80’s Costume Ideas, Part 1

I was a kid in the 80s, so I feel a lot of nostalgia for the time of big shoulder pads and bigger hair. It makes perfect sense to me that the 80s are becoming a popular party theme – even if the fashions of today are leaning toward the 80s, it’s fun at a party to take it all the way to crazytown. Think neon colors, leg warmers, mullet wigs, and gigantic earrings. Or emulate one of the characters we remember fondly from the era.

Here are some of my favorite suggestions for a totally rad 80’s costume:

1. Smurf. This one’s easy to make on your own – Wear a long-sleeved blue shirt and cover your face (and hands if you’re feeling ambitious) with blue costume makeup. Or go shirtless and cover your whole torso with blue makeup. It will take a lot for the makeup to look solid and not streaky, so buy plenty. Wear white pants (or white tights, if you’re really brave), white shoes, and a white hat. If you have even basic sewing skills, it would be easy to make a smurf’s hooked hat out of white felt. To be a specific smurf, carry the tools of his particular trade – for example, to be Baker Smurf, wear a white chef hat. Papa Smurf needs red pants, shoes and hat instead of white. (Read all about the different smurfs and their attributes at Blue Buddies, a site dedicated to the love of smurfs.) 

This makes a great couple costume, too. Smurfette will need a white dress, white pumps, royal blue tights, and a blonde wig – the yellower the better! If you want to create a sexier version of Smurfette, you could repurpose this two-piece Wilma Flintstone costume.

2. 80’s Hair Band Rock Star. What you’ll need: skin-tight pants, denim or black – leather if you’ve got ’em; ankle boots or motorcycle boots; crazy-big 80’s wig; biker-esque studded accessories; fake tattoos; and a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Oh yeah. That’s sexy. Or Google your favorite rock star and model yourself after him or her.

3. Ghostbuster. This one’s easy – just buy it! Seriously, I loved Ghostbusters – I still love Ghostbusters, and the fact that this costume exists and includes an inflatable ghost-zapper-thingy (what were those things called?) is my idea of tubular to the max.

Okay, that’s all for now. More 80’s costume ideas to come …

Check out 80’s Costume Ideas, Part 2!