My Top 3 80s Fancy Dress Costumes

I've been to my fair share of 80s fancy dress costume parties and I must have seen hundreds of 80s costumes. Most of them have been really successful, but a few stick in my mind as being particularly good. Whether they capture the essence of the eighties, or present a convincing likeness to the 80s character, these 80s fancy dress costumes would be a good choice of outfit to wear to an 80's party.

The Marty McFly costume

If you want to go to a fancy dress party in Back to the Future costume, you've only really got two options: a Doc costume, or a Marty McFly fancy dress costume. Of the two, the Doc Brown costume is probably the easiest to achieve, but it is the Marty MacFly outfit that most typifies the 1980's. To put together a great Marty McFly fancy dress costume you will need to gather together the following items: a red body warmer, a pair of classis Nike sneakers with a red swoosh, a skateboard, an old school Walkman (Van Halen cassette optional), headphones, faded blue jeans, a pale plaid shirt and some braces.

The Michael Jackson costume (Bad era)

Micheal Jackson is a great subject for an 80s fancy dress costume because he is so well known. His larger than life, megastar weirdness also means that his costumes are fun to wear. While promoting the Bad album, and its many singles, during he late 80s, Michael Jackson sort of adopted a biker style. To achieve this look, you will require a black trousers (slightly too short) and a black shirt or military-style jacket. Adorn these clothes with lots of metal accessories (chunky belts, military medals, chains), add band-aids to your fingertips, white socks, slip on black shoes, a shiny glove to one hand and you're pretty much there. A great, and fairly easy, 80s fancy dress costume.

The Margaret Thatcher costume

For this political 80s costume you will need to be a bit creative. Maggie Thatcher didn't really have a consistent style, but there are a few things you can do to make people recognise the character you are dressed as. The essential item is a big, old-fashioned handbag. Alongside this, you should try to dress in a formal manner, and get hold of a Maggie Thatcher mask (of which there are several to choose from online). These items together create a very convincing Margaret Thatcher costume for an 80s fancy dress party.

Check out more about 80's fancy dress costumes at the Fancy Dress Costumes Guide.