Fancy dress costumes are like jokes. If you finish telling a joke and, having only elicited laughter of the fake, canned type, you need to explain what was funny about your joke, then make sure you don’t pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. And it’s the same with fancy dress costumes. If you go to a fancy dress party and you have to keep explaining who you dressed up as, then your costume is a failure.
There’s always plenty of excitement when we receive an invitation to a fancy dress party. And that’s because we like dressing up – it reminds us of when we were children and every bit of clothing, from our mum’s discarded coat to one of our dad’s old ties, presented endless dressing up possibilities.
If you’ve been invited to your colleague’s 50th birthday party, everyone will know who Tina Turner is
However, getting it right isn’t easy. The main ingredient here is effort. Picture it: you spend hours making your costume and colouring your hair a bright shade of pink. Then you arrive at the party and all the other guests are wearing cheap wigs and one of those comedy hats made of cardboard. So for your next fancy dress party, you don’t really bother and limit yourself to spending a few euros on cheap accessories. Then you turn up at the party and all the other guests look like they’ve spent a week perfecting their costume.
So how do you get it right?
The rules of fancy dress
Plan ahead
You are used to getting ready for work in five minutes flat. But that doesn’t mean that you can trick up a costume using something from 10 seasons ago, a bit of tin foil, some devil horns and nothing else.
Once you know that you’ve been invited to a fancy dress party, start thinking about what you will be wearing. Then you will need to decide whether you are renting or buying your costume. You will also need to add some oomph to the outfit using the right accessories and details.
If you invest enough time and effort, you will get your costume just right.
Think of a great idea
You need to connect to your outfit. It’s useless dressing up as a minion when you haven’t watched at least one of the Despicable Me instalments. Think of a favourite film, television series or book and dress up as one of the characters. And don’t limit yourself to the costume. At the party, get into character by throwing around some of your character’s dialogue or gestures. It all adds to the effect.
Who are you?
Choosing your character is key. On one hand, you don’t want to go to a party dressed up as a ghost, Sherlock Holmes or a fairy – those are easy choices and the chances are that there will be someone else at the party wearing the same costume. On the other hand, don’t choose some obscure character from a movie which, even though you loved, nobody is familiar with. And you need to acknowledge that some characters are just not right for a fancy dress party. For instance, the Danish television series The Killingwas a huge success. However, if you choose to dress up as the lead character Sarah Lund, you will only need to put on a knitted sweater – and that could be anyone.
Find a balance. Don’t choose a character that is too obscure and don’t go for the obvious choices.
The right audience
Choose your costume according to the kind of guests that have been invited to the party. So if you’ve been invited to your colleague’s 50th birthday party, everyone will know who Tina Turner is. If you know that most of the guests are geeky, then a Pacman costume will go down a treat.
Double trouble
Convince your wife, husband, partner or best friend to go to a party as a double bill. Dressing up as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a glass and an ice cube, a tooth and a tooth fairy, or salt and pepper shakers will earn you bonus points. That is, as long as there is good chemistry between the two parts of the costume – if you don’t stay together at the party, then you will look like you only put on half the costume.
A good fit
The last thing you want to feel at a fancy dress party is uncomfortable. Make sure that your costume will allow you to move around comfortably. Put on the costume at home and dance around. And make sure that you can have a drink without ruining your costume. Spare a thought for the weather – if it’s cold, then don’t wear some skimpy costume because blue skin will only make you look like a Smurf.
Have fun
A fancy dress party is only meant to deliver one key ingredient: fun. So make sure that you enjoy the whole experience. Research your character by giving a favourite movie a second run. If you are of the creative kind, make the costume yourself. And at the party, don’t just stand in a corner, too afraid that someone will spill their drink and ruin your costume. Remember: it’s a party.