80s Costumes

Look Cool in These Retro Eighties Costumes

If you’re looking for an 80s themed costume idea you are in for an absolute treat whether you’re attending an 80s party or just playing tribute to my favourite decade this Halloween. This decade was crammed full of cool 80s costume ideas taking inspiration from high street fashion, movies, games, television shows and musical stars there are costumes to suit everyone. You could try anything from a dark Gothic look to a pastel embracing preppy style, come with me as we trip our way down memory lane in bodacious 80s style!

First you need to decide whether you want to buy a costume or simply make your own and with so many 80s elements being found in today’s fashion it’s never been a better time to put together your very own original 80s outfit. Next you need to decide if you’re going by yourself, as a couple or in a group, now you’ve thought about that let’s look at some cool costume ideas.

Ten years was a long time in 80s fashion when the styles seemed to change as often as your facebook status changes these days. People strived to add their individual touches to outfits which is why such a wide range of costumes exist that encompass the 80s era – it’s also why it’s so much easier to make an 80s costume yourself than it is many other decade costumes.

80s Costume Ideas for Women

Madonna, She-Ra & 80s Soap Queens

There are lots of different costume ideas for women from the 80s soap opera stars like Alexis Carrington with suits, big hats and enormous shoulder pads and let’s not forget big jewelry (the 80s were big on big!!). Then you can look at pop stars of the time like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper who definitely looked different to Joan Collins (aka super bitch Alexis Carrington of Dynasty fame).

Sticking with music stars you have rocker chicks like Joan Jett as well as one hit wonders like Toni Basil who look as different as chalk and cheese! The same could be said if you wanted to get physical with Olivia Newton John or get dark and broody with Siouxsie Sioux.

Of course you could always dress up as She-Ra or even Wonder Woman if you preferred.

Top Eighties Costume Ideas for Ladies

Here are a few of the top costume ideas for women who want to dress up in pure 80s style ......
80's Soap Star Adult Costume
This costume wouldn't look out of place on either of the two major prime time US soaps of the 80s - Dynasty or Dallas.

You could also see this costume on a number of other 80s television shows including other soaps like Falcons Crest and hit shows such as LA Law.

Forum To The Maxx Collection Girlie Costume
This costume is based on one of Madonna's 80s looks (she had a few different ones!) and I must admit I had one summer where I only wanted to wear halter necks myself - most of my friends did as well!

The longer skirt was worn during the 80s a lot more than you'd think looking at the selection of women's costumes usually offered.

Flashdance Adult CostumeBuy From Wholesale Costume Club
Flashdance, what a feeling - this classic 80s film also embraces the leotard part of a costume - if you want to wear a leotard you can also try a 'Let's Get Physical' style of costume like Olivia Newton John wore or a Fame inspired costume (very similar to this one in fact) or even pretend you're Jane Fonda with her infamous workout videos that were all the rage.

You can find a range of 80s costume ideas for women on this page - 80s Costume Ideas for Women.

80s Costume Ideas for Men

From Bluto to Rambo & Everything In Between!

Men’s fashions also changed from the suits of the New Romantics to the pop prince of punk Billy Idol and more besides. You could embrace pastels and wearing boat shoes with no socks like the stars of Miami Vice or get a little ‘hairy’ a la Teen Wolf! You could dress in an outfit that was quite bizarre as the star of Beetlejuice or you could just say – can’t touch this – and be MC Hammer!

Famous men of the 80s that you could dress up as include Adam Ant, Mr T, Freddie Mercury, Prince and Michael Jackson. Characters that we all love from the decade include Marty McFly, Rambo, Bluto and Magnum PI!

Top 80s Costume Ideas for Men

Here are a few of the top selling 80s costumes for men for you to look at.....

Men's 80's Video Superstar Costume80's Bad Boy Adult Costume - LargeLeg Avenue Men's Top Gun Bomber Jacket

First up we have a MC Hammer costume, the 80s rapper seemed to own these trousers, so much so that we referred to them as Hammer pants!

The next costume we've featured is one made famous by the late Michael Jackson. There are a number of different MJ costume ideas you can wear as an 80s outfit, but this is one of the most recognizable ones - his Thriller costume.

If you feel the need for speed then you might want to dress up as the 80s teen heart throb Tom Cruise from his hit movie - Top Gun.

80s Costume Ideas for Couples

When it comes to costume ideas for couples that are lots of them, you can choose to go as a preppy couple, Goth couple, New Romantic couple, yuppie couple etc or you can dress up as some of the famous people or characters of the decade like She-Ra and He-Man, Wham!, the Blues Brothers or even look to the political arena and dress as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher - 80s allies or Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev - 80s cold war opponents.

There are certainly a lot of different costume ideas to think about - lets look at a few costumes that are available for you to buy -

Disguise Masters Of The Universe He-Man Classic Muscle Mens Adult CostumeDisguise Women's Masters Of The Universe She Ra Deluxe Costume

During the 80s Christopher Reeve was Superman - he first immortalized him on the big screen in 1978 before the 3 Superman moves that were released during the 80s and they really were must seen movies at the time - girls all wished they were Lois Lane whereas the boys all wanted to be Superman.
DC Comics Superman Costume
This is a classic Superman costume that you could wear and your partner could dress up as reporter and love interest Lois Lane or Superman's cousin Kara (see below) who also made it onto the big screen during the 80s.

DC Comics Secret Wishes Supergirl Costume
Supergirl was made into a movie in 1984 and I loved going to see it, forget being Lois Lane I could be Supergirl and fly by myself not in someone's arms - awesome!

Dressing up as these two super cousins would be a cool eighties couples costume idea.

80s Group Costume Ideas

When it comes to 80s group costume ideas there are quite a few that you can use including that iconic 80s video game - Pacman. Other ideas include the music group Devo or one of the hair bands of the 80s like Motley Crue or Bon Jovi. Then again you could dress up as the members of the A-Team, characters from the Dukes of Hazard or even the Ghostbusters group.

Let's have a look at some of the cool group costume ideas ...

Ghostbusters Group Costume Ideas

Ghostbusters Costume With Inflatable Backpack
The Ghostbusters jumpsuit is probably one of the more iconic movie costumes of the 80s and up to four members of the group could wear these suits while the others could dress up as.....

Ghostbusters Inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Costume
The Marshmallow Man - what could be scary about a giant marshmallow man?

Ghostbusters Adult Inflatable Slimer Set
Of course you can't go without a little slime when you're ghostbusting so this costume can also be part of your group costume idea.

Pacman Group Costume Idea

Pac-Man Deluxe Group Costume Set Of 5
This costume idea is even sold as a set! Pacman and his hungry 'ghosts' Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde make a great 80s costume idea as it must be one of the most iconic of the 80s video games.

If you have an extra person in your group you can also get the power-up pellet costume for them.