Santa gets all the attention at Christmas time, but behind every good man is also a good woman, and Mrs. Claus is that good woman behind Santa. It stands to reason, then, that dressing as Miss Claus is a way to highlight her important contributions.

If you want to dress like Mrs. Claus at Christmas, there are a few essentials. Whether your make or buy the costume, you must adhere to a few basic rules. First, the costume must be red. Ideally, it will also be velvet, and there must be some white trim.

Mrs. Claus is a feminine lady, so it’s likely that your Mrs. Claus costume will take the form of a dress, perhaps with a twirl skirt and a black belt, just like the one that Santa wears.

Traditionally, the dress will have white fur trim, at the hem of the skirt, on the sleeves and even at the collar. Add a red Santa hat for a touch of traditional authenticity.

When Mrs. Claus helps Santa with delivery of presents, she wears white gloves, so add those if you want to be authentically real.

If you put a costume together, here are some ideas:

* Pick up an inexpensive plain red dress at a thrift or second-hand store and be prepared to add flourish and other elements to make it look like Mrs. Claus’ dress.

* If you have even basic sewing skills, you can easily make a dress from red velvet (or velour) fabric. To make it simpler, make a skirt and a top separately, add some white fur (even sew on a white boa to make things simpler) and add a black belt to put the whole thing together.

* You can buy a hat, white gloves and other Santa accessories at inexpensive stores like dollar stores.

If you want to purchase a costume, consider these tips:

* Look online for a variety of ideas. You might see basic dresses, sexy Mrs. Santa costumes and even costumes that look just like Santa’s but are made for women.

* You can truly find a costume for your every need and whim. If you are feeling sexy, you can find a Mrs. Claus costume that’s basically red lingerie with a Santa hat flourish. If you want to be very traditional, you can find a long modest dress that covers everything and leaves everything to the imagination.

* Costumes can be purchased in a number of different price ranges. No matter how high or low your range, you’re sure to find something that will work.

Don’t forget you can also rent costumes, and sometimes they are nicer and more authentic than anything you could put together or sew yourself.