene. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 5 | Pearl Necklace | A short white bead necklace sitting at the base of the neck, showing through the open collar. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 6 | Slicked-Back Black Wig | Short black hair combed back. If your own hair is dark, a strong pomade does the same job. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
Tommy's look is the "Street" outfit he wears when he first arrives in Vice City in 1986: a teal Hawaiian shirt, faded jeans and white sneakers. It's straight out of Miami Vice and Scarface, the two things Rockstar borrowed most from when it built the game's version of Miami.
Getting the details right
The shirt matters more than anything else, so get the color right. Tommy's is a saturated teal, not sky blue or mint, with dark navy palm trees and paler leaves in the background. The shirt above is made in that print. For a cheaper option, this blue palm tree shirt with a matching necklace is close enough and comes with the bead necklace.
Keep the rest plain so the shirt does the work. The jeans should look worn and light, and the sneakers clean and white. Add a little stubble with an eyebrow pencil if you're clean-shaven, and a serious squint. Tommy doesn't smile much.
Tommy Vercetti group and couples costumes
Vice City makes for a strong group costume. Put a friend in a white suit over a pastel shirt as Tommy's partner Lance Vance, in the style of our Sonny Crockett costume. Someone else can go as Tony Montana, the character Tommy is most obviously based on.
Tommy also pairs well with the next generation of Vice City criminals. See our Lucia and Jason costume from GTA 6, which returns to the same city.
About Tommy Vercetti
Tommy Vercetti is the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, released by Rockstar Games in 2002. He was voiced by the late Ray Liotta. A former hitman for the Forelli crime family in Liberty City, Tommy is released in 1986 after fifteen years in prison. His boss, Sonny Forelli, sends him to Vice City to oversee a drug deal, and it's ambushed. With the money and the drugs gone, Tommy sets out to find who set him up.
With the help of his lawyer Ken Rosenberg and his partner Lance Vance, he works his way up through the city's gangs, takes over the empire of drug lord Ricardo Diaz, and builds his own. By the end of the game he runs the city, and both Lance and Sonny, who betray him, are dead. Tommy's rise from ex-con to kingpin, and his open-collar shirt, made him one of the most popular protagonists in the series.
