Fancy Dress Costumes

People often ask me for 80s fancy dress ideas, so in this post, I’m going to throw out literally hundreds of suggestions that might lead to an awesome 80s fancy dress costume. Some of these costume ideas will be better than others. Some of the outfits will be available to buy in fancy dress stores or online, whereas others will require piecing together or a DIY project. Some of the 80’s costumes will be based on well-known subjects, while others will be more obscure.

Take from this post what you need. But, remember, the best 80s costumes are the ones that strike the perfect balance between being original and nostalgic. You want the other guests to recognise the subject of the 80s costume, but to be kicking themselves because they didn’t think to wear your costume themselves.

So, here follows a list of 80’s fancy dress ideas. I’ve broken them down into various sections to make it easier to navigate.

80s cartoon costumes

Lots of characters from 80s cartoons can be turned into great 80’s fancy dress costumes. Lots of these costumes are available ‘off the shelf’, but the others can be made at home quite easily. All of cartoons that follow would make great fancy dress costumes: Bananaman, Batfink, Captain Planet, Count Duckula, Dangermouse, Defenders of the Earth, Dogtanian, Dungeons and Dragons, Ewoks, G-Force, Garfield, He-Man, Henry’s Cat, Inspector Gadget, James the Cat, Mask, My Little Pony, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Pigeon Street, The Raccoons, Roobarb and Custard, Sharkey and George, She-Ra, The Shoe People, The Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Transformers and Wuzzles.

80s TV costumes

The 1980s gave rise to some classic TV series. Lots of these ideas could be used to create some classic 80s fancy dress costumes.

Take a look at some of these 80s costume ideas: A-Team, Airwolf, ALF, Baywatch, Blackadder, Cagney and Lacey, Cheers, Doogie Howser, Fall Guy, Family Ties, Golden Girls, Knight Rider, MacGyver, Miami Vice, Murder She Wrote, Quantum Leap, Red Dwarf, Robin of Sherwood, The Simpsons, T. J. Hooker, The Young Ones, CHIPS, The Cosby Show, Dallas, The Dukes of Hazzard, Dynasty, Fame, Hill Street Blues, Taxi and The Wonder Years.

80’s movie fancy dress costumes

I love 80s movies. These suggestions, whether from cult movies of blockbusters, could lead to some really great 80s fancy dress costumes: A Fish Called Wanda, Airplane, Annie, BMX Bandits, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Beverly Hills Cop, Big, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Blade Runner, Blues Brothers, Breakdance, Crossroads, Dark Crystal, Die Hard, E.T., Elvira, The Empire Strikes Back, Flashdance, Footloose, Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Gremlins, Heathers, Highlander, Karate Kid, Labyrinth, Lethal Weapon, The Lost Boys, Mad Max, Naked Gun, Neverending Story, Nightmare on Elm Street, Overboard, Police Academy, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rambo, Robocop, Stand By Me, Supergirl, Teen Wolf, This Is Spinal Tap, Top Gun, Tron, Twins, Wall Street, War Games, Weird Science, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Willow, Withnail and I, Youngblood and Young Guns.

80’s music costumes

With the advent of MTV and CDs, the 80s was a decade of varied and flamboyant music. Lots of the artists and bands performing during the 1980s would make a great subject for 80s fancy dress costumes.

Check out some of these recording artists to give you some great fancy dress ideas: A-Ha, Adam Ant, Aerosmith, Alison Moyet, Bananarama, Bangles, Beastie Boys, Billy Idol, Blondie, Bon Jovi, Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof, Bucks Fizz, Chris De Burgh, Cliff Richard, Cyndi Lauper, Def Leppard, Duran Duran, Extreme, Europe, Enya, Grace Jones, Gloria Estefan, Guns ‘N’ Roses, INXS, Ice T, Kylie Minogue, KISS, Kate Bush, Madness, Madonna, MC Hammer, Michael Jackson, Milli Vanilli, Morrisey, New Kids on the Block, Bros, Paula Abdul, Prince, Public Enemy, Richard Marx, Pet Shop Boys, Run DMC, Salt and Pepper, Sinitta, The Police, T’Pau, U2, UB40, Van Halen, Wet Wet Wet, Wilson Phillips and Whitesnake.

80s fancy dress inspired by 80s toys

These are some of the best-selling games of  the 1980’s. Reading through this list might help you to come up with an original 80s fancy dress costume, as others will choose a fancy dress costume based on a character or person: Atari, Amiga, Battle Beasts, Mirco Machines, Transformers, Go Bots, Garbage Pail Kids, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, Thundercats, Rubick’s Cube, Pound Puppies, Hot Wheels, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Nintendo, Sega, Dungeons and Dragons and Sylvanian Families.

80s Costume Ideas: Trends

This list of 80s trends and crazes might help to inspire you to create a unique 80s fancy dress costume: graffiti, break dancing, skateboarding, neon, Coca-Cola shirts, banana clips, tight jeans, polka dots, cycling shorts under skirts or shorts, ripped denim, spandex, scrunchies, jelly shoes, leotards, leg warmers, shoulder pads, mullets, fringed jackets, perms on men, reversible jumpers, Sony Walkman and shell suits.

I’m going to leave it that for the time being, but this list is in no way exhaustive. That’s the great thing about the decade, because it was so varied, outlandish and flamboyant, there’s almost a limitless supply of great material for 80s fancy dress costumes.