1980s Costume Ideas

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Posted on 17th October, 2012 by Adele

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New Romantic - 80s Costume

£40.20

Welcome to the 80s decade...

The 1980s brought us big hair, huge shoulders, shell suits and mullet wigs. New Romantics were everywhere as were neon coloured leg warmers and leggings. Outlandish colours, the brighter, the better, were the fashion statement of the time.

Props & Frocks stocks a wide range of 80s costumes and accessories including the infamous leg warmers!

Our 80s fancy dress outfits include costumes from famous 80s films such as Top Gun, Freddy Krueger, Supergirl, Superman & Batman.

The 1980’s music scene has also provided us with plenty of scope for 80s costumes including Adam Ant, Boy George & Madonna.

We have split the 80s decade into smaller sections, just have a look through the left navigation areas to find your perfect 80s outfits. As always Props & Frocks offers top quality hire costumes as well as a huge range of costumes & accessories that you can purchase.

1980’s Music

Posted on 1st March, 2014 by Adele

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New Romantic - 80s Costume

£40.20

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80's Pop Star Ladies Costume

£33.00

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Mohican - Multi Punk Wig

£7.20

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Freddie Mercury Style Costume - PVC Jacket and White Trousers

£43.20

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Gigolo 60s Costume

£34.62

MUSICAL STYLES OF THE 1980s

Heavy Metal Image – Leathers (studded or otherwise), black HM T-shirt, spiked/gelled or long ‘rocker’ style hair. Heavy use of eyeliner and dark colour make-up.

New Romantic – Fashion harked back to the 1700s with full frilly shirts, baggy trousers and big hair. Examples –

ADAM ANT
DURAN DURAN
SPANDAU BALLET.

New Wave – GARY NUMAN

Pop – WHAM!

Punk, Examples –

SEX PISTOLS
SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES
TOYAH WILLCOX – Various punk costumes & accessories available.

Rock – PINK FLOYD ‘THE WALL’

POP ICONS OF THE 1980s

Adam Ant – Following an acrimonious split from his punk band, Adam developed his own unique style of Ant Music, based on the use of African drums. The trademark white stripe across the nose, black eyeliner and black curly hair with ribbons, can be seen across all his solo videos, although costumes were divesrse

Militaristic-style jacket for ‘King of the Wild Frontier’

Pantomime-cum Georgian style for ‘Prince Charming’

Dandy Highwayman for ‘Stand and Deliver’

For a ‘couple’ set, check out the ‘Puss-in-Boots’ video, where Adam plays a rat!
Bananarama – All-girl group that pre-dated the Spice Girls by a decade. ‘Style’ was more in the hair and make-up than the odd clothing (dungarees on one occasion).
Boy George – Popular lead singer of the 1980s group Culture Club. He developed his own unique fashion style, based on baggy clothing, ribbons, large hats and feminine-style make-up.
Bucks Fizz Performer – This British group were winners of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with their song, ‘Making Your Mind Up’ Female: Bright coloured skirts (short and long) plus matching top. Male: White trousers and brightly coloured jumper.
Cyndi Lauper – ‘Girl’s just want to have fun’ and Cyndi Lauper certainly did when it comes to 1980s fashion.
Freddy Mercury – ‘A Kind of Magic’ (White trousers/yellow buckled jacket), I Want to Break Free (Mini-skirted housewife!)
KISS – Stadium rock group noted for their distinctive facial make-up designs: Demon, Space-man, Star-Child and Cat-man.
Madonna – (1984 to present day) Madonna started her career with the film ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ and was one of the first stars of the MTV generation. During the 1980s, probably her most iconic looks were for the following songs:

Like a Virgin – White sleeveless lace wedding dress wioth fingerless gloves

Material Girl – Image based on Marilyn Monroe’s pink gown in ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’
MC Hammer – ‘Can’t Touch This’. Rapper star noted for stage outfits featuring voluminous parachute pants, notably in gold.
Michael Jackson – ‘Bad’ (Black leather-look jacket & jeans)

‘Billie Jean’ (black evening suit, pink shirt & red bowtie)

‘Black Military-style jacket plus silver glove

‘Thriller’. White suit & black shirt (album cover)(Red/Black PVC or Werewolf)
Prince – The artist who changed his name to ‘symbol’ in the 1990s. Best known for his purple suit.
Tina Turner – Had a string of solo hits during the 1980s, including Private Dancer; We Don’t Need Another Hero ( From Mad Max/Thunderdome) & What’s Love Got To Do With It? Wigs and costumes available.
Toyah Willcox – Brightly coloured hair, various punk-style outfits and striking make-up and tribal face-paint style designs create the Toyah look.

1980s Television

Posted on 30th November, 2012 by Adele

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Star Trek Gold Shirt

£25.20

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Gnome - Blue

£24.60

1980s Television Programmes

The A-Team (1983-1987) – Our Mercenary costume is ideal to wear as a Mr T costume
Grange Hill (began in 1978) – wear school uniform
He-man and the masters of the Universe (1983-1985) – hire costume available
The Incredible Hulk TV Series 3 (1978-1982) – hire costumes available
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe TV series (1988-1990) – This programme gives a wide range of possible costumes from the 1940 s evacuee style costumes, to the White Witch right through to Aslan, the Lion and Medieval Kings & Queens. We have lion costumes to hire as well as lion masks
Postman Pat (first screened in 1981) – we have a hire costume that may be suitable for this character
Rainbow (1972-1992)
Fireman Sam (first appeared 1987)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (first series began in 1987) – we have turtle costumes to hire and official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumes to purchase
The Dukes of Hazard (1979-1985)
The Simpsons (dbut Dec 1989)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (first aired 1987) – we stock a range of Star Trek Costumes
Dynasty (1981-1989) – all you need here is a power suit with huge shoulder pads and big (and I mean BIG hair). Our Curly Cher wig is ideal. For JR, just wear jeans,cowboy boots and a shirt with a massive cowboy hat.
The Smurfs (first broadcast 1981) – Our blue gnome costume is ideal to use for a Smurf. We also stock the blue Snazaroo facepaint but please be aware it is water based so will rub onto clothing, furniture and anyone else you get a bit close to!

1980s Films

Posted on 16th October, 2012 by Adele

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Naval Officer - Mens Costume

£30.75

1980s Films Costume Ideas

Amadeus (1984) – Based on a Peter Shaffer play, a film about the early life of Mozart and his jealous rival Salieri. Wear Georgian style costumes, we have a large selection in our hire departmentBack to the Future (1986) – The tale of Marty McFly and his time-travelling DeLorean was told over three films. Our Madman wig is ideal for the professor

Beetlejuice (1988) – A cult 1980s film with Beetjuice costumes available to hire and purchase.

Blade Runner (1982) – Film set in a dystopian future Los Angeles. Android replicants have escaped back to Earth and Blade Runner Deckard has to retire them. Aside from Deckard (1940s style long trench-coat), Pris and Zhora have exotic costume potential

Blues Brothers (1980) – Derived from characters of a US Saturday chat show, the Blues Brothers (Dark Suits, Skinny tie, Shades and Pork-pie hats) were on a mission from God in a key film of the 1980s. We stock a great range of Blues Brothers accessories

Crocodile Dundee (1986) – Mick Dundee wears a buckskin-style jacket or waistcoat, jeans & bush hat plus large knife (or ‘Aussie’ hat with corks). Inflatable crocodile accessory could also be carried.

ET – Originally rejected by two studios, one of the best loved non-Disney films of all time

Gandhi (1982) – Oscar winning performance from Ben Kingsley, as the inspirational leader of the Indian sub-continent. Gandi is normally seen wearing white robes (maybe you have an old sheet you could use?). You could also look at our Indian costumes in our hire department

Ghostbusters (1984/89) – Three men against supernatural nasties (and a giant marshmallow man) in New York. We stock the licensed Ghostbuster Costumes

Hairspray (1988) – The original John Waters version, featuring Debbie Harry, Ricki Lake and Divine. Wear 1960’s costumes and flick out wigs

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) & its two 1980s sequels, I J and the Temple of Doom (1984) I J & the Last Crusade (1989) starred Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones Costume consists of safari shirt, fedora hat, bull-whip & brown leather jacket.Also wear Arab robes which appear frequently

Star Wars V (Empire Strikes Back) (1980) & Star Wars VI (Return of the Jedi) (1983) A range of Star Wars costumes, including Jedi Knights (Obi Wan & Luke Skywalker); Pincess Leia; Chewbacca & Darth Vader.

The Terminator (1984) – After his stint as Conan the Barbarian (1982), Arnie Schwarzenegger made his mark with this time-travelling cyborg film.

Raging Bull (1980) Starring Robert De Niro & Boxer Costume

Rocky III (1982) – Lead role played by Sylvestor Stallone, and another chance to wear a boxer’s costume

Platoon(1986) American War Film. combat fatigues

Top Gun (1986) Lead Role Maverick played by Tom Cruise. wear our Aviator costumes. Our Naval Officer costume is also suitable for their dress uniform

The Princess Bride (1987) – Wear Medieval style costumes

The Little Mermaid (1989) – We have some lovely hire Mermaid & Mer-King Costumes

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) – Wear a rabbit hire costume, or one of our rabbit masks

Supergirl (1984) – There are many Supergirl costumes to choose from wither to purchase or to hire

Friday The 13^th (1980) – Considered one of the most sucessful horror franchises. Props & Frocks stocks a range of Jason Voorhees costumes and masks.

Flashdance (1983) – all you need are leggings, slouch tops and neon leg warmers to put together a costume from this iconic 80s film

Dirty Dancing (1987) – based in the 60s but all you need for a Patrick Swayze costume is a black vest and black trousers.

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) – Starring Richard Gere wear our Naval Officer uniform

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) We stock lots of Freddy Krueger costumes and accessories

Rambo (1985) – Another Sylvestor Stallone 80s film. we have a Rambo costume to hire

Batman (1989) – We stock all the Batman Costumes including The Joker, Catwoman and Batgirl

Superman (1980) Superman II just scraps into the 80s decade. Hire and costumes to purchase are available