1980s Costumes
Welcome to 1980s Costumes! It's a great era full of character and color and iconic styles from which to draw inspiration for a costume and you can find plenty of ideas right here! Click on any or all of the links below to start your search, as we navigate through this fabulous and fun decade that was The Eighties!
Whether you are seeking Halloween costume ideas or want the perfect fashion for a retro-theme party, check out some of the many possibilities.
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It was an exciting decade, rich and varied with much color and style and fashion trends memorable to this day. The Eighties saw a number of iconic music artists, not least the King of Pop. Click to see some great Michael Jackson costumes!
With his signature styles in such music videos -- (Thriller Costumes! ) , his style, with military jackets, and the emblematic single sequined white glove, this is an obvious and fun choice to pay tribute to a music legend and his music and his iconic fashion style. Check out many more MJ Costumes!. Whether you can moonwalk to Billie Jean, or dance to Beat It, you can definitely look the part; whether you are a child or an adult or plus-size, there is an outfit for you!
What would the decade be without Madonna who rose to international fame with a distinctive style, rosary beads and crosses around her neck, rubber bracelets around her wrists and that ultra-cool jacket with a pyramid on the back that she wore in the movie Desperately Seeking Susan.
Check out some great Madonna costumes here. You'll find everything you need including the short skirts and the leggings to go with this outfit, as well as the bleached blond hair with visible dark roots -- click here to check out the wigs to complete your outfit.
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Cindi Lauper brought forth a colorful style immortalized in her song Girls Just Want to Have Fun. See the music video for inspiration. Prince was a superstar music artist in the era, influencing music and fashion alike; his Edwardian style, as seen in the movie Purple Rain in which he starred and wrote the Oscar winning sound track, is a good costume choice.
Pioneering hip-hop artists Run-DMC popularized a distinctive style with fedoras, black leather jackets, and unlaced Adidas sneakers. Other iconic artists of the day were Talking Heads pioneers of the New Wave Style, Boy George, Devo, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox of Eurythmics, Cher and Tina Turner.
What do you need? Well, of course, click here for a 1980s pop star wig and add a colorful glam rock costume!
*****Click here for many more 1980s Costumes Ideas!
Carried over from the late 1970s, you can feel right at home with punk rock costumes! It's a fabulous look, with black clothing, sometimes purposefully ripped and held together with safety pins. Footwear favorites were combat boots, military boots, motorcycle boots, and Dr. Martens boots. The colorful Mohawk and spiked hair hairstyles were still popular. Black nail polish, black lipstick capped off the outfits.
Influential movies of the day for costumes, we can hardly forget Ghostbusters, which is tailor made for Halloween as well as general nostalgia. Donning the workaday beige jumpsuit and "ghostbusting" equipment of proton backpack and rifle worn by Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray. You could team up with a friend who portrays the ghost.
An Indiana Jones costume is also a good choice for the 80s; the iconic character portrayed by Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark reappeared in two sequels were released during the decade and the signature fedora.
Men can adopt the cool, understated style made famous by Miami Vice's police detective costars, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas. The casual T-shirts under Armani jackets, white linen pants, and loafers without socks which became iconic as did Ray Ban sunglasses. Men began sporting a stubble of a beard, known as the five o'clock shadow, also characteristic of the characters on the show.
The movie Flashdance brought forth the ripped T-shirts worn by Jennifer Beals, which became a huge fashion trend. Pair it with the short skirts and leggings -- click here to get leg warmers!-- and you have a quintessential 80s look.
Skinny jeans -- designer jeans, such as Gloria Vanderbilt, Sergio Valente and Jordache became quite popular; Calvin Klein jeans were immortalized in the iconic Brooke Shields print ad. Levis 501 jeans were also quite popular.
Shoulder pads and Big Hair are also characteristic of the decade. The extravagant fashions worn by the leading ladies Linda Evans and Joan Collins in the TV show Dynasty. Shoulder pads originally evoking fashions of the 1940s became exaggerated, and put in all kinds of clothing, jackets and blouses; some removable and some not. With the advent of mousse styling gel that gave us Big Hair, scaling new heights previously not seen.
Other style trends included the power dressing of Yuppies -- young urban professionals -- a newly identified demographic group which drew much attention.
Other iconic TV programs of the day, full of characters still remembered, (and great for costume ideas) include The A-Team (Mr T anyone?), Eight is Enough, Dukes of Hazzard, Golden Girls, Knots Landing, Lifestyles of Rich and Famous, Moonlighting, thirtysomething, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Murphy Brown, The Cosby Show, Designing Women, Cheers, and Fantasy Island.
Other influential movies of the day from which to draw inspiration include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Bladerunner, Mad Max, Fatal Attraction and Wall Street. Also noteworthy were the movies featuring the so-called Brat Pack actors and actresses (including Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Ally SheedyAnthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson) many directed by John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink.
Online you can find plenty of sites expounding on 1980s women's fashion and 80s men's styles. You can create your own costume and find Halloween costume ideas as well as theme party suggestions following 80s trends. You can also find video tutorials on 80s makeup and learn how to get that perfect Eighties look, and find just the right costume wigs to top off the look for the party.
You might want to try for an authentic Preppy look with such classic wardrobe essentials as polo shirts (especially Izod), argyle sweaters, and penny loafers. On the other hand, there is the Dynasty look, with luxurious silk blouses with huge shoulder pads, and the "big hair" to go with it.
And have you noticed? 1980s fashions are having a bit of a comeback, in a modified way, as seen in recent runway shows and in stores. Leg warmers have become popular and one can't help but notice that the Silly Bandz have more than passing resemblance to the rubber, jelly and plastic neon bracelets from the Eighties.
Nonetheless, for costuming you take it to the extreme just to make sure no one thinks you are on your way to the office in quintessential power dressing...also known as dressing for success!
Before setting out on your big night be sure to brush up on the hot games from Pacman to Trivial Pursuit, just two of many essentials for any theme party!
Much success with your 1980s Costumes!
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