Fun Fancy Dress (Fancy Dress Party)

Member Name: Lools_24

Product:	Fancy Dress Party
Date:	08/05/09 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads of Fun

Disadvantages: You may feel silly at first

When it comes to fancy dress..... I'm a massive fan. This year alone I have dressed up as .... A cowgirl, Alice in Wonderland, a Barbie doll, and a ladybird and its only May... but I know there will be lots more fancy dress events to come.

Although at first you do feel slightly awkward dressed up it's actually a lot of fun to see your friends and even family dressed up. You can all laugh at each other. One of the funniest moments was going to a family fancy dress party to find my dad and my uncle dressed as Batman and Robin ... it was a very Only Fools and Horses moment.

Fancy dress doesn't always mean that you have to go to a great deal of expense to look good. I would often buy a new outfit for a party / night out which when totalled up would cost in the region of at least £80. I would wear this outfit again, but not straight away, which is a bit like fancy dress. If I buy a fancy dress outfit (which usually costs £25 for a full costume) I then put it in my "dressing up box", which I can use again or parts of it for another fancy dress night. If money is a bit tight another option is to borrow off friends. Which I probably wouldn't do with my normal party clothes! Alternatively you could have a look in your wardrobe and look if there are any old clothes that you could customise. Pirate costumes can be easily made from an old shirt and a waistcoat made to look tatty, tie a headscarf around your head and voila you are in fancy dress

Having a clear theme is essential; it makes it easier for people to plan and get an outfit. I have also found that sometimes it is a good idea to send guests/ people attending a night out a link to costume websites. I have got my best inspiration of what I am going to a party as from looking at costumes available and either purchasing one, or making my own. Also try and pick a theme in there are a wide range of options of characters to dress up as ....... especially if there are a lot of people dressing up. Also give people plenty of notice if you are doing fancy dress. Getting a costume together takes some time, two weeks is the minimum time I feel should be given.

The downside to fancy dress is stepping out of the safety of your own home in your full costume. You do get some strange looks especially if your costume is slightly risqué or noticeable. Once you get inside of your venue you will feel fine. If possible try and meet up with other people going to your party/ night out before you actually go out. Especially if you have to get public transport. My best friend had to get on a bus dressed as Little Red Riding Hood alone and after a 20 minute bus ride her face was redder than her red hood as a bus full of people were laughing at her.

If I am going out on a fancy dress night out I meet my friends before we head to bars rather than meeting them inside a bar. A lone figure in fancy dress in a bar is not an experience I would wish on anyone and will never put myself through again


**********Purchasing costumes Online*********

If you are ordering a costume online my advice would be to shop around! I have just recently bought a ladies cupid outfit online. This is a branded "Leg Avenue" costume so available from a number of retailers. I ordered the costumer for £20.99 online with a £3 delivery fee however from another site exactly the same costume was £52.99 with a £8 delivery charge!!!

If you do not have lots of time to shop around and are after reliable fancy dress at a reasonable price and want to order online my advice would be order from fancydress.com. The site has loads of costumes priced reasonably and I have order 4 times from this site and my costume has always arrived with plenty of time to spare despite only ordering one week before the party. The only downside is that delivery is quite expensive (£7.99 is the lowest priced shipping option; next day delivery is £12.99 however the £7.99 option arrives the day after that).

Beware if you buy costumes online they may look longer on the model but in fact some can be very revealing. Be aware of this before you purchase as you don't get the chance to try on before you buy.

This doesn't just apply to purchasing online but any costume you need to make sure that it's practical. For example make sure it's not so tight and uncomfortable that you are able to wear it for all of the party. Or that you are able to go to the toilet wearing the costume.

Lastly make sure that you take a camera so you have evidence of how great the costumes at the party were, you can have a laugh at them at a later date. So enjoy and don't worry if you feel (and look) a fool... chances are everyone else will too! Just have fun!!

Summary: A great way to get people talking