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.

80s fancy dress accessories can come in a number of forms. First, there are the accessories that are aimed to replicate an object actually worn or used by the subject of the 80’s fancy dress costume. An example would be a skateboard or walkman for a Marty McFly, Back to the Future costume, or a toy machine gun as part of a Rambo costume. These 80’s fancy dress accessories enhance the costumes by adding detail to the look. They make it more realistic and give other guests at an 80s party additional information and clues as to the identity of the character. Anything that helps to make a fancy dress costume more recognisable is worth looking at. After all, there’s nothing worse than attending an 80’s fancy dress party, only to have other guests asking, “Who are you?”

The second type of 80s fancy dress accessory are those that would never actually be worn or used by the subject of the fancy dress costume, but still make an excellent (often amusing) addition to the outfit. Examples would include, button badges or pins that display slogans or quotes of the character (’ET phone home’, ‘I pity the fool’ (for an A-Team costume), ‘Wax on, wax off’ for a Mr Miyagi costume). Slogan T-shirts can also achieve the same effect.

If you are going for a general 80s themed costume, which isn’t based around a real person or character, then there are also lots of accessories that you could incorporate into your 80s outfit. Accessories such as, Rubick’s cube earrings, neon socks and rubber braclets would enhance most 80s fancy dress costumes.

1. Madonna fancy dress costume. The Queen of Pop was massive in the 80s, and in her early videos in particular she was very typically 80s – with bangles, leggings, chuncky necklaces, net skirts and leg warmers.
2. Yuppie fancy dress costume. The Yuppies were big in the 80s. Mirror their image by wearing a grey suit, carrying a fiflofax and massive mobile phone. Finish this 80s costume by talking about stocks and shares in a booming voice.
3. Dynasty fancy dress costume. This is an easy 80s fancy dress costume to put together. Think power suits with big shoulder pads and big hair and you can’t go far wrong.
4. Karate Kid fancy dress costume. This 80s fancy dress outfit is a piece of cake. Simply get a karate suit, add a black belt and a head band and you’re done. Wax on, wax off!
5. Michael Jackson fancy dress costume. This is another fairly straightforward 80’s fancy dress costume, but you have to get the basics right. A Jacko costume is all about the accessories. A hat, a twinkly glove, white socks, slip-on black shoes (for moonwalking) and a chunky belt are essential. The rest is optional, but military style jackets, aviator sunglasses, band aids on the fingertips and trousers that are too short really complete the look.
6. Back to the Future costumes. A massive movie in the 1980s, Back to Future features two characters would be great subjects for 80’s fancy dress costumes: Marty McFly and Doc. The Doc costume is probably the easier of the two to do well. For a Doc Back to the Future fancy dress costume you will require: a lab coat (complete with pens in the front pocket), a clipboard, a metal briefcase labelled radioactive, and a toolbelt with lots of weird looking gadgets and equipment. Colour your hair white and walk around shouting ‘Great Scott!’, and ‘88 miles per hour!’ and everyone will know who you are.

These six 80’s fancy dress costume ideas are just a half-dozen of hundreds of great costumes that could be worn to an 80s cotume party.