A masquerade participant

A fancy dress party (British English) or a costume party (American English), mainly in contemporary Western culture, is a type of party where guests dress up in a costume.

Fancy dress parties in Britain[link]

The origins of fancy dress parties in the UK can in some respects be traced to masked balls of the 18th century period,^[1] although Fancy Dress parties of the modern kind are a largely Victorian conception^{[citation needed]} expanded upon by the Edwardians.

Notable amongst early events in the 20th century was the Chelsea Arts ball. Such events were often elaborate affairs and for the most part confined to those with considerable means.^{[citation needed]}

Amongst the general population, costume parties also occurred with increasing frequency from the late 1940s onward, although for the most part the costumes were simple affairs until the mid 1970s. Prior to 'cheap' costume imports from the Far East (late 1990s)^{[citation needed]} most costumes were either hired, or home constructed. Retail purchased costumes is in respect of the UK, a largely modern phenomenon (late 1990s onward) although 'accessory' items had been available for some time.^{[citation needed]}

Characters at a Halloween party in Dublin in 2006

Coupled with the modern trend in costume parties, 'retro' fashion as a costume theme (such as a 70s or even 80s fancy dress^[2]) are also popular in the UK, the costumes to some extent parodying or pastiching the fashions of earlier decades. Amongst the most popular parodied costumes are: Audrey Hepburn (as Holly Golightly); Madonna in her classic stage outfits and more recently Lady Gaga.

Fancy dress parties are popular year round in the UK. Bridget Jones features the popular and classic theme "Vicars and Tarts". Fancy dress parties are also a favorite of the British Royal Family. Prince William celebrated his 21st birthday with an "Out of Africa" theme, Princess Beatrice chose an 1888 themed party for her 18th birthday, and Freddie and Gabriella Windsor celebrated a joint birthday party with a pre-French Revolution courtly theme.^[3] Prince Harry infamously wore an Afrika Corps uniform with a Nazi armband to a "Colonials and Natives" themed party in January 2005. There was a large international outcry after the Sunday tabloid News of the World published a photo of him in the costume.^[4] Smiffy's, Britain's biggest fancy dress costume company, said it not only banned the imitation desert uniform but refused to make any Second World War German items. Its chairman, Ray Peckett, said in an interview to the Daily Telegraph at the time, that it never had and never would do so: "Wearing a Nazi uniform is exceptionally offensive".^[5]

Australia[link]

In Australia Costume Parties are typically referred to as Fancy Dress Parties, following the lines of Britain. The Australian costume market typically follows the styles of the United States Costume market and this is reflected in the growth of Halloween Costumes and Parties in Australia since the early 90s, even though Halloween has not historically been a celebrated event in Australia. Typical events for Australians that involve dressing up are the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the staff Christmas party and funnily enough the Cricket. In 2011 Cricket Australia celebrated 40 years of One Day Internationals, and everyone from the cricket commentators to a large portion of the crowd dressed up in their retro outfits for this celebration.

A Mardi Gras Costume party with friends, Queensland 2011.

One of the oldest examples of Fancy Dress being worn in Australia is on display at the Western Australia Museum. It was a Child's Fancy Dress worn by Miss Rita Lloyd aged nine years to the ‘Lord Mayor’s Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball’ at Mansion House in Perth on 8 January 1909.

Susan Grima the owner of Glamcostume, one of Australia's largest fancy dress costumes stores, identified the top 5 selling fancy dress costumes(and themes) in Australia for 2010. They were 1.Alice in Wonderland Costumes 2. Superhero Costumes 3. Toga Costumes 4. 1960s Costumes and 5. Sailor Costumes.

United States[link]

Costume Parties are especially popular in the United States around Halloween, when teenagers and adults who may be considered too old for trick-or-treating attend a costume party instead. Halloween costume parties are occasionally featured in popular movies, such as Mean Girls.

Costume parties are also popular during the Carnival season, such as at Mardi Gras. Costume parties are also held for popular science fiction and fantasy events, movie openings and book releases. Website theonering.net held a The Lord of the Rings dress Oscar party that was attended by Peter Jackson. Star Wars parties were held to celebrate the opening of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Many bookstores have held Harry Potter themed parties to celebrate the releases of the series' later novels, and some movie theaters have had Potter-themed celebrations as the movie adaptations have been released.

Larger scale 'parties' are often related to organised societies or conventions.^{[citation needed]}

80s fancy dress[link]

Since the nineties,^[6] until late in the Noughties, 80s fashion had been shunned widely by the public young and old. This meant the only time people generally ventured into 80s fashion, was at an 80s fancy dress party ^[7] or Halloween. The most popular costumes researched for 80s fancy dress are the 80s Madonna Look, 80s Punk fashion and fluoro / neon clothing.^[6] Some of the easiest and cheapest 80s costumes include Rambo, 80s Samantha Fox and 80s Tom Cruise from Risky Business and Top Gun. Another alternate 80s fancy dress costume idea, is to visit the charity clothing stores and look for 80s dresses, 80s prom dresses and 80s denim, including high waisted pants and acid wash, also known as stone wash. In 2010, buying 80s fashion is an easy 80s fancy dress costume idea, due to 80s fashion experiencing a resurgence in popularity, spearheaded by celebrities such as Ke$ha, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Cosplay[link]

Cosplaying is an important thing in costumes. Anime conventions including New York Anime Festival, comic book conventions including San Diego Comic-Con International, New York Comic Con, etc., and other events have Cosplay parties at various conventions.

Events and themes[link]

There are many annual events that generate the chance to dress up in fancy dress costumes; Christmas, New Year, birthdays, Hen and Stag parties and Book Day, amongst others.

Halloween is the most popular costume or fancy dress event of the year in western society. Halloween originated centuries ago, the Celts believed that on the 31st October the line between the living and the dead became distorted, condemned souls would come back to wreak havoc for the night. In defense the Celts would dress up in ghoulish costumes to scare evil spirits away.^[8]

Within many fancy dress events a theme is usually present, and with fancy dress outfits often from Hollywood films such as Star Wars, Grease, James Bond and Spider-Man. Themes are also extremely popular with fundraising events, such as the Great Gorilla Run, where 1,000 people dressed as gorillas in London in aid for Great Gorillas, a charity that focuses on the endangered species.^{[citation needed]}

Halloween Costume Parties[link]

Halloween is the most popular costume event of the year in western society. Halloween originated centuries ago, the Celts would dress up in ghoulish costumes to scare evil spirits away. A lot more people have attended Halloween costume parties every year around Halloween. Cosplay is also a part of Halloween.^[9]

Costume at Sporting Events[link]

Fans sometimes attend sporting events in a costume as a sign of support of their favored team. Some sporting events have large numbers of fans attending in fancy dress costume, notably the Wellington Rugby Sevens where almost every fan who attends wears some sort of costume.

See also[link]

• Masquerade ball
• Beaux Arts Ball

References[link]