Let’s look at some of the Back to the Future costumes in more detail.

Marty McFly Costume

Marty McFly costumes are a great choice of costume for an 80s party or for a movie themed costume party. Not only is the Marty costume easy to put together, but it is easily to recognise and usually goes down really well. A few costume manufacturers do produce a Marty McFly outfit, but this Back to the Future costume is easy to assemble yourself. You will need the following items: a red body warmer (sleeveless jacket), a pair of faded blue jeans, a plaid shirt, a pair of braces, a Walkman and headphones (with Van Halen cassette) and a skateboard. For added Back to the Future authenticity add a pair of white Nike sneakers with red swooshes.

Doc Emmett Brown Costume

A Doc Emmett L Brown costume is also an excellent fancy dress choice. It too is very simple to piece together. You will need the following items: a white lab coat (complete with pens and notepads), mirror glasses, a crazy Einstein style wig and a silver briefcase. The Emmett Brown costume is simple, but easy to identify. If you wear this and a friend of yours attends in the Marty McFly fancy dress costume, the effect is considerably enhanced. Marty and Doc costumes in conjunction look fantastic and create a massive impact at fancy dress parties.

Although Princess Leia wears several outfits in the Star Wars movies, two have taken on an iconic status, making them standout from the others: the white Princess Leia costume that Carrie Fisher wears in the original Star Wars movie, and the metal bikini or slave outfit that was worn in several scenes in Return of the Jedi.

If you are going to dress up as Princess Leia, it is probably a good idea to go for one of these costumes for two reasons. First, they are both instantly associated with Princess Leia. And second, they are readily available from online stores and local fancy dress companies. Let’s look at these Star Wars costumes in more detail.

The classic Leia costume consists of a long white dress (often with a hood – remember the way she removes her hood in the message that is transmitted to Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker?), a white belt, white boots and, of course, the classic Leia wig (often described as being in the style of headphones or a pair of cinnamon buns). Some costumes also include a replica Star Wars blaster gun.

A more raunchy costume, and one guaranteed to make you the center of attention, is the Princes Leia slave costume. Worn by Carrie Fisher when she was portraying Leia as the slave of Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi, this outfit has gained a massive cult following. There is even an annual meeting of fans of the Leia’s metal bikini costume. This adult Princess Leia  costume consists of a brown bikini set with gold metal trim, a skimpy long red skirt and various pieces of gold metal jewelery. Because this outfit is so well-loved, there are lots of costumes on the market. Some recreate Princess Leia’s costume accurately down to the smallest detail, and obviously cost a great deal as a result. Other Princess Leia slave fancy dress costumes, adopt a more impressionistic approach. The costume is in the style of Leia’s slave outfit, but isn’t spot on. These costumes are more affordable.

Because Princess Leia is such a well-known movie character, costumes based on her are appropriate, not only for Star Wars costume parties, but for those with a sci-fi or movie theme, too. In fact, you’d probably be able to wear one at a fancy dress party with a general theme. If you are quite cheeky, and you’d have to be to wear the costume, you might get away with wearing the star wars princess leia slave adult costume to an 80s fancy dress costume party, because Return of the Jedi was released in that decade.

The basic Pocahontas costume consists of the following items: a fringed dress – usually yellow or beige and made to look like the outfit is made from hide and a  Native American style headband. The the Pocahontas look can be added to by wearing a Native American fancy dress wig and by wearing some natural looking jewelry. For footwear you can go with authentic moccasins, but you could probabaly get away with sandles or strappy shoes.

As she was an actual historical character, by researching the facts and Native American fashions of the seventeenth century you could make your own accurate  Pocahontas fancy dress costume. However, becasue the Disney movie was successful and the ideas of a Native American princess marrying a stuffy Englishman is so appealing, most of the Pocahontas costumes represent the idealised version of Pocahontas. The Disney version. For the purposes of most fancy dress parties this is fine, but if you want historical perfection, you will probably have to produce a homemade pocahontas costume.

Both adult Pocahontas costumes and childs Pocohontas costumes can be purchased from internet stores and from non-web based suppliers. The quality of the costumes can vary dramatically. Some of the outfits come with virtually no accessories, whereas others are supplied with lots of clever touches and details, and it’s often these that make or break a costume. This is particularly true with a Pocohontas costume where the basic outfit is quite simple.

Angel fancy dress is very easy to put together yourself, but if you don’t want to go down the DIY route, there are hundreds of different angel costumes for sale with everything you will need. There are lots of different variations of angel fancy dress costume, so you will be able to find the right outfit for you. Some of the different types of costume are as follows:

An adult angel costume tends to consist of a white dress or gown (and white or gold shoes), a pair of angel wings (usually white, but sometimes gold) and a white, silver or gold halo (attached to a hairband so that it looks like it is floating above the head). Some adult angel costumes are more raunchy and have very short skirts and plunging necklines.

Angel Halloween costumes tend to focus on the ‘fallen angel’ variation. A dark angel costumes is essentially the same as the standard one, but it replaces the whites, silvers and golds with shades of black. As a result, these outfits are also known as black angel costumes.

Some angel costumes do not consist of the entire outfit, but just include the wings. An angel wing costume represents a compromise to wearing full angle fancy dress. People will recognise that you are an angel, without you having to wear everything. You often see such costumes worn by groups on Hen Dos.

The child angel costume is always popular. It is essentially a smaller version of the adult costume, and it always looks good, particularly if a group of children wear exactly the same angel costumes to form a choir of angels.

Angels fancy dress costumes are great costumes for a number of reasons. Firstly, they are both easy to make yourself and there are also lots of costumes available online, too. Secondly, there are lots of variations to the basic costume, so you can find find one that is appropriate for the type of event you are attending. Thirdly, they suit both adults (elegant) and children (cute – cherubic even!)

Disney made a movie of the Cinderella story, and it is the Disney Cinderella costume that is implanted in the mind. For this reason, most Cinderella costumes seem to be based on the Disney princess Cinderella costumes.

All Cinderella fancy dress outfits seem to have the following things in common. They all consist of a light blue ball gown or dress. This is usually accessorised with a sparkling tiara and a white sash. Some Cinderella costumes also feature diamond slippers or shoes, lace formal gloves and lots of sparkling costume jewelry.

Lots of companies online offer great deals on Cinderella costumes, and they often manufacture costumes for different age groups, adapting the basic Cinderella outfit. The adult Cinderella outfit, for example, often features a more fitted bodice to give a sexier look.

Cinderella costumes are a great choice for a range of different fancy dress parties because the character is easily recognisable. Everyone will immediately identify who you have come as, and this will be even more apparent if you have your partner dress up in a Prince Charming costume, or your friend dress up in a fairy godmother costume.

As with all of the fairy tale costumes, the Cinderella costume is all about being over the top. Make sure you make a proper entrance when you wear this outfit to your next costume party.

The basic fairy costume consists of a simple dress (in greens, browns or decorated to look like a flower or plant), simple shoes (or pixie boots) and usually a pair of wings. Other accessories can be added depending upon the type of fairy fancy dress you are hoping to achieve.

Fairies have inspired lots of different types of costume. Here follows a some ideas about some of the most popular variations:

Adult fairy costumes take the basic design and add a bit of sex appeal. The skirt of an adult fairy costume is often very short and the outfit often has a low neckline and is quite figure-hugging. The outfit is often combined with high-heels and a fairy wand. Adult costumes tend to be in natural colours (shades of green) – think Julia Robert’s Tinkerbell costume from Hook, but they can also be designed to represent a particular flower.

The gothic fairy costume or dark fairy costume is another popular variation on the theme. This adult costume focuses on the other side of the fairy kingdom. Rather than natural greens, blacks and reds dominate this look. The wings are often designed to look like bat wings and the standard fairy outfit has been corrupted to show the more naughty and twisted side to a fairy’s nature. Such fancy dress is often advertised as fairy halloween costumes.

Another popular variation is the green fairy costume. Associated with the drink absinthe, this outfit is ideal for a cocktail fancy dress party. It is basically the standard adult fairy costume, but greener. In fact, for this look, it is probably a good idea to use face paints of make up to give your skin a green tinge too.

Woodland fairy or flower fairy costumes adapt the basic outfit in a slightyly different way. These variations often incorporate natural elements such as real leaves, flowers, petals and so on, to make it look like the character has just stepped out of a forest glade.

Fairies often feature in fairy tales and as a result a fairy costume is often a good choice when attending a fairytale fancy dress party. However, in traditional stories the fairy character is often a fairy godmother (think of the fairies from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty). The fairy godmother costume is often a more conservative version of the standard costume. It often includes a hat of some sort and usually  a magic wand too.

Tinkerbell was a fairy from the Peter Pan books, and Tinkerbell costumes are probably one of the most popular individual fairy outfits.

Fairy fancy dress is readily available online. There are countless different variations for you to choose from and you will certainly be able to find the right type of costume to suit the type of party or event you are attending.

An adult Tinkerbell costume usually consists of the following items: a green dress with a zig-zag edge or sheer trim (often strapless) and flat green shoes or slippers (sometimes with a white puffball attached). Some Tinkerbell fancy dress costumes incorporate a fairy style magic wand, a small bell (as this is how Tinker Bell ’spoke’ in the stage version), a supply of magic or fairy dust and fairy-style wings.

This is a great outfit because the basic design can be adapted to fit the type of event and the age of the person wearing the costume. For example, Tinkerbell halloween costumes, designed for adults, often have very short skirts. Whereas the Disney Tinkerbell costumes, aimed at children, use the basic design in a more conservative way.

Infant Tinkerbell costumes are a very popular choice for ’dress as your favourite book character’ events at school and they also work well for Disney themed parties. There are lots of children’s costumes for sale both on and off line. There are also lots of kids’ Tink outfits available to hire. Adult Tinkerbell costumes are  also fairly easy to track down, if you don’t want to go to the bother of making your own. However, if you’re feeling creative, a Tinkerbell fancy dress costume is a fairly simple outfit to put together yourself.

Image from Millermz