A look at how I put together my Topolino Minnie running costume:
I thought running another marathon wasn’t in my future, but then I signed up for the Disney World 2026 marathon because something about it felt right. I loved the theme, “What’s your Story?” And I knew I wanted my costume to be something particularly meaningful to me.
The “story” part of “What’s Your Story” really spoke to me, because I am a lover of words. I work as a children’s librarian and love stories. When I have the time, I also love writing. So I knew I wanted to incorporate that somehow.
I considered a few Disney characters that had closer ties to stories and writing. Belle was an obvious choice, but I’ve already done a Belle costume twice for Princess race weekends. I don’t remember exactly how the idea came to me, but once I thought of Topolino Minnie Mouse I knew for certain that was it.
Topolino’s Terrace at the Riviera resort has a character breakfast where you can meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. It’s called “Breakfast a la Art,” and each character is dressed as a different type of artist. You have painter Mickey, poet Minnie, sculptor Donald, and ballerina Daisy.
I’m absolutely in love with Poet Minnie’s dress, and I knew I wanted to replicate that somehow for my costume. I love poetry as a form of expression. Although I don’t write much poetry anymore, I used to write it all the time.
I brought up the idea to my friends in case they wanted to join the theme with me. I wasn’t sure if it would work out, but eventually they were all on board. Not only was I going to do a running costume I was excited about, but my friends were going to match me and we’d have all 4 Topolino’s characters represented! What could be better than that?
Now, when I talk about “making” a costume I don’t mean that I’m sewing it totally from scratch. My sewing skills are very minimal, and I rarely do any sewing with my costumes. Typically I buy some base pieces and find ways to add accessories or details. I like to be unique, so I try to avoid buying pre-made costumes. It’s more meaningful to me when I’ve made it myself.
Here’s how I put together my Topolino Minnie running costume:
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The dress
The base of this outfit was a white dress that I decorated. I found a white athletic dress on Fabletics that I liked (also, pro tip: I bought a second version of this dress in navy blue so I could wear it for training runs. That way I wouldn’t get the white all dirty before the race!). Find a similar one here.
There are probably a few different ways I could have approached this, but I knew this would be a meaningful costume for me, so I wanted to make it personal. I was going to handwrite poems onto the dress, in the style of Topolino Minnie’s.
But what exactly was written on it? I could analyze photos and try to figure it out and replicate that. But I decided to do something different. Instead, I covered the dress with my own poems that I’ve written. Every single poem on here was written by me (and handwritten onto the dress by me).
I used fabric markers with a fine-tip to write the poems. It held up pretty well, though a few places did smudge by the end of the 26.2 miles (particularly around my flipbelt). I expected that, though!
Everything was freehand, and I just used a few different photos of Minnie’s dress to try and get the general style right. After writing all of the poems, I drew in the quills and ink bottles, plus added details for the pockets and buttons.
The dress had built-in shorts, but I’m never fond of the quality of these, so I wore other shorts underneath. This worked out well and I had no issues at all. If it had been a cooler day I had black running tights and a white jacket.
The hat
The other main feature was her hat. It’s a beret style hat, red with white stripes, and a feather quill on the side. I didn’t want to run in a full beret, so I purchased a mini one on Amazon (intended for pets!).
Adding the white stripes was a little bit of a challenge. At first I tried a few different white fabric markers and paint, but none of it was showing up very well on the red felt. I ultimately ended up cutting small strips of iron-on vinyl from my cricut machine, and carefully ironing them on. For the feather, I purchased a small feather charm that I glued on the side. Finally, I glued on two clips so I could clip the beret onto my hair.
Other accessories
A few other small details to my outfit: Minnie’s Topolino dress has a red belt on it. Since I already owned a red flipbelt, that was an easy accessory! I also had purchased a mini keychain plush of Topolino Minnie when I stayed at the Riviera. So just for good measure, I clipped her onto my hydration vest!
I would be running in the sun for at least half the marathon, so I knew I wanted sunglasses with me. I ended up buying a new pair at the expo that were Minnie Mouse style! So these red ones with polka dots felt like the perfect sunglasses to go with my outfit.
I wore black compression socks and my normal running sneakers. If they made them in red I would have gotten that color, but alas! I was not going to run in a different shoe just for style. There are limits to my running costumes! Running always comes first, and creating the costume around that is just part of the challenge.
This dress was absolutely a labor of love, but I have to say I was thrilled with how it turned out. It certainly my favorite running costume I’ve done so far, and it will be a tough one to ever beat!
What do you think of my Topolino Minnie running costume? What character should I dress as for my next RunDisney event?
This costume came out amazing!!!