1960s Costumes

Posted on June 14, 2012 by admin

We were discussing the Sixties and hippy costumes yesterday but of course the Hippy look is not for everyone.

An alternative was the Romantic look, typified by long flowing locks (for both sexes) and use of frills, ruffles on clothing made of satins and velvets. Some males adopted a pseudo-militaristic style of jacket, matched (?) with wide collared colour shirts and large kipper ties and wide ‘loon’ trousers (the romantic element seeming to be men in love with their own image). For women, this fashion evolved into the ‘shepherdess/Laura Ashley styles of the Seventies whereas for males, aside from those who adopted extreme Glitz and Glam in the Seventies, the Romantic look took a decade off to re-emerge as the New Romantics of the Eighties/Nineties.

With the Space Race in its infancy, futuristic fashion was another style choice. Hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, who passed away a few weeks ago, was noted for innovating sharp, short geometric hairstyles in the Sixties and clothing designers such as Paco Rabanne, Rudi Gernreich and Thierry Muggler came up with interesting, if not always practical designs. On the other hand, thanks to Jane Fonda’s turn as Barbarella, female saviour of the universe, vinyl boots became extreme popular, their impact spreading to widespread use by ‘dolly birds’ with legs to show off following the ‘invention’ of the mini-skirt.

Dark eyes and large eyelashes were also very popular. Our plain black eyelashes will crate the desired effect.

Another costume option would be Austin Powers, the first film was set in 1969, lots of Bond films were released in the 60s, as were the Carry On films…

Why not take a look at all of our 1960s Costume Ideas?

Hippy Costumes

Posted on June 13, 2012 by admin

Today is all about Hippy costumes as we are now a week from the mid-summer solstice (it’s on the 20^th), and because many associate this event with hippies (much to the annoyance of the Druids who used to have Stonehenge and the like to themselves) we thought this was a good excuse to spend a day or two back in the Sixties – getting back to the roots of the Flower People, so to speak. The term Hippy arguably derives from the term ‘hip’, interchangeable with ‘cool’ and ‘way-out’ in the vernacular, and the look is typified by an overtly casual look –T-shirt and jeans at the most basic level, but more commonly associated with bell-bottom trousers (or full length flower fabric skirts) and tie-dye tops. Hair was worn long and straight and outfits were accessorised with flowers, love beads and small Indian bells (because of their association with meditation, which was very in vogue in the Sixties, especially when the Beatles took it up). Button badges with appropriate slogans may also be used on clothing and the more creative types might wish to use face and body art to reinforce the ‘non-conformist’ look, face painting being a rare and exotic thing back in the Sixties.

The hippy look continued in to the 1970s, so can still be used for a 70s themed fancy dress party.

Props & Frocks stocks some great Hippy costumes for men & women, but if you do not want an entire costume we also stock a fabulous range of hippy accessories, including:

Wacky weed
Giant spliffs
Peace Medallions
Hippy wigs
Round Glasses
Flares
Flower Power Glasses
Hippy Kits

1960s Costumes

Posted on March 9, 2012 by admin

Today, we are going to base our fancy dress theme on the 1960s,although, we are celebrating Barbie’s birthday today (in 1959), her popularity really soared in the 60s…

Here are some of Props & Frocks 1960s Costume Ideas…

1960s Ladies Costumes

Although we all tend to think of the 60s as the decade of the mini, the short style dress was not nationwide until 1967. Until then the 50s influenced many styles.

Mary Quant was very influential, her dresses were often designed to be 6 – 7 inches above the knee. Her use of PVC and other adventurous fabrics became very popular. Mary Quant also influenced the chic bob, although a flick up look was also very fashionable. We stock a great range of1960s ladies costumes to suit all budgets and sizes. We also stock a wide range of 60s accessories including wigs, jewellery, boots and glasses.

Mini dresses made tights popular. It was hard to wear such a short dress and feel comfortable whilst wearing stockings. These tights were also seamless. No lady would wear a short dress with bare legs showing. Fishnet tights were popular for a short time
Flat boots became the norm to wear with the mini dress.
.
The popular hairstyle was a beehive, where they tease the hair and pile it high on the head. Another look during this time was the beatnik. The beatnik look included black berets, black slacks (tight for women) and dark glasses

Clothes were quite narrow at the shoulder, many had armholes cut away so that the shoulder and the entire arm were visible.

Baby Doll dress were popular in 1966 and were made in many floaty fabric such as chiffon.

Trousers were worn, when a mini dress was not appropriate. These were hipster style and flares begun to appear towards the end of the decade.

Fashion was also influenced by ‘flower power’ and flowers and fringe were everywhere, along with long flowing locks. The women wore long floor length dresses and skirts called maxies. At Props n Frocks we stock a large range of ladies hippy costumes and accessories to help you to complete your outfit.

The list of 60s fancy dress costume ideas gives a wide range of character ideas if you didn’t want to stick to the standard 60′s outfit.

1960s fancy dress suggestions:
Mary Quant
Hippy Lady
Mini Dresses
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra 1962)
Cher
Twiggy
Julie Andrews (Sound Of Music 1965)
Mary Poppins (1966)
Jeannie (from ‘I Dream of Genie’
Star Trek
Lady Penelope
Catwoman
Bunny Girl
Cruella de Vil (1962)
Eliza Dolittle (1964 My Fair Lady)

1960s Mens Costumes

Mens fashion was influenced by the pop stars of the day. The Beatles wore smart suits with a small collar. The suit had a single breasted collarless jacket and slim pants. At Props n Frocks, we stock the plain grey suit favoured by The Beatles, but also the Sargent Pepper style costume as well.

Men wore Paisley shirts, velvet trousers and high collared Regency jackets. Men also began to wear their hair long

The beatnik look was popular with men as with women. Black berets, black slacks and dark glasses wore worn. Men wore sandals.

The ‘hippy’ look begun to develop towards the end of the decade. Mens hair got longer moustaches and sideburns were popular. We stock a large range of mens hippy costumes and accessories to help you to complete your outfit.

1960s fancy dress suggestions:

Beatles
Elvis
Hippy
Jimi Hendrix
Sonny
Booby Vee
The Krays
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)
Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia 1962)
Dick Van Dyck (Mary Poppins 1962)
Austin Powers
Teddy Boy
Thunderbirds
Star Trek
England Footballer
Batman & Robin
James Bond
Lawrence of Arabia
Pink Panther
Austin Powers

After International Woman’s Day yesterday, apparently, as previously mentioned, it’s Barbie’s birthday today. Modelled on a adult-looking German doll her creator had brought back from Europe, this major toy personality made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on this date in 1959, so today is her official birthday. Of course for some time there was transatlantic rivalry with her British counterpart Sindy, but Barbie had the better publicity machine (and lawyer) and remains a major celeb in the toy market. Although the arrival of ‘new kids on the block’, the Bratz threatened to undermine her position, her appearances (along with sometime boyfriend Ken) in the Toy Story movies has done much to win her a new generation of fans. She wears her age well and, as we know, she has always been one to embrace the dress-up box when required.

1960s Costumes

Posted on February 12, 2012 by admin

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1960s Fancy Dress Ideas

On the second –er- leg of our insight into fashion for the lower body, we start at the Sixties, where following on the ‘anti-establishment’ Teddy Boy/Girl fashions and the young having more money of their own to spend, street-wear could only get more controversial. The iconic Sixties look was, of course, the mini-skirt, widely agreed to have been ‘invented’ (or at least heavily popularised) by Mary Quant. Whilst employers came to terms with the new look with ‘modesty boards’ on desks, the girls had to decide what to do with their legs. For many, boots were the way forward, with the Jane Fonda film ‘Barbarella’ helping popularise the vinyl variety in the late 1960s. With girls having made all the effort to show their legs, there was a reluctance to cover them up with tights (also a novelty), so many either went bare legged or, with the help of a creative friend, wore body-paint style leg make-up to draw even more attention to their lower limbs.

In the 1960s, tights were still in were still in comparative infancy, having only recently taken over from stockings, but with technology having come on since then, you can now create the same eye-catching effects with less effort next time you are celebrating the Sixties. The era has been recently highlighted in the ‘We’ll Take Manhattan’ Jean Shrimpton/David Bailey drama, featuring Dr Who girl Karen Gillan.

Props & Frocks stocks a huge range of 60s costumes from Hippies to black & white Mary Quant outfits. We have also looked at some popular pop stars, films & television to give you loads of 60s costume ideas…

Popular 60s Television

Addams Family
The Avengers
Batman
Benny Hill Show
Blue Angels – angel wings & blue body paint will make an interesting 60s costume!
Bugs Bunny
The Green Hornet
Hawaii Five O
I Dream Of Jeanie
The Jetsons
Lost In Space
Tarzan
Star Trek
Scooby Doo, Where Are You
Roaring Twenties
The Saint
The Fintstones

And here are some great 60s Films that we think you could use as inspiration to dress up…

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid – wear Western Costumes
Lawrence Of Arabia
Mary Poppins
Psycho
The Sound Of Music
West side Stroy
2001: A Space Odyssey
101 Dalmations
Batman
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, look at our lovely Audrey Hepburn style costume
Camelot
Cleopatra
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave
Pincher
The Pink Panther
Romeo & Juliet
James Bond – loads were filmed, and released in the 60′s, take a look at all of our James Bond costume Ideas.

And famous people of the 60s era…

Elvis Presley
The Beatles
Elizabeth Taylor
Jimi Hendrix
The Jacksons
JFK
Audrey Heburn
Jackie Onassis
Neil Armstrong
Freddie Mercury
Bob Marley
Frank Sinatra
Janis Joplin
Diana Ross
Yul Brynner
Richard Burton
Marlon Brando
John Wayne

Flower Power Fancy Dress Theme

Posted on January 30, 2012 by admin

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Today, 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.

60′s Costume Ideas

Posted on August 15, 2011 by admin

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Today, we look at 1960s fancy dress and give you some ideas to help you to complete your costumes.

The Sixties is still a very popular costume theme and is great from a costuming point of view. Why don’t you take a look at our range of 60s fancy dress outfits?

Ladies 1960′s Costume Ideas
Although we all tend to think of the 60s as the decade of the mini, the short style dress was not nationwide until 1967. Until then the 50s influenced many styles. This does give you the option of wearing a Rock n Roll style costume as well if you prefer this style.

Mary Quant was very influential, her dresses were often designed to be 6 – 7 inches above the knee. Her use of PVC and other adventurous fabrics became very popular. Mary Quant also influenced the chic bob, although a flick up look was also very fashionable. We stock a great range of 1960s ladies costumes to suit all budgets and sizes. We also stock a wide range of 60s accessories including wigs, jewellery, boots and glasses.

Mini dresses made tights popular. It was hard to wear such a short dress and feel comfortable whilst wearing stockings. These tights were also seamless. No lady would wear a short dress with bare legs showing. Fishnet tights were popular for a short time
Flat boots became the norm to wear with the mini dress.
.
The popular hairstyle was a beehive, where the hair is teased and piled high up on the head. Another look during this time was the beatnik. The beatnik look included black berets, black slacks (tight for women) and dark glasses

Clothes were quite narrow at the shoulder, many had armholes cut away so that the shoulder and the entire arm were visible.

Baby Doll dress were popular in 1966 and were made in many floaty fabric such as chiffon.

Trousers were worn, when a mini dress was not appropriate. These were hipster style and flares begun to appear towards the end of the decade.

The list of 60s fancy dress costume ideas gives a wide range of character ideas if you didn’t want to stick to the standard 60′s outfit.

1960s fancy dress suggestions:
Mary Quant
Hippy Lady
Mini Dresses
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra 1962)
Cher
Twiggy
Julie Andrews (Sound Of Music 1965)
Mary Poppins (1966)
Jeannie (from ‘I Dream of Genie’
Star Trek
Lady Penelope
Catwoman
Bunny Girl
Cruella de Vil (1962)
Eliza Dolittle (1964 My Fair Lady)

Male 60s Costume Ideas
Men’s fashion was influenced by the pop stars of the day. The Beatles wore smart suits with a small collar. The suit had a single breasted collarless jacket and slim pants. At Props n Frocks, we stock the plain grey suit favoured by The Beatles, but also the Sargent Pepper style costume as well.

Men wore Paisley shirts, velvet trousers and high collared Regency jackets. Men also began to wear their hair long

The beatnik look was popular with men as with women. Black berets, black slacks and dark glasses wore worn. Men wore sandals.

1960s fancy dress suggestions:

Beatles Fancy Dress Theme

Posted on June 13, 2011 by admin

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We recommend a Beatles Fancy Dress party as it was on or around this day in 1970 (depends which chart you look at) the Beatles came to the end of their run of number one hits in America, with, appropriately, The Long and Winding Road. Although there have since been re-releases and re-masters, this was their original last hurrah before they went their separate ways (and for some, continued success either on their own or with other groups). Later this week, on June 18^th, we have the birthday of Paul McCartney (born 1942) so now could be as good a time as any to work on an event based around the Beatles. Aside from the obvious sixties party, (we have a huge choice of 60s fancy dress costumes to choose from) another popular idea is to come as someone from the Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album Cover. Aside from the Beatles themselves, other famous people included, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Fred Astaire, Max Miller, Laurel & Hardy, Albert Einstein, Jonny Weissmuller (Tarzan), Marlene Dietrich and T.E. Lawrence. Alternatively, you might want to go down the road (not necessarily a long and winding one!) of Beatles Song Titles. To help you with a few suggestions, we would draw your attention to our song titles theme information sheet, one of the many resources available from us here at Props n Frocks.

Here are just a few Beatle Song Titles that you may be able to use…

A Taste Of Honey – Wear a Bumble Bee outfit or Winnie The Pooh style costume
Act Naturally – Wear a nude suit – if you dare to bare!
Back In the USSR – Russian outfits
Chains – cover yourself in chains, look at these great jumbo chains, very lightweight
Carol – Wear a Victorian Carole Singer’s costume
Devil In Her Heart – Wear a Devil Costume with a heart
Doctor Robert – Doctors Costume with Robert as a name
Drive My Car – wear A chauffeur’s Costume – just a hat with a suit will do
Flying – any costume related to flying including Top Gun & RAF costumes
Her Majesty – Wear a Queen costume
Lady Madonna – Wear a Madonna Costume
Mr Moonlight – Possibly a Vampire of Werewolf costume

Well, there is just some to give you inspiration…