fancy dress

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A costume party (American English) or a fancy dress party (British English), mainly in contemporary Western culture, is a type of party where guests dress up in a costume.

United States

Costume Parties are especially popular in the United States around Halloween, when teenagers and adults who may be considered too old for trick-or-treating attend a costume party instead. Halloween costume parties are occasionally featured in popular movies, such as Mean Girls.

Costume parties are also popular during the Carnival season, such as at Mardi Gras. Costume parties are also held for popular science fiction and fantasy events, movie openings and book releases. Website theonering.net held a The Lord of the Rings dress Oscar party that was attended by Peter Jackson. Star Wars parties were held to celebrate the opening of Episode I. Many bookstores have held Harry Potter themed parties to celebrate the releases of the series' later novels, and some movie theaters have had Potter-themed celebrations as the movie adaptations have been released.

Larger scale 'parties' are often related to organised societies or conventions.^{[citation needed]}

Fancy dress parties in Britain

A Medieval themed birthday party with family and friends.

The origins of fancy dress parties in the UK can in some respects be traced to masked balls of the 18th Century period^{[citation needed]}, although Fancy Dress parties of the modern kind are a largely Victorian conception^{[citation needed]} expanded upon by the Edwardians.

Notable amongst early events in the 20th Century was the Chelsea Arts ball. Such events were often elaborate affairs and for the most part confined to those with considerable means.^{[citation needed]}

Amongst the general population, costume parties also occurred with increasing frequency from the late 1940's onward, although for the most part the costumes were simple affairs until the mid 70's. Prior to 'cheap' costume imports from the Far East (late 1990's)^{[citation needed]} most costumes were either hired, or home constructed. Retail purchased costumes is in respect of the UK, a largely modern phenomenon (late 1990's onward) although 'accessory' items had been available for some time.^{[citation needed]}

Characters at a Halloween party in Dublin in 2006

Coupled with the modern trend in costume parties, 'retro' fashion as a costume theme ( such as a 70's or even 80s fancy dress^[1] ) are also popular in the UK, the costumes to some extent parodying or pastiching the fashions of earlier decades. Amongst the most popular parodied costumes are: Audrey Hepburn (as Holly Golightly; Madonna in her classic stage outfits and more recently Lady Gaga.

Fancy dress parties are popular year round in the UK. Bridget Jones features the popular and classic theme "Vicars and Tarts". Fancy dress parties are also a favorite of the British Royal Family. Prince William celebrated his 21st birthday with an "Out of Africa" theme, Princess Beatrice chose an 1888 themed party for her 18th birthday, and Freddie and Gabriella Windsor celebrated a joint birthday party with a pre-French Revolution courtly theme.^[2] Prince Harry infamously wore an Afrika Corps uniform with a Nazi armband to a "Colonials and Natives" themed party in January 2005. There was a large international outcry after the Sunday tabloid News of the World published a photo of him in the costume.^[3] Smiffy's, Britain's biggest fancy dress costume company, said it not only banned the imitation desert uniform but refused to make any Second World War German items. Its chairman, Ray Peckett, said in an interview to the Daily Telegraph at the time, that it never had and never would do so: "Wearing a Nazi uniform is exceptionally offensive".^[4]

Japan

In Japan, costume parties are closely related to cosplay.

80s fancy dress

Since the nineties^[5] , until late in the Noughties, 80s fashion had been shunned widely by the public young and old. This meant the only time people generally ventured into 80s fashion, was at an 80s fancy dress party or Halloween. The most popular costumes researched for 80s fancy dress are the 80s Madonna Look, 80s Punk fashion and flouro / neon clothing.^[5] Some of the easiest and cheapest 80s costumes include Rambo, 80s Samantha Fox and 80s Tom Cruise from Risky Business and Top Gun. Another alternate 80s fancy dress costume idea, is to visit the charity clothing stores and look for 80s dresses, 80s prom dresses and 80s denim, including high waisted pants and acid wash, also known as stone wash. In 2010, buying 80s fashion is an easy 80s fancy dress costume idea, due to 80s fashion experiencing a resurgence in popularity, spearheaded by celebrities such as Ke$ha, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

See also

• Masquerade ball
• Beaux Arts Ball

References