Sunday, September 11, 2011

80s Halloween Costumes

Apparently I'm stuck in the 80s constantly if you listen to my daughter and all because the radio station I choose to listen to in my car plays a lot of 80s music - it's not like I don't offer to pop in a cd........even if they're also mainly 80s songs!   Anyway on Halloween you can re-live the 80s in a whole new way - 80s Halloween Costumes!

The only problem is what 80s costume do you want to wear.   There are a selection of different video game costumes including some cool Pac Man Halloween costumes that I've written about on another post - PacMan Halloween Costumes which feature Pac Man himself or the individual little ghosts - Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.   Then you can get costumes like these ones which show the actual Pac Man game screen -


Pac Man Costume


Of course then you've got to think of what other type of 80s costumes you can wear and we get to 80s fashion! There are so many different choices here from leg warmers to shoulder pads and more, here's a couple of 80s costumes for women to choose from -



Here are a couple of 80s costumes for men to choose from -



Of course there are lots more ideas for costumes look at programs like Dynasty or Fame the TV series for inspirations as well as what the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Madonna and Michael Jackson were wearing during the 80s - the costume ideas really are limitless so what do you say - will you rock the 80s this Halloween?

I think I'd like to and I've just come across a beard set a la ZZ Top so my hubby had better beware or he might be dressed like a 'sharp dressed man' and sporting dd's guitar as we party the night away!

Of course if you've left it to the last minute there is still a couple of easy last minute 80s costumes you can pull off - Bruce Springsteen - a pair of jeans with a Stars and Stripes bandana/kerchief hanging out of the back pocket and a plain t-shrit. Morrissey (as in the lead singer of the Smiths) - a pair of jeans, black shirt and a flower poking out of the back pocket.

If you've got the time, but no money what about some handmade 80s costume ideas?

The first one that springs to mind is a rubiks cube. Get a square box from one of your local shops and paint it the different colors of the rubiks cube (white, red, blue, orange, yellow,green) - one color per side (some thin lines of black to show that there are nine different squares on each side really adds to the costume). Cut a hole in the top for your head and you can have it resting on your shoulders which means you'll need arm holes or you have your arms out of the top which means you need something to hold the rubiks cube up. I used a pair of zebra braces (don't ask why I had zebra braces on hand and nobody will get hurt!!).

I cut the bottom completely out of the box so that I could walk around easily. Wear black leggings and a black turtleneck and you'll look awesome. The only drawback is that you can't sit down!!!

The other idea for a woman/girl is to wear a pair of jeans (preferably not bootleg) or leggings, a t-shirt and one of hubby's/dad's business shirts with sleeves rolled up and instead of buttoning it up just knot it in the front.   The hair has to be big so put in lots of mouse and blow dry it while hanging your head upside down - remembering the 80s I used to hang over the side of my bed to do this!

If you still have a banana clip then you could wear your hair up in this instead or a side ponytail.   If you really can't get any volume in your hair then use gel and go for the slicked back look.

Let me know your favorite 80s costume idea below.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Hit Songs From 1986

There are so many songs that you think of when reminiscing about the 80s, but I'm often shocked when I read what songs sold the most in any given year.   Let me give you an example - the highest selling single in the UK during 1986 was Don't Leave Me This Way by the Communards.   Now I love this song, but I would never have guessed that it was the highest selling single, although I'm sure I would've known if you had asked me back then!  

I would've expected songs such as Sledgehammer or You Give Love a Bad Name to be in the top ten for the year - but they're not!   Do you want to know what the top ten selling singles of 1986 were?   Find out here - The Top Ten Songs of 1986.   I'm sure that non-UK readers will go who when it comes to number 2 as I doubt they will know who Nick Berry is and that shows the power of UK soaps as it was sold because he starred in Eastenders and the single was promoted on the show!

The first Comic Relief single was a re-make of an old Cliff Richard song performed by Cliff Richard and the stars of the hit UK comedy, The Young Ones.   I wasn't surprised when I saw it's name on the list, although I had forgotten about the song until I saw it.   You will never hear Cliff Richard's Living Doll the same after seeing this version which still brings a smile to my face.