So, that’s it. It’s all over. What an Olympic Games that was – if you were a fan beforehand, you no doubt love Britain more and if you weren’t a fan beforehand, we hope you’ve been converted!
From start to finish, it was an absolute celebration of everything that is great about Britain; supporting the underdog, laughing in the face of the weather and cheering on every competitor! There were a few controversial events that didn’t deserve a cheer, such as those notorious women’s badminton doubles match between South Korea, China and Indonesia, but overall it was an overwhelming success.
It’s hard to define the best moment of the 30th Olympiad. It’s the question that everybody asks, but there are too many great memories. Mo Farah made Olympic history with his long distance double, Jessica Ennis nailed every event to become the best in the world at the women’s heptathlon and Sir Chris Hoy became the most decorated British Olympian in history.
Katherine Grainger finally achieved her dream by winning gold in the double sculls final, Victoria Pendleton finished off her career with an outstanding gold in the velodrome and Greg Rutherford leapt to the top of the world in the long jump.
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Usain Bolt cemented his place in the record books as the greatest sprinter of all time and, just like in Beijing, made us all laugh along the way. The Jamaicans brought true character to the Games, making it one to remember for the rest of our lives.
Away from all the competition, the opening and closing ceremonies will certainly live long in the memory, not just for their costumes, but for the magical scenes of history, hilarity and the downright bizarre.
OOOOSSSHHHHH!!!! Keith Lemon the movie is coming. It will be with us in UK cinemas on 24th August, so get your tickets in early folks!
The Yorkshireman, whose real name is Leigh Francis, has taken UK TV by storm again in the past few months with hit shows like Lemonaid and Celebrity Juice and he just continues to become a bigger star (so much so that the boss here at Fancy Dress Ball was inspired to get kitted out in a Keith Lemon costume earlier this year…).
The movie is one of the most anticipated comedies of the year and is sure to rip a few sides open next month. It tells the story of a man who dreams of emulating the Richard Bransons of this world and so leaves his hometown. His hometown, of course, is the lovely Yorkshire city of Leeds, but he deserts it in pursuit of success in the capital city.
His dreams are not as exciting as he had hoped, though, which inevitably leads him back to the place that he loves most: Leeds! Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!
It’s set to be a right hoot and we for one cannot wait!
Music, TV, cinema, video games, comics – they’ve all provided some rather spectacular costumes over the years. From rock stars to movie stars, superheroes to super villains, there is certainly no shortage of inspiration around here.
Many of the world’s most instantly recognisable costumes are recognisable for a reason – because they’re awesome – so it’s time to pay homage to some of the most iconic costumes in the world of fancy dress. First up is Gene Simmons from Kiss.
Kiss turned the world of American rock on its head in the 1970s. It formed in 1973, rising to fame within the decade and changing the face of rock (literally) to become perhaps the most famous men in makeup in the world.
Approaching its 40th anniversary, the band is still going strong today and has recently played the likes of the Download Festival. The line-up has changed over the years as the band has been struck by tragedy more than once, but Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have been the only constants throughout the entire history of the band.
This is probably the reason that they still have two of the best and most popular costumes in rock and roll today. Our Deluxe Gene Simmons costume and Paul Stanley costume will rock your world if you want to pay tribute to two of the most famous rock stars of the past four decades.
The band has sold more than 100 million albums across the world with hits such as Rock and Roll All Night and Crazy Crazy Nights, so it’s no surprise that Kiss costumes are still so popular. Their next album will be called Monster and is set to be released later in the year.
We hope you enjoy some crazy, crazy nights in these costumes if you’re paying tribute to Kiss anytime soon!
Are you ready for T in the Park, fancy dress fans? Set for the 6th, 7th and 8th July, it boasts one of the standout line-ups of this year’s festivals, with the likes of the Stone Roses, Snow Patrol and Kasabian heading up the headliner slots and with such a diverse selection of music across the weekend, you have no excuses for the lack of options in the fancy dress department!
Noel Gallagher will appear on stage before the mighty Stone Roses on Saturday, so the classic 90s Britpop wig certainly wouldn’t look out of place. On the Friday, Snow Patrol top the bill, with rap sensation Tinie Tempah, golden oldies New Order and the hugely popular Florence + The Machine as their powerful support acts.
The Brits are really doing the music scene proud at T in the Park this year, as Frank Turner, Happy Mondays, Elbow and Kasabian all round off the weekend in good old British style. There are a number of great acts on throughout the weekend, with a superb mixture of new and old music talents, so be sure to pack your 90s fancy dress costumes to make it a proper full-on, blow-out weekend!
We’d love to see your pictures over on our Facebook wall, so when you’ve fully recovered a week or two after the festival, do share the good times and post us your pictures!
Race for Life is one of the biggest and best fundraising events in the country for Cancer Research UK and it seems to get bigger and bigger every year. The website states that there are more than 240 events across the UK this year – that’s a whole lot of fundraising and a whole lot of pink!
If you’re training to take part this summer and you’re looking for Race for Life costumes to raise awareness, we might be able to help you out with an idea or two here.
You can jump away from the traditional pink t-shirt and dress up in a pink morphsuit to raise a few extra pounds. We also have a long pink Hawaiian skirt to add a bit more hula to the day (and to keep the inevitable British rain off your mind!).
To keep the inevitable British rain off your hair, too, perhaps you’d like to keep it simple and go for the neon pink wig! Whatever you wear, we hope you raise plenty of money and have lots of fun!
If you are taking part in your local race this year, good luck!
We would love to see some pictures of you and your friends after the big day – you can upload them to our Facebook wall or tweet them to us at @fancydressball.
Wimbledon is as British a summer staple as ice cream on the beach, t-shirt tans and washed out barbeques. Tickets to the world’s oldest and possibly most prestigious tennis competition have been sold out for months. There’s still time to lay out the picnic blanket on Henman Hill (or Murray Mount depending on your affiliation!) to get the best vantage point of the famous big screen.
Last year marked the 125th anniversary of the tournament and saw attendance from the newly-wed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They took in three games from the Royal Box on the centre court and received an on court bow from the Scottish player Andy Murray.
This year will hopefully bring in the same if not more of a royal crowd following the jubilee so don’t get rid of those Queen and Philip masks just yet!
Paying homage to your favourite tennis player could get you just in the mood for some on screen action. Take Novak Djokovic, for instance. It looks like dressing up as pro female player Maria Sharapova could make his game even better!
If you are thinking of heading down to the tournament to take in some unpredictable weather, quintessential strawberries and cream as well as some world class players don’t forget your ace You Cannot be Serious Costume from Fancy Dress Ball!
So, the Jubilee is over and Britain is recovering from one truly great, nationwide 4-day party! We hope you had as much fun as we did, Britain!
There were some fantastic fancy dress costumes on show around the country and we’d love to see some pictures of them on our Facebook wall (even if you’d had too much punch when the picture was taken!).
By far the most common costumes were those paying tribute to Her Majesty and the Royal family themselves – there were masks and royal hats in every street and all over the TV. The street parties were full of pomp and pageantry, with Union Jacks decorating villages, towns and cities all over the country.
It was hard not to smile at the images of a nation coming together to celebrate one of the proudest aspects of our history. People of all ages braved the weather for 4 days straight to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen. Quite rightly, too – Diamond Jubilees are not particularly common events!
The last one in Britain was that of Queen Victoria in 1897, while the next one might not be until the 22nd century! Even if Prince Charles, the next in line to the throne, was crowned King tomorrow, he would have to live to be 123 years old to follow in the footsteps of his dear mummy and see his own Diamond Jubilee!
One thing’s for sure, fancy dress will certainly help mark the celebrations in style at every royal celebration to come!
Don’t forget to send in your party pictures from this weekend! Long live the Queen!
The 10th Download Festival is just around the corner – have you got your fancy dress outfits ready to rock the grounds of Donington Park?
Music festivals in the UK have famously been pretty hot on the old fancy dress and Download is no exception. The fact that it is the 10th anniversary of the great hard rock festival is all the more reason to attend in celebratory festival fancy dress.
The array of bands on offer should be enough inspiration for a fancy dress marathon. Legends of rock, Black Sabbath, are returning to Donington to add another classic gig to their ever-growing list. Sabbath originally formed in 1969, so we think the guys deserve a fancy dress tribute to their dedication to rock! How about this Hard Rocker wig?
Metal gods, Metallica, will make it a double anniversary. They plan to mark the 20th anniversary of their ground-breaking album, the Black Album, by playing it from start to finish in Donington Park. A pledge worth a salute, we say.
Topping off the headliners are Prodigy, the band that typified 90s British electronic hardcore dance. They are still going strong and will rock Download on the opening night, Friday 8th June. There is no better costume than the 90s party starter costume to pay homage to Keith Flint and co’s contribution to music.
Whatever you might decide to dress up as, the head banging had better be rife, the mosh pits sweaty and the fancy dress funny. You wouldn’t have a metal festival any other way now, would you?
Music has provided some of the best ideas for fancy dress costumes in history, so it’s time to pay homage to how the icons of the industry have graced parties up and down the country over the past century!
Freddie Mercury
Top of the list has to be the best frontman to ever hit the world stage, lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury. This one is especially relevant with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee approaching – Freddie is one of the greatest British artists of all time, so if any guys out there don’t want to dress up as the Queen, Freddie’s your man!
Spice Girls
Equally as British as Freddie himself, the Spice Girls are the number one choice for all 90s fancy dress fans out there! There is talk of the girls reforming for the London Olympics this summer, so get your costumes in early!
Elvis Presley
What is there to say about old King of Rock and Roll? Probably the most impersonated man in music history, Elvis has given us a number of fantastic costumes, from the classic white jumpsuit to the American Eagle costume.
Lady Gaga
If you’ve ever wondered how to dress up as Lady Gaga, here’s your answer. She notoriously has one of the most outrageous wardrobes in the world and never fails to make an impression whenever she is out in public.
Kiss
Perhaps one of the bands from where Gaga got her inspiration, Kiss has been first choice for tens of thousands of fancy dress fans since the early 70s! Easily one of the most instantly recognisable costumes ever.
As we all know, the world of cinema is poised for the 23rd instalment of the legendary James Bond series, entitled Skyfall. It’s set for UK release in October.
The teaser trailer for Skyfall has just been released, which has inevitably increased the excitement ten-fold, especially in the Fancy Dress Ball office! The trailer itself (published on the YouTube accounts of both Sony Pictures and jamesbond007) has had around 7 million views collectively in a matter of days, which is a testament to how excited everybody is about seeing James Bond on the big screen again.
Looks good, huh? If only there was a way for us all to look like him, but in a funnier and less serious way…oh wait, THERE IS!
At Fancy Dress Ball, we have the perfect costume for you to celebrate the release of the next and potentially most explosive instalment yet in true James Bond style! The Morphsuit Tuxedo!
You might never catch Bond himself in one of these, but you can look as cool as a cucumber in one of the most head-turning morphsuits in the land. Who’s to say you’re not James Bond under all that lycra?
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