| Part of a series on |
| Costume |
|---|
 |
Society and culture |
Traditional
|
Children |
Museums
|
Acostume party (American English) orfancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type ofparty, common in contemporaryAnglo culture, in which many of the guests are dressed incostume, usually depicting a fictional orstock character, or historical figure. Such parties are popular in theUnited States,United Kingdom,Canada,Australia,Ireland andNew Zealand, especially duringHalloween.
Australian fancy dress parties typically follow the style of the United States, and Halloween costume parties have been common since the early 1990s, even though Halloween has not historically been a celebrated event in Australia. Typical events for Australians that involve dressing up are theSydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the staff Christmas party andcricket matches.
One of the oldest examples of fancy dress being worn in Australia is on display at theWestern Australia Museum. It was a child's fancy dress costume worn by Rita Lloyd, aged nine, to the ‘Lord Mayor’s Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball’ at Mansion House inPerth on 8 January 1909.
It is a tradition to have a costume party at a university graduation.[1]
The origins of fancy dress parties in the United Kingdom can in some respects be traced tomasked balls of the 18th century period. In the period to 1850, fancy dress balls were a typical part of the social life ofmusic festivals.[2]
Common costumes of the period were specific historical characters, generic historical or regional clothing, abstract concepts (such as "winter", "starlight" or "night"), and objects (such as "champagne bottle" or "aquarium"). Popular characters includedMarie Antoinette andElizabeth I for women andNapoleon andRobin Hood for men.[3]
Notable amongst early events in the 20th century was theChelsea Arts Club ball. Such events were often elaborate affairs and for the most part confined to those with considerable means.[4]
Amongst the general population, costume parties also occurred with increasing frequency from the late 1940s onward; for the most part the costumes were simple affairs until the mid-1970s. Prior to the late 1990s, most costumes were either hired or constructed at home. Although 'accessory' items had been available for some time, retail purchased costumes are, in respect of the U.K., largely since in the late 1990s. Many materials and costumes being imported from the Far East (with cost savings in labour and bulk orders) had increased in volume at that time. This has seen the price of purchased costumes becoming more and more affordable.
Coupled with the modern trend in costume parties, 'retro' fashion as a costume theme (such as a 1970s or 1980s fancy dress) is also popular, the costumes to some extent parodying or pastiching the fashions of earlier decades. Amongst the most popular parodied costumes are:Audrey Hepburn (asHolly Golightly),Madonna in her classic stage outfits, and more recentlyLady Gaga.
Fancy dress parties are popular year round in the United Kingdom. The 1996 novelBridget Jones's Diary features the classic British costume party theme "Tarts and Vicars" at which the women wear sexually provocative ("tart") costumes, while the men dress asAnglican priests ("vicars"). Fancy dress parties have been held by theBritish Royal Family.Prince William, heir to the British Throne, celebrated his 21st birthday with an "Out of Africa" theme,Princess Beatrice of York chose an 1888 themed party for her 18th birthday, andLord Frederick ("Freddie") Windsor and his sisterLady Gabriella Windsor, celebrated a joint birthday party with a pre-French Revolution courtly theme.[5]
In late nineteenth century New York, costume parties were popular amongst the affluent. Costumes were typically historical European aristocracy. Authenticity was important, even extending to using actual period elements. For example, Cornelia Bradley-Martin attended her own party, the notoriousBradley-Martin Ball, dressed asMarie Antoinette, wearing jewellery actually owned and worn by Antoinette herself. The choice of aristocratic costume allowed rich Americans, with relatively limited family history, to assume some element of history and legitimacy.[6] This coincides with the celebration ofHalloween in the United States during the late nineteenth century. As a reaction to Halloween pranks and vandalism brought to the country by Celtic immigrants, women's magazines introduced a new, middle-class rendition of the holiday that would come to assert women as the dominant celebrants of Halloween throughout the coming decades. It sought to enforce the ideals ofwhite Anglo-Saxon Protestants by encouraging young people to partake in tame, preferably indoor, activities instead, often with a focus on romance. While the middle and upper classes shifted their Halloween celebrations toward these new actives, including costume parties, the poor and immigrant populations of the United States continued to celebrate in the ways that they always had, demonstrating the effect that class differences had on costume parties during this time.[7]
Costume parties are especially popular in theUnited States aroundHalloween, whenteenagers andadults who may be considered too old fortrick-or-treating attend a costume party instead. Costume parties are also popular during thecarnival season, such as atMardi Gras.
Attendees occasionally dress in costume for popular science fiction and fantasy events, movie openings and book releases. Web sitetheonering.net held aThe Lord of the Rings dress Oscar party that was attended byPeter Jackson.Star Wars parties were held to celebrate the opening ofStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Many bookstores have heldHarry 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 orconventions.[8]
The hobby of fan costuming and modern cosplay largely developed from theWorld Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons), starting with the first in New York in 1939 when two attendees,Forrest J Ackerman andMyrtle R. Douglas, wore "futuristicostumes".[9] From the2nd World Science Fiction Convention (1940) in Chicago,masquerade balls were a traditional feature of the convention.[9]
Fan conventions, often abbreviated to "cons", of various descriptions have followed the example of the Worldcons with many attendees wearing costumes representing fictional characters. Some conventions feature costume competitions and other scheduled costuming events. Several well-known conventions that feature costuming includeSan Diego Comic-Con,New York Comic Con, and Atlanta'sDragon Con.
Cosplay (a blend of "costume" and "play" via the Japanesekosupure (コスプレ)) was coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi in reporting on the42nd World Science Fiction Convention for Japanese magazineMy Anime.[10][11] It is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes, wigs and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplay is popular at conventions across the world. An example of a major cosplay convention in the United States would beAnime Expo, held annually in Los Angeles, California.[12]
There are many annualevents that generate the chance to dress up in fancy dresscostumes:Christmas,New Year, birthdays,hen and stag parties, andWorld Book Day, amongst others.
Halloween is the most popular costume or fancy dress event of the year in English-speaking countries. Halloween originated centuries ago, the Celts believed that on 31 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.
Within manyfancy dress events, a theme is usually present, and with fancy dress outfits often fromHollywood films such asStar Wars,Grease,James Bond, andSpider-Man. Themes are also extremely popular with fundraising events, such as theGreat Gorilla Run, where 1,000 people dressed asgorillas in London in aid forGreat Gorillas, a charity that focuses on theendangered species.[13]
Some costume parties are themed around80s fashion. The most popular costumes researched for such fancy dress are theMadonna Look,punk fashion and neon-colored clothing. Some of the easiest and cheapest 1980s costumes includeRambo,Samantha Fox, andTom Cruise fromRisky Business orTop Gun. Alternative eighties costumes include dresses, prom dresses and denim from the period, including high waisted pants andstone wash denim.
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. Examples includeWellington Rugby Sevens, where almost every fan who attends wears some sort of costume, andSan Jose Bike Party, where each month's ride has a different theme encouraging riders to come in costume.
Sorted by occasions, purposes or attributes | |||||||||||||||||
| Types |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Clothing |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Equipment | |||||||||||||||||
