Fancy dress parties have been held for many years and seem to be popular all over the world. They date back to the 1800s when they were known as Masked Balls and it was only really the mask that would be classed as fancy dress, but they have evolved over the years and they are now held regularly in many countries.
Costumes have evolved over the decades as well, as during the 1940s it was not possible to go out and hire a costume in the way we can now. Often the costume would be made and it was more likely than not that there would be farmers, butchers and nurses, rather than the wide range of characters that are around today. One major reason for the change in the way we use fancy dress costumes is the availability of cheap costumes that can be imported. It brings down the price and allows party goers to go a step further and go as the character that they want to represent not the ones they can afford to represent.
As time goes on, people are looking back to either the times in their lives when they were most happy, or the decade that they were most interested in. It is easy to find fancy dress costumes that are relevant to the decade they want and it will not matter if you want to go as a sports star, a film star or just dress in the way that a nurse or fire fighter would dress there will be costumes available. If you want to add a little more fun to the costume then go as your favorite cartoon character or fruit. Just make sure that you have an easy way of getting there as boarding a bus dressed as a banana is not to be recommended.
When selecting fancy dress costumes it is best to err on the side of caution if you are not sure how well an outfit will be received. There have been recent cases when the British press have been able to criticise Prince Harry for dressing as a Nazi officer and a Premiership footballer Chris Smalling who decided it would be OK to dress as a suicide bomber.
In the United States the costumes tend to be eligible for an award and there seems to be a theme to many of them. It could be a film or a decade or in the case of the Japanese, characters from fiction. Certain events seem to be popular when it comes to fancy dress parties and stag and hen parties seem to be the ones that are chosen. Whatever the reason for the party, fancy dress costumes are going to be needed for a long time to come.
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