Style Guide : 1920s, 1960s and 1980s Costumes

You know that feeling when you get an invite to a party and then your eyes scroll down the invite slowly reading the details and you realise it’s a fancy dress party?  For the most of us this strikes fear, I know so many people who hate dressing up, but for me I actually quite like it and love the creativity of putting a fancy dress costume together as you can probably tell from my Halloween outfit.

I’ve put together three easy looks from three different eras; the 1920s flapper girl, 1960s and 1980s to give you a little help along the way. It’s not only the costume but the make-up and hair that really transforms you into someone else, it’s amazing how much a wig can turn you into the character, so I have paired each up with products to help you recreate this look.

Each of these should make it easy for you to make an entrance at any fancy dress party.

1920s parties have been all the rage with the likes of The Great Gatsby last year and this is a really easy look to pull off.  I chose this ‘Boop Boop A Doo’ flapper costume from Fancy Dress Ball, I like how it’s a little different from the all-over fringed look dresses. For the 1920s hair it works best with a short style so get yourself a short wig or pin half your hair back leaving a curl at the front pinned back with clips.

The make-up look includes a smoky eye, lips are accurate and attention seeking and skin should have a fair complexion, there was no heavy bronzer back then.Keep your brows neat and finish off with some flirty eyelashes.

The 60’s is a fun look to recreate, with so many different trends such as psychedelic prints and flower power to PVC and go-go boots. This was the era where The Beatles, Audrey Hepburn and Bridget Bardot influenced hairstyle and fashion not to mention music.

For this era I chose a the look of a Go-Go girl, the chunky boots and statement monochrome dress make it a key look for the 1960s. These were the girls that would get up and dance on tables and do the twist, they liked to party! For this you need big eyelashes, eyeliner, a white eyeshadow and keep the lips pale and also the blush. The hair should be a beehive or worn down.

1980s is one of the most fun periods for fancy dress costumes. Think Madonna and her pointed cone bra, Wham! with their bright colours and fashion trends such as shellsuits, tutus, leotards and dancewear. There was also the New Romantic era as seen on Adam Ant, power dressing with padded shoulder pads was another huge phenomenon, not forgetting punk and metal, pretty much anything goes.

I decided to create this look around the iconic Madonna Boy Toy Bridal look. For this the make-up has to be a dark red lip and dark smoky eyes, with a touch of glitter. Eyebrows are coloured in and blush is a light red. This look looks best with lots of pearls and jewellery. I couldn’t resist adding in the cone bra dog costume too – how adorable?

Do you like fancy dress parties, what have you dressed up as before?