Bloody Uniforms Costume Theme

Posted on October 3, 2012 by admin

Continuing to focus on the run-up to Halloween, we thought we would take a sideways look

Bloody Mime Outfit – Special price whilst stocks last!

at one of our popular party themes. ‘Uniforms’, ‘Professions’ or ‘What I Want to Be When I Grow Up’ are just three ways of introducing the same topic. Each event will involve many different types of uniform, some modern, some retro, and ideas for this uniform costume theme can vary enormously, as you can see below.

Traditional Uniforms

Nurse or Doctor
Schoolgirl, Schoolboy or Teacher
Air Hostess or Pilot
Astronaut
Any of the Armed Forces costumes – Army, Navy or Air Force – Either this country or overseas

Service Industry Uniforms

Care worker
Caretaker or Cleaner
Cook or Chef
Waiter, Bell Boy (or Hop)
Hat Check Girl

Leisure Industry Uniforms

Clown
Dancer – Ballet, Ballroom, Belly, Charleston, Swing, Zumba, etc..
Entertainer
Magician
Singer

So, what have uniforms got to do with Halloween? Well quite a lot actually. Over the last few years there has been a trend to the more horrific side of Halloween. It started with named characters from slasher movies, such as Freddie Kreuger from Nightmare on Elm Street and Jason from Friday the 13^th, then broadened out into specific groups of people such as zombies, vampires and monsters. This year there seems to be a trend towards adding blood to uniforms. There is the bloody butcher, psycho or bloody nurse, bloody chef, bloody surgeon, etc.. If you want to be more adventurous you may decide on the option of creating your own character, using one of our sell-through uniforms for sale and a bottle of fake blood. We don’t recommend trying it on the hire ones (unless it already ‘bloodied’) as some fake blood does stain (despite what it may say on the label).

Halloween Costumes

Posted on August 28, 2012 by admin

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August is a great time for the fancy dress shop to get ready for Halloween. As we mention

Vampire Accessories

a bit further down this post, this time of the year is ‘normally’ very quiet in the fancy dress industry, and it is a great opportunity for the Halloween costumes & accessories to take up prime position in the fancy dress shop.

Keep an eye out for some ‘early bird’ Halloween offers, and grab your Halloween outfits, & accessories before the mad Halloween rush.

Well, we are back at work today and raring to go after our bank holiday rest day yesterday. Some schools may have already gone back, but for many, this is the last week of the school holidays and it represents the last week of freedom for many, before the routine of the school year once again kicks in. Parents up and down the country will no doubt be checking that everything is prepared for the new school term. For those in the fancy dress trade, school holidays can be an interesting challenge. August can be notoriously quiet, but this year because of the Olympics (and prior to that the Jubilee) we think fewer people have chosen to go away during the summer (or perhaps took their main holiday earlier in the year?) and instead have been holding parties. This is obviously good for business, but can be an interesting challenge in ensuring we have the right costumes for the right evetns at the right time, particularly when we find that any pre-planning elements have flown out the window.

This week is also the time when people start thinking about the next bank holiday. Naturally, this will be Christmas. We have already had some firms who have started booking costumes for the staff Christmas party (yes, some businesses still have them. However, Christmas is just under four months away and two months prior to that we have Halloween. New Halloween stock is arriving daily and if you want to ensure you have the right outfit for you, take a look at some of the items we have available.

10 Most Popular Halloween Costume Ideas

Posted on October 17, 2011 by admin

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With two weeks to go until the 31^st, we thought we would give you a brief run-down of our top 10 most popular Halloween costumes from recent years.

10. Devil – Despite the general consensus of the Devil being male, the majority of devil costume requests tend to come from females. This isn’t to say that there aren’t many male devil outfits, (although some masquerade under other titles such as Lord Lucifer or Beelzebub (typically devious)), it’s just that there are a greater number of female costumes, many in the short and sassy style. No need to lead you into temptation here – you can probably find it for yourself. We also stock a wide range of devil accessories, everything from devil tails, horns & tridents to help you to complete your Devil costumes.

9. Grim Reaper Costume – A Halloween outfit with a bit more edge. For those who want to go beyond the standard skeleton outfit, this has proved popular in the past, especially following the dramatisations of some of the Terry Pratchett Discworld books featuring Death. The outfit uses a hooded cape, mask and scythe, and even if Prachett’s Death was seven foot tall, size isn’t everything. This Halloween costume is ideal if you do not want to do too much. Wear your normal clothing underneath so you can remove your costume at a later stage of the evening. .

8. Pumpkin – One of the more traditional Halloween costumes, being based on a simple foam-based body in most cases. Great for kids and adults.

7. Skeleton – A mainstream Halloween outfit, this has been on the back-burner for a few years, but was resurrected last year, with a twist, as the Voodoo Lord of the Dead. The Lady Gaga ‘Born This Way’ video has also helped. Watch out for information on another variation – the Skeleton Zombie costume– coming later this week, and we’ll also have info on how to spice (or sugar) up your impression soon.

6. Cat – A witch’s familiar and symbol of luck, the head to toe black feline look can prove quite the cat’s whiskers for the scary season. See our Blog for October 11^th for further advice and information.

5. Witch (or Wizard) – Witches are always popular at Halloween (if only for a short spell) and with the departure of Harry Potter & Co. we are waiting to see how the wizard market holds up. We stock a great range of witch costumes & accessories, whether you choose to wear a sexy witch outfit, or stick to something a bit more traditional.

4. Zombie Costumes – There are, of course, plenty of ‘off-the-peg’ zombie outfits available, and the new range of ‘professional’ zombie outfits have been flying out (‘Here to die, gone tomorrow’). For those on a budget, the zombie outfit has the benefit of being able to be thrown together from almost anything. We also stock some great zombie scars and zombie skin (or liquid latex) which is brilliant at helping yo to create a peeling skin look.

3. Beetlejuice – A costume from the Tim Burton stable. This popular character is not too scary and the black/white striped ill fitting suit is a great visual concept not only for Halloween, but also for 1980s and Movie parties.

2. Corpse/Dead Bride – A bit of a sleeper hit last year, especially as the film itself was released a few years ago, but they say you can’t keep a good bride down – even six foot under! This is a costume that you can utilise any white bride costume and add some liquid latex and fake blood to get the best gory bride look you can. We have a Corpse Bride Costume on special offer, add some fake blood and you have a unique looking Halloween fancy dress costume.

1. Vampire – Thanks to the ‘Twilight’ series and ‘First Blood’ the Vampire look has been ‘in’ for the past few years. Traditionally Dracula has been the Vampire and with our fantastic selection of capes for sale, this is an easy look to recreate. Using white and black make-up (which is available for purchase) for an unnatural pallor and the sleepless look, add our fangs for that vampire look and away you go. The range of coloured contact lenses we stock are also great to give that bloodthirsty stare. Take a look at our huge range of vampire accessories

Horror Films Fancy Dress

Posted on October 4, 2011 by admin

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Horror Films is today’s fancy dress theme as many times throughout the year we are asked what are your most popular fancy dress costumes? This is also true when it comes to Halloween.

Some great Horror film Costume Ideas:

Freddy Krueger Costumes & accessories – A Nightmare on Elm Street
Devil costumes & accessories
Silence Of The Lambs – Hannibal Lector, we stock straight jackets and masks
The Shining – maybe wear some sort of shiny material!
Nosferatu
Bride Of Frankenstein
Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Saw
Scream
Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Leatherface
Gothic costumes. Wigs and accessories are also available
Jason Costumes & accessories – from Friday The 13th
Zombie Costumes from numerous films
Vampire Costumes – we stock a great range of vampire teeth, cloaks and other Vampire accessories
Werewolf costumes – we stock a large range of werewolf accessories
Physcho
Dracula
Frankenstein

The ‘fun’ thing when choosing props ‘n’ frocks’ selection of Halloween costumes and accessories is being able to second-guess what will be this year’s ‘big thing’. Some years we get this right, whilst other times we may be way off the mark. Films are quite often a good source of ideas for the general public, so keeping an eye on this area of activity is always very important. The problem is being able to identify what ‘looks’ will capture the imagination, and thus give us lots of requests, (and possibly last minute headaches) and which films will sink without trace. This is one area where sequels can be a good source of reference. Some of the films that can be included in this category can be old favourites such as ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, ‘Halloween’, ‘Scream’, ‘Scary Movie’, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Friday the 13^th’.

Halloween Fancy Dress Parties

Posted on October 3, 2011 by admin

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Many people come to us here at Props n Frocks for advice on costumes for their costume parties. With Halloween itself just 28 days away (less if you are celebrating on Saturday October 29) we thought we should take some time out in these blogs to give you help and advice on having the perfect Halloween. So, whether you are going to a party, planned event, or even organising your own Halloween costume spectacular, where do you start?

The obvious place is the venue. If you are holding a party in your home or in a hall, the main focus will be on creating the right atmosphere. Many people in the UK think of Halloween events as being spooky or horrific affairs. However, in America, Halloween is just seen as a fun activity, where adults and children can don any type of fancy dress costume and go out and enjoy themselves. This could mean heading off to a specific location, having a party at home, or just out trick or treating in the local area. Over the last few years, we have started to notice this trend in the UK as well, with many (what we’d call) non Halloween costumes being sold, or hired for a Halloween Fancy dress party. some venues will not let you put up Halloween decorations, so please check before you purchase anything.

If you are actually organising a Halloween party or any event, items to be thought about include the guest list, invitations, food, drink, decorations, props and music. What can often be left ‘til last will be the Halloween fancy dress costumes, accessories and make-up. You would not believe how many requests we get from people who have left it until the last minute and still expect to get exactly the costume they want. Realistically to ensure you have the right look this Halloween (and get your costume and accessories in plenty of time) an element of planning may be necessary to find the perfect costume that’s just right for you. Why don’t you take a look at our huge range of Halloween costumes and place your order before the mad rush starts?