If you are trying to come up with costume ideas, then believe it or not, your own ideas will be your greatest input. Unless you like parting with your cash, there is no need for you to buy or rent a costume. By using your imagination, maybe some lateral thinking, you can come up with a unique costume idea. Firstly, you will need to know the theme of the party. A jazzy, glitzy costume won’t suit a formal dinner. Likewise, turning up to a hip-hop party, attired in a stiff-collared formal dress will be inappropriate.

A fancy dress party is definitely a licence to let your imagination go wild. For instance, you could go as Pinocchio. Make a cardboard pencil nose and attach it with either a white or skin coloured piece of elastic, complete your costume with shirt, shorts and felt hat. If you are on the heavy side consider going as the Genie from Aladdin. Some blue body paint is all that is required. If you are going to a periodical themed ball then you can go as your favourite historical character, or maybe a character from one of Shakespeare’s plays. You can pretty much come up with a unique costume that nobody can copy.

Innovative, creative and imaginative are the key essentials to creating a fancy dress costume. Have a good look in your wardrobe for everyday clothing that you can use. A baseball themed event can have you posting a hilarious slogan on a T-shirt. You can dress up quite easy as a klutz by wearing mismatched clothes or odd socks.

Have you ever tried playing fun with your kid’s watercolour tubes? Dress them up in a casual shirt and shorts. Draw a big moustache, put a hat, a holster, and see how deeply your kids love their new looks. It is not always the funny bone that has to be tickled with your costume ideas. In fact, costumes can make greater impact on your viewers if you plan to make them aware of certain issues.

Let’s say you are trying to address the issue of eating genetically modified fruits and vegetables. You can dress in a tomato or carrot costume, this will help the viewers get more interested when you are talking about the pros and cons of genetically modified fruits and vegetables. This is a good way to make your message stick out in the minds of the viewers and less boring than reading it from somewhere.

Costume ideas can also represent how you are and what you like as a person. If you are someone who loved the Disco era then choose or make a costume that would reflect that time period. If you love the renaissance then make or choose a costume that would represent that particular look of the period. On the other hand if you are wild and crazy at heart choose a costume that reflects just how crazy you can be. You can plan costumes for all occasions. Do not go and buy any more ready-made costumes and expensive dress clothing to make an impression make your own.