Fancy Dress Costume Ideas IV

(From Flickr)

The following fancy dress ideas are from forum comments/suggestions, websites or my own twisted mind! Hope you find some inspiration :-)

- 'Half ‘n’ half costume' e.g. one half evil, one half normal / half good (angel) and half bad (devil) / half alive, half zombie / half good clown, half evil clown / half normal and half fancy dress.

- Toga with some lettuce leaves stapled on and voila! Caesar salad!

- Comic book characters – maybe fake plastic hair, orange face, cardboard clothes, cardboard speech/thought bubbles.

- Cat man costume = normal clothes with holes in and fur poking out + mud/dirt.

- Take something essentially good like Santa Clause, Easter bunny, Tooth fairy, the Queen, Ronald McDonald etc and turn them evil!

- Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz - make a blue gingham pinafore, white blouse underneath, hair in plaits, basket and stuffed dog. Best bit of all is the ruby slippers - cheap pair of red shoes, some red ribbon for a bow, pva glue and a tonne of red glitter

- You could go as 'wind' - stick wire through your coat so its gaping open/flying backwards, mess up your hair & gel it in the same direction, turn an umbrella inside out & make ur cheeks red for the "windswept/flushed" look

- A geisha girl - loads of blusher, red lipstick, hair up in a bun, a fan, kimono, white socks, wooden flip-flops & white face paint

- Doll - with wire in pigtails to make them stick out.

- Doctor who

- Raindrop - dress in blue with a fabulous home-made pointed hat and a bubble skirt

- A millionaire ( dress like the guy from monopoly board game)

- Pirate - 3/4 length baggy shorts - red, blue, black etc, maybe with patches or rips. A short waistcoat over a stripy jagged edge t-shirt, pirate patch, stuffed parrot thing on one shoulder, a sword on your belt, tousled hair, smoky/smudged eyes and nude lips, and either a bandana or pirate hat.

Or for a more feminine pirate, those pantaloon type frilly shorts, or a long jagged hem skirt, and a black or red corset over a loose white blouse (or something with sleeves that kind of sit on the tops of your arms, again, tousled hair, smoky eyes, maybe a sword or something with a skull and crossbones. Loads of bangles (golds or kind of tarnished looking metals).

For more on pirate costumes, go here and here.

- Circus ringmaster - Top hat, waistcoat, moustache.. plus a really big whip!

- Siren - Wear something a bit mermaidy looking but you don't have the confines of a tail and the nakedness of a bikini, perhaps a toga type thing with wavy hair and make all your skin a bit bluish.

- Rose from the titanic - Make yourself all pretty and ye oldy dressed use some glitter for frost, make your lips a bit blue and carry a bit of wood that you can pretend to float on.

- Dress as someone that most people at the party will know e.g. the host

- Tesco Value costume - wear a lot of white and blue with blue and red make-up and jewellery, and a stripey sign on your chest that says 'Tesco Value Costume.'

- Scarecrow - Over-sized flannel shirt, faded blue jeans with patches, rope for the belt and to tie the cuffs of your jeans and sleeves, stuff the shirt and jeans with plastic grocery (or paper) bags, and add a little bit of straw to hang out of jeans and shirt. Add a little bit of make-up.

- The American tourist: Guys loud Hawaii shirt, shorts (if weather permits), Large straw hat. Girls - bright loud dress, flats, big sun hat, straw bag. Don't forget to have a camera, and maps hanging out, and that look of being lost. Guys can use a tourist bag, (like you get from travel agents, and gals can use the straw bag for their treats.

- 1960s Hippy - Tie dye clothing, long wig, sandals, headband, anything with fringe on it (vests, purse...) light colored sun glasses.

- Old man: Dark trousers (cuffed), and jacket, a dress shirt, mans flat cap, walking stick. Grey your hair with dye, or dust with a little flour.

- Old woman: Old style dress, just below knee, knee-hi stockings rolled down a little, oxfords, large black purse, wig, headscarf.

- Nerd - Slick back the hair, grab some trousers that are too short, white shirt, white socks, loafers or lace up oxfords, pocket protector, with lots of pens, dark rim glasses (don't forget to tape the corner, or at least paper clip it) briefcase, or backpack for treat bag.

- Grapes - purple tights, purple (long sleeves) body suit, 12 purple balloons and a green felt hat. Balloons are pinned (by the tied off end to the fabric in a triangle shape, 3 on top, 2 in middle and 1 at bottom (on front and back).

- Black eyed peas - white top and trousers with black paper ‘P’s stuck all over and a black eye make-up

- 50's ('Grease' style) - Pedal pushers, a 50s style scarf around your neck, peep-toe shoes, tie your hair in a high ponytail and add another scarf as a hair accessory.

(Awesomely cute Colonel Sanders costume from here)

From this website:

- 80s Icon / New Romantic Male - For this you will need: Spiky hair (natural)/hair stuck up with hair cream, plenty of eyeliner, dazzling or dark lipstick, several stripes of varying colour face paint (alternatively one big white stripe Adam Ant style), frilly white blouse with long white cuffs (an extravagant dress suit shirt), tight jeans-which could be ripped, patterned old waistcoat, big black boots/DM's, attitude, come hither looks (optional - depends on previous two and quantity of alcohol consumed before leaving.)

From this website:

- Bum - No, not just an attention-grabbing headline. The type of bum that hangs around on street corners, providing local colour. Perhaps there's some PC term for them; the 'inebriated unemployables'. Anyway, just get a tatty old hat (preferably a bowler), some kind of grubby shirt and waistcoat and scuffed old boots. The object is to make you look like the Little Tramp (a cross between Napoleon and Courtney Love). Now get an empty cider bottle, label ripped off and stagger into the party late. If you're lucky, people will talk for weeks about your sparkling wit and acuity. If not, they may think you are actually a bum. If this happens, take advantage of it; steal some cutlery and booze before you're thrown out.

- Alternative Haircut 100 - get a big blond wig into a coiffure, wear that Arran sweater that your gran knitted for you when you were ten and is still far to big, add a pork pie hat, tight trousers and deck shoes. Hey presto, Nick Heyward!

- Alternative 'Madness' band - This is a group tribute to those funny-loving 80's musical rascals, Madness. First of all, get a group of mates together and all wear the following: shades, pork pie hats, black suits; if a size too small, even better, white shirt, tight black trousers, white socks, black shoes, a black keyboard tie, (or other colour leather tie). Get some kiddies plastic instrument - sax, trumpet, guitar, etc

- Miss Print - Black leotard as a base. Newspaper folded into pleats to make a skirt, collar, cuffs and hat. A sash worn over the top declared 'Miss Print'. The finishing touch; an umbrella covered in newsprint and held as a parasol

- A Bunch of Grapes - wear green, blow up lots of green balloons and with help from a friend, use masking tape to attach the balloons all over your body. You are now a bunch of grapes. This outfit is extremely silly, but that's the whole point of it.

- Bellydancer - Start with a bra and bikini panties... something opaque, preferably satiny, black or coloured, not so tiny that you risk bouncing out or are uncomfortable being seen in it. Decorate the bra with rhinestones, glitter, fringe, braiding, etc. Be creative. It's good to use a hot glue gun; it's quick and it'll hold well enough for an evening, though it doesn't launder well. One thing to note, though: when pressing decorations into the hot glue, use cardboard! Hot glue blisters on your fingertips are not sexy.

Buy enough 1/4"- 1/2" flat elastic to fit around your hips. Sew or safety pin together, so it's tight enough to stay up without sliding, even if you do accidentally step on a hem. Buy enough lightweight gauzy or silky fabric (it needn't be very wide) to make it from your hips to ankles 4 times. Add an extra foot if you need to make a veil. Cut the fabric in half. Decorate 1/2 of each piece of fabric so it works with the bra, and fold over hip elastic with decorated side out, one panel to the front and one to the rear. If you're likely to get tiddly, it's not a bad idea to stitch the elastic in place, so you don't inadvertently lose your skirt if you (or someone else) steps on your hem.

Cheap rubber flip-flops (beach sandals) can be decorated same as the bra and skirt. Make a veil from a scarf or an extra 8-12 inches of fabric to cover the bottom half of your face. Use loads of black kohl eyeliner to paint on cat eyes. Let your hair go wild. Wear lots of bangle bracelets, rings, a jingly ankle bracelet, or toe ring. Remember that you're an exotic, treasured, object of desire, so play the part.

- Statue - Make a toga from an old white sheet. Wear flat sandals. Use white body makeup and/or the kind of spray paint that is made for hair and paint everything that shows, including the toga. Let yourself dry thoroughly before sitting. Don't get wet or you'll start to streak. (Be very careful about sitting on fabric or other materials which don't wipe off easily. Depending on the paint you use, it can be a bit of a messy costume.) And don't move. Or speak.

- Peas in a pod - Take a large amount of bright green carrier bags and fasten together to make a tube large enough to fit from neck to ankle, fasten green balloons down the front.

- Dead Ballerina - you need a really great little black dress, white face paint, dark eyeliner, comfortable shoes that conform to your feet (don't do real ballet shoes; you'll be miserable. get something like them), stockings (preferably ones that all ready have runs in them), a bit of mud or dirt and some fallen leaves (which makes it a perfect costume for those autumn parties you didn't know about until half an hour before you were to arrive). Put it all together like you would expect: don the stockings, dress, and slippers. Add white face paint and dark eyeliner for lips, the hollow of your cheeks, and lips. If you have long hair, the classic 'ballerina' bun works well. Now - go get dirty, and be convincing about it. Take some straight pins and attach leaves to your dress, stockings and hair.

It's a bit obscure, I know, but great fun to watch people try and guess. And don't think it's just for the ladies, either. One of my male friends did beautifully with it.