Fancy Dress Party

July 1st, 2011 . No Comments »

How to pick the right outfit for your fancy dress party?

There’s a good reason that everyone loves fancy dress – it’s fun whatever your age! The perfect way to liven up a party, everyone loves losing their usual style for an evening and embracing exotic fancy dress outfits. 70s fancy dress and 80s fancy dress seems to still be particularly popular and ideal for encouraging guests to quickly embrace the party spirit! ‘Grown ups’ will enjoy acting out their favorite movie characters, music heroes or TV stars from the era and of course kids are naturally attuned to the lure of dressing up regardless of whether there’s a party or not!

Many fancy dress parties specify a theme for ease. Common ones include famous eras – 50s retro, hippy 70s fancy dress, or yuppy era 80s fancy dress are all popular, along with Disney, Halloween, the Oscars or favorite films. Guests with a crafty side may create their own outfits from individual sources and others prefer to pay a little more and hire. If budget is a factor, then certainly a little homemade craft and creativity can go far! However you may be very surprised at how cheap a fancy dress outfit can be purchased for on the internet. The choice is huge and of course selection can be made from the comfort of your armchair.

As a general guide, 80s fancy dress is very popular, along with famous films from the era. With a decade so packed with iconic films and music, there’s plenty to choose from and outfits are very easy to find. It can be a good theme to pick if you’ve been invited to a ‘general’ fancy dress party, as many of the styles from that era can be easily portrayed with a few well chosen accessories.

For general inspiration, 80s fancy dress is an easy winner, especially if combined with famous TV series or films from the era. The decade was packed with fresh music and culture, so there’s masses of inspiration to choose from when creating an outfit. Also a great option for an ‘anything goes’ fancy dress party, as you can easily pull together your look by visiting thrift and charity shops, high street stores and party suppliers for wigs, accessories, neon make-up and vintage clothing. Many attics too will be treasure troves of original wear! Or come in character from the era – girls can pull off the 80s heroine with minimal accessories (Baby from Dirty Dancing is identifiable with blue jean shorts, curly hair and a watermelon!) On the other hand there were many characters from the era that can be purchased at great prices from online fancy dress shops such as the A-Team’s Mr T.

For 70s fancy dress parties, again online fancy dress and party shops are good sources for budget outfits. Combine flares, cheap plastic beads, wigs, psychedelic prints and maybe even some items salvaged from attics, parents and car boot sales for an excellent fancy dress outfit that doesn’t cost the earth. Platform shoes are also a great addition – you can buy plastic paint spray to transform them into a classic 70s colour palette – try spraying them purple or orange and decorating with daisies and peace motifs for a retro feel.

The internet truly is a great source of inspiration and material for fancy dress costumes and there are also plenty of readymade outfits to buy including medieval wenches, soldiers, dragons, bees, Egyptian dancers, soldiers, nurses – the list is endless. The prices here can be very good but keep an eye on sizing, particularly for items being sold from international sellers as the sizing can vary and items may be non-refundable.

Alternatively fancy dress hire shops are a great source of lavish, complex and artfully constructed fancy dress outfits and these are perfect if you want the ease of not having to create your own, or to make a real impact at your party with something unique and special. Just bear in mind though that prices can vary and will only be for a short amount of time – you may be obliged to return the outfit the next day or incur a penalty charge and additionally if you damage the outfit in any way, you will be charged to have it repaired or dry-cleaned. For this reason, online purchase may be a better option.

Finally don’t forget your theme if you’re planning to be the party hostess! Your fancy dress should extend across the event – from food and music, to decorations and games. Look on it as the perfect excuse to re-live your childhood. No one can resist cheese and pineapple hedgehogs or cocktail sausages!

Whether you’re preparing for a stag and hen or a children’s birthday party Fancy Dress Ball offer great prices on the best fancy dress outfits.