Jack Torrance Costume from The Shining
By Lori Ferraro At our house, we love Halloween. I mean love, love, love it, it’s kind of like our Christmas – we dress up, we decorate, our house glows orange and we watch a ton of scary movies during the month of October. There’s one particular movie that’s on my list of the all-time best, scariest, edge-of-my-seat, sweat, jump and squeal no matter how many times I watch it movies. It’s Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece The...
Cyndi Lauper 80s Costume
By Lori Ferraro Cyndi Lauper was a mainstay of the 80’s – pioneer of both the music and the style of the decade. Her outrageous and fun personality carried into her outrageous and fun look – Madonna may have been the sexy bad girl but Cyndi was the one you’d want to have a slumber party with, complete with pillow fights, dance parties and prank calls. Her 1983 debut album, She’s So Unusual sent her flying into superstardom with a...
Andie Walsh Costume from Pretty in Pink
If I could have emulated one movie characters style while I was in high school it totally would have been Molly Ringwald’s Andie from one of my favorite 80’s flicks, Pretty in Pink. Andie may have been cash poor but what she lacked in funds she made up for with her cool creativity and granny-chic style. No cookie cutter mall outfits for this girl. While the mean rich girls were shopping at Contempo Casuals, Andie was busy at the...
80s Costume Idea: Duckie Dale from Pretty in Pink
OF COURSE one of my favorite 80s movies is Pretty in Pink! What an epic love triangle – both Blaine and Duckie vying for the love of our dear, sweet girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-Traxx (see what I did there?) Andie. I was Team Duckie all the way. He was a total dreamboat to me. I loved Duckie from head to toe – from his pompadour hair down to his trademark dirty white shoes. I dreamed of someday meeting a boy who would love...
80s Costume Idea: John Rambo
By Lori Ferraro Sylvester Stallone was one of the kings of 80s cinema. This triple-threat talent won us over as the writer, director, and star of Rocky, and he cemented his legendary status by bringing to life the character of John Rambo. Rambo: First Blood Part II gave us the definitive Rambo look, one which is relatively easy to emulate even if you don’t have the chiseled muscles of the Italian Stallion (although that would...
Adam Ant 80s Costume Idea
By Lori Ferraro I LOVED ADAM ANT. I was introduced to his antmusic during the dawn of MTV – I specifically remember seeing the video for “Stand and Deliver” and being instantly intrigued and of course, instantly smitten. The music was so cool, so different; I loved the drums, the harmonies and the dramatic lyrics about “dandy highwaymen” and “prince charmings.” *Sigh* Adam Ant was dreamy with his new wave/colonial/military inspired...
80s Costume Idea: Snake Plissken from Escape from New York
By Lori Ferraro Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken is a classic 80s antihero, full of firepower and bad attitude. He fought his way across the futuristic island of Manhattan in 1981’s Escape from New York to save the president from evil prison inmates. Now you can fight your way from the couch to the refrigerator in your very own Snake Plissken ensemble. Here’s what you’ll need: Eye patch (very important) Mullet wig Black tank top or...
The Mad Bomber from KABOOM!
By Lori Ferraro I love when two of my favorite holidays connect . . . One of the greatest Christmas gifts I ever received (the Atari 2600) years later led to be the inspiration for one of my favorite Halloween costumes: Sure, Space Invaders was awesome, Pac Man is classic but this was my game: I LOVED KABOOM. The gist was this – furiously catch the lit bombs that the Mad Bomber was dropping in your three buckets of water. Maybe that...
80s Bride and Groom Costume Idea
Oh you lucky brides of the 80s, how I envy you . . . Giant hair, giant nails, giant dresses – had I been getting married in 1980-something I would have been a giant, happy train wreck – completely in my element and completely lost under all that make up, hair, and white tulle. A few years back my best friend Laura and her husband Ron came to my Halloween party as the ultimate 80s bride and groom: What a fun couples costume idea!...
Farmer Ted from Sixteen Candles, 80s Costume Idea
Looking for an 80s themed costume this year that is: Super-inexpensive Hilarious Brilliant??? Well, look no further. Imagine my surprise and delight when at my Halloween party a few years back – the doorbell rings, I open it and this is standing in front of me: My friend Amanda as Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted (or “The Geek” as he is credited) from the film Sixteen Candles. I was Madonna that year and felt kind of put to...
The Go-Go’s 80s Costume
This Halloween, why not unite with four of your girlfriends and transform into one of the most successful girl groups of all time – The Go-Go’s! With Belinda Carlisle on vocals, Jane Wiedlin on guitar, Charlotte Caffey playing lead guitar/keyboards, Gina Schock on drums and Kathy Valentine on bass the Go-Go’s changed the face of women in music with the release of their 1981 smash hit Beauty and the Beat, which featured the hits...
Magnum, P.I. Costume Idea
In the eighties, we swooned over Tom Selleck as Magnum, the mustached and mysterious Hawaii-based private investigator. Magnum, P.I. ran from 1980-1988. It featured beautiful tropical scenery, helicopters, a fancy beachfront estate, and a shiny red Ferrari. http://youtu.be/zvjzSu9RIcI We might not have understand the whole deal between Magnum and Higgins, that prickly military-type dude with the Dobermans, but whatever. Magnum was...
Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Vacation
The eighties gave us loads of awesome movies, but National Lampoon’s Vacation is one of our all-time favorites. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is hilarious in the cross-country family adventure, but Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) steals the show when he’s onscreen. Here’s a great montage of Cousin Eddie scenes to help you get in the mood: http://youtu.be/7Bu4MwNTJwA Cousin Eddie wears a variety of fetching ensembles in the Vacation film...
80s Party Costume Ideas: Wham!
Wham! was pure 80’s fun, yummy pop candy for the ears. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley paired up to create the hit group, and, although George had a successful solo career after they split, dressing as the duo will give you the best visual effect. Here’s the video for 1984’s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (and just TRY not to smile and chair dance as you listen): http://youtu.be/pIgZ7gMze7A Note: the Choose Life T-shirts were designed...
80s Party Costume Ideas: Ralphie from A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story was released in 1983 and became an instant holiday classic. Watching the sentimental family comedy about Ralphie, who oh-so-desperately wanted a Red Ryder BB gun from Santa, is still an important part of many of our holiday traditions. We love Flick, who froze his tongue to a pole, and Randy, in his ridiculously puffy snowsuit, but Ralphie is totally the coolest. http://youtu.be/uvMLfSQrHKE Because Ralphie had...
