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.

The great thing about 80s fancy dress costumes is that you can’t be too outrageous. The 1980’s were a big, bold and ostentatious decade. The more you can draw attention to yourself with your 1980s costume, the better. The best way of coming up with 80’s fancy dress ideas is to think back to what you did during the eighties. What were you into? What music did you listen to? What movies did you go and see? If this doesn’t inspire you, or if you weren’t alive in the 80s, then here some of my 80s fancy dress ideas.

1. 80’s fancy dress costumes inspired by the decade’s trends.  Think about what was big during the 80s. Off the top of my head: Rubick’s cube, video games (Space Invaders, PacMan), filofaxes, the first cell phones, yuppies, cocktails, shoulder pads. All of these could lead to great 80s outfits.
2. 80s fancy dress costumes inspired by bands and music. There are lots of singers and bands that would make fantastic 1980’s fancy dress costumes. Here is a list of some of the decades biggest pop stars to get you thinking: Michael Jackson, Madonnna, Prince, Tina Turner, Queen, Wham, George Michael, Duran Duran, The Police, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden. The list could go on and on.
3. 1980s fancy dress costumes from 80s movies. Lots of blockbuster movies came out in the 1980s and all of these would make a good subject for an 80s fancy dress costume. A few examples are: ET, Top Gun, Cocktail, Return of the Jedi, Back to the Future, Karate Kid…
4. 1980’s costumes inspired by 1980’s TV shows. Lots of TV shows were aired in the 80s that typified the decade. Think Cheers, Dallas, Dynasty, Airwolf, He-Man, Knightrider, Chips and The A-Team. All of these are solid 80s fancy dress ideas.

If you don’t want to base your 80’s fancy dress costume around a specific person or object, you could always allow your 80s outfit to be inspired by the general fashions of the decade. For example: neon, power dressing, yuppie culture, new romantic style, heavy metal look…

With so many options (and I’ve only scratched the surface with this post) it should be relatively easy to come up with ideas for lots of fun and original 80s fancy dress costumes.