Fancy Dress Theme Ideas

Coming up with themes for fancy dress parties can be tricky. At the end of the day you just want everyone looking fabulously ridiculous, but picking a good theme can be the difference between getting fun and interesting fancy dress costumes and for the same old fairies, vicars, devils and skeletons to attend your party. This article details some interesting ideas and sources for fancy dress party themes.

I Thought You Were Dead

This is a great theme for Halloween, as guests can wear their usual skeleton or witch costumes and fit in just fine, but it can also present some other more interesting costumes. Guests might choose to dress as dead celebrities, such as Diana Princess of Wales or Elvis Presley, while others might attempt to dress as out-of-availability foods such as Wispa or Tizer. Alternatively, people could dress as dead concepts or companies, such as British Rail, Socialism or Democracy. Finding a democracy costume might be a little tricky, but the statue of liberty with a voting card should do it.

One Hit Wonders

It might sound like a boring fancy dress party theme, but one hit wonders of the past and present can lead to some interesting results, from Arthur Brown (who sang “Fire” in 1968) with a bare-chest, big beard and head-mounted candle, to the long lost Scatman who sang about Scotland in 1994.

Soap Operas

If you really want to make sure you don’t see any of the same old costumes, then soap characters can be a good theme to choose. It might sound limited, but when people start to turn up dressed as Dot Cotton, Peggy Mitchell or Nick Cotton you might change your mind. It will take a lot of effort for a costume to truly give away your identity, unless you choose one of few distinctive characters. A bald wig, leather jacket or suit for Phil or Grant Mitchell, a cigarette and a dark bob wig for Dot Cotton.

Kids TV

Kids TV can also provide some great fancy dress costume ideas, and kids programs are a great place to look. People might not respond well to the idea of dressing like today’s kids tv show characters, like Spongebob Squarepants or Pikachu from Pokemon, but what about Lion-o from Thundercats, or Optimus Prime from Transformers? There are so many great costumes from kids tv shows, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I Joe or even Bananaman.