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March Monthly Competition
March 17th, 2011September – Image Picture Competition
September 25th, 2011- <p style=”text-align: center;”></p>
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Post your images & be in with a chance of winning a £25.00 voucher, to spend on-line. Get your friends & family to vote up your pictures. Thanks guys!
December Image Competition
December 6th, 2011
Heroes & Villains Fancy Dress Theme
February 4th, 2012Following on from our 50s fancy dress theme yesterday, around this date in 1953, the Walt Disney version of Peter Pan was
released. The original story was written by JM Barrie and the royalties over use and performance of the tale were assigned to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Although the play is regularly performed as a ‘panto alternative’ around this time of year, it is the Disney version that most people recall, and of course we’ve also seen the tale’s famous fairy, Tinkerbell, building her part with a few spin-off movies in the last year or so.
When it comes to costuming, Peter Pan is a classic cross-dressing role, so that typically, a couple can go as Peter and his arch-enemy, Captain Hook, although ‘Tink’ impressions are also popular. That said, we’ve noticed a falling off in the popularity of Captain Hook in recent years (We know he’s a villain, but you get our gist) and some might assume that he has been replaced in our affections as ‘Most Popular Pirate’ by one Captain Jack Sparrow. Anyway, if we’re looking for a celebratory theme for today, it has to be Heroes and Villains.
Here are some great Hero & Villain Costume Ideas:
Firstly here are some of our Hero costume ideas…
- James Bond
- Captain Jack Sparrow – he is a ‘sort of’ hero
- Harry Potter
- Lara Croft
- Superman
- Batman
- Obi Wan Kenobi
- Princess Leia
- Lawrence of Arabia – an Arab Costume is quite easy to put together at home, if you do not have the time, take a look at our Arab costumes
- Spartacus
- Mahatma Ghandi
- Robin Hood
- Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne)
- William Wallace
- Zorro
- Bat Girl
- Ben Hur
- T-800 – Terminator
- Captain James T Kirk
- Rambo
- Neo & Trinity – The Matrix
- Silk Spectre – Watchmen
- Terminator
- Tarzan
- John Mclaine (Die Hard)
- Jackie Chan
- Indiana Jones – we stock a good range of Indiana Jones costumes & accessories
- Ellen Ripley (Alien)
- Frodo Baggins
- Luke Skywalker
- Robin – why not take a look at all of our superhero costumes?
- Wonder Woman
- Spiderman
- Iron Man
- Wolverine
- Princess Leia
- Mad Max
- Clint Eastwood
- Ethan Hunt – Mission Impossible
- Maverick – Top Gun
And what about some real life heros
- Doctors & Nurses Costumes
- Naval Costumes, including Sailors, Captains
- 1940s war uniforms
- Military personnel including sexy ladies army costumes
- Fireman
And now let’s have a look at some villain costume ideas…
Costume Ideas for Film villains:
- Voldermort – Harry Potter
- Darth Vader
- Darth Maul, both from Star Wars
- Cruella de Vil – 101 Dalmations
- Dr. Hannibal Lector
- Wicked Queen – Snow White
- Al Pacino
- Captain Hook
- Ugly Sisters
- Count Dracula
- Snow Queen
- Queen of Hearts
- Wicked Witch of The West – Wizard of Oz
- The Joker – Batman
- Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare On Elm Street
- Jason – Friday 13th
- Scream
- Jigsaw – Saw movies
- Dr. No – James Bond
Or Real Life villains, including:
- Convicts
- Terrorists
- Adolf Hitler
- Gangsters
- Various Politicians – depends on who you support
Or Fantasy…
- Devils
- Bad Fairies / Angels
- Vampires
- Werewolves
- Witches
50′s Fancy Dress Costumes
February 3rd, 2012Today we advocate a 1950s fancy dress theme as Don McLean sang in his 1971 song, ‘American Pie’, today is The Day the Music
Died as Buddy Holly, Ricky Valens and JP ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson were all tragically killed in a plane crash in Iowa, America in 1959. For some of our readers this probably will not mean much as this happened over 50 years ago, and for many this era has now been consigned to the history books. However, we do still have a lot of customers who choose to dress up as Pop Stars from a bygone age, rather than some of the immediately recognisable pop stars from today, and a standard 1950s fancy dress is still very popular. This can sometimes be a bit of a hit or miss experience as there are certain characteristics, costumes, props or wigs that denote different stars. A Buddy Holly costume is a classic example. The main areas are the fifties haircut, black frame glasses (which also work for Austin Powers), the skinny tie and teddy boy style check jacket. These items can usually be sourced through most fancy dress shops, including props and frocks and is a quick and easy image to create, for the man who does not want to try too hard.
Some other 50s Costume Ideas:
- Marilyn Monroe
- Grease Costumes
- Elvis Presley
- Teddy Boys
- Teddy Girls
Some 50s films with some great dressing up opportunities
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- The African Queen (1951)
- The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1957)
- Ben Hur (1959)
- Carry On… films started in the 50s
- Cinderella
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Dracula (1958)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956)
- Julius Caesar (1953)
- Peter Pan (1953)
- Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1953)
Some 1950s Television Costume Ideas:
- Adventures of Superman
- The Invisible Man
- Flash Gordon
- Rawhide
- Robin Hood
- Sgt. Bilko
- This Is Your Life
- Zorro
- Andy Pandy
- Bill & Ben
- Blue Peter
- Noddy
2012 Costume Trends
February 2nd, 2012Today we take a look at possible fancy dress costume trends for 2012, with many remakes in the offering, so it is just as well that it
is Groundhog Day – the day when, the legendary rodent Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania emerges from his purpose-built burrow at nearby Gobbler’s Knob. If he sees his shadow and retreats back to his burrow, it’s a few more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow and stays put, it’s an early spring. This miracle of meteorological forecasting having been made famous in arguably one of Bill Murray’s best films, which many are happy to see again and again, hence making the déjà vu aspects of the film self-fulfilling.
Meanwhile, back on the twin planets of Props & Frocks, déjà vu often seems to occur at this time of the year as we look to see what new costuming trends are in prospect. It seems that ‘back to the future’ is very much the way forward (or back) as 2012 sees attempts to revive tried and tested TV programmes and also create films based on TV shows. We don’t envisage any major merchandising opportunities from the fact that they’re redoing ‘The Sweeney’ but the plans to revive The Munsters, Bewitched and The Flintstones sound a little ominous, especially when you look at the past track-record in this field, notably ‘The New Addams Family’, which was not a success.
We also have the Olympics & the Queens Jubilee giving us lots of possible costume themes for the coming year, and if the Royal wedding of last year was anything to go by, we are certainly going to have lots of Royal themed fancy dress parties. If you need any help, or advice check out our various fancy dress theme ideas (to the right of this blog) or give one of our team a call , or email.
Alex Polizzi – The Fixer
February 1st, 2012The new series of Alex Polizzi – The Fixer started on BBC2 last night at 8pm. If you were paying attention
(right at the start) you would have seen a fleeting image of me (with head in my hands) and the front of the fancy dress shop.
I appreciate it was a case of blink and you will miss it, but it does give a taster of what it probably yet to come!
I had this image sent to me this morning with the caption ‘If I get ONE more problem today… Someone WILL die!!!’
Can you do better? Send in your caption suggestions for a bit of fun
What did you think of the first in the series, we’d love to know your thoughts?
Ladies Fancy Dress Costumes
February 1st, 2012Today we thought we’d concentrate on ladies fancy dress costumes.
Our remark about the lack of female werewolf outfits yesterday returns to a point we were making last year: There is not always a level playing field when it comes to costumes. One example is that there seem to be more superhero outfits available than there are superheroines, so it can be a bit tricky when it comes to a superhero/villains theme event. Others would also observe that, of the female superhero outfits that are available, some tend to be in the skimpy crop-top style which doesn’t suit everyone’s requirements. The same sort of thing happens with Halloween outfits: Whilst we know that there’s a school of thought that says ‘Girls don’t do gruesome’, it is, of course, their right to do so if they wish, but they then find that in many cases all the Market has to offer is female (and sexy!) versions of male icons of horror such as Jason and Chucky. We know the female is supposedly more deadly than the male, so where are the outfits from ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Alien’ or the Selene (of Underworld) combat suits?
Suffice it to say, here at Props n Frocks, once we’re aware of a problem, we do our best to deal with it. Stay tuned for further developments!
Of course, in our vast range of ladies hire costumes, we stock ladies fancy dress costumes in all themes and ranges. If you are local to our retail / hire shop in Battlesbridge, it is well worth a visit to see our complete range of top quality hire costumes.
Werewolf Costumes
January 31st, 2012Taking the fact that today is the anniversary of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ in1983, and that we have a full moon coming up next
week, on February 7th, we thought we’d look at Werewolf costume options for those feeling the need for change. Aside from the standard werewolf outfits, of which there are several varieties in varying degrees of quality, there is actually an official Jackson Thriller werewolf outfit based on a red jacket (featuring a large M initial) with yellow sleeves, but we find you can just as well mix the classic black/red jacket seen in the video with a separate mask and hands and look equally as good. Other famous film werewolves include the basket-ball playing Teen Wolf, a Michael J Fox film of the 80s, and the wolf that inspired the Thriller video, the American Werewolf in London. Although there are no official costumes for this, as with the Jackson film, a strategically torn t-shirt and jeans, plus the mask and hands can work wonders. The one thing which does interest us is the distinct lack of female werewolf outfits on the market. (If you find a mask too cumbersome, there are also werewolf kits available for the ‘in-between’ look). Nothing to stop a girl donning any of the above outfits of course, but they seem to be sized for males – the nearest thing we can find for females is an outfit that could be mistaken for a cosy Cossack or sexy Viking.
Props & Frocks stocks a great range of werewolf accessories & we do find that the majority of our customers like to improvise with some accessories & put their own werewolf costumes together at home.
Make Your Own Werewolf Costume
The easiest way to create a werewolf inspired outfit is to first of all decide on some old clothes that you are willing to sacrifice. Rip
these clothes as if they have been torn, but maintaining your decency! Using some of our theatrical hair attach the hair as if it is coming out of the rips in your clothes. You can sew, or glue, this in place.
Either use a werewolf facial hair costume kit to create hair on your face, or more theatrical hair, or just wear a werewolf wig, or mask. some people really do not like wearing masks, so we do stock a mask that leaves your lower face uncovered, or of course, you could just wear some fancy dress make up
Liquid latex is ideal to help you to attach the facial hair, and to create some peeling effects on the skin, add some werewolf teeth to complete the effect.
You can easily create a sexy werewolf look by ripping up your clothes but using the theatrical hair carefully around the face etc.
Flower Power Fancy Dress Theme
January 30th, 2012Today, we thought we’d like to suggest Flower Power as our fancy dress theme.
This is a really great costume theme as you can do as much or as little as you want to. For example, if you are not keen on dressing up (yes, we understand that there are some of you who actually do not like wearing a fancy dress costume!) why not just wear some flowers in your hair? A bit more adventurous? Add a long wig and some glasses.
There are so many hippy accessories that you can purchase that you do not actually need to purchase, or hire a flower power hippy costume
And, of course, Props & Frocks stocks a wide range of Hippy costumes for all the family to suit all budgets. Our budget male hippy (right image) is our best selling male hippy costume
But you do not need to go down the traditional 60s hippy look. Why not wear ‘normal’ clothes with a flower print? Or what about dressing up as a flower, or an insect that pollinates flowers such as a bumble bee?
The start of another working week (or at least it was working last time we looked). Anyway. today names are much on our minds: Apparently on this date in 1847 in California, Yerba Buena (‘Good Herb’ – a settlement named after an abundance of mint-like plants which grew in the area) changed its name to the much more catchy San Francisco – probably explains the enthusiasm for Flower Power in the Sixties.
The thing about names comes from the fact that at this time of the year we’re looking to be bringing in new stock for the coming season and whilst we do create a lot of costume magic here at Battlesbridge ourselves, we sometimes have to rely on other suppliers whose ingenuity in naming costumes so as not to infringe copyright can be quite entertaining. ‘Dog Lovin’ Diva’ is a rather weird way of describing one of the many Cruella-like costumes, and in a more general arena, what the heck is a ‘Midnight Acolyte’ (and what does he/she/it do as a day-job?). Actually it sounds better than just ‘Priest/Priestess’, which is probably the whole point, and when it comes to working with (and cataloguing) costumes, names work better than numbers. So pop along to Props & Frocks and we’ll make the introductions – bringing the costume to life is up to you.
