Top 10 Fancy Dress and Outfits of the 1960's

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis & JFK Fancy Dress

The icon for the sixties has to be Jackie O! Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the wife of J F Kennedy. Going out as Jackie requires some real work and a very classic wardrobe, it helps that you have a closet full of Halston dresses and the pill box hats. Big sun glasses are a must. Getting the look right needs some practice and the slender body that Jackie had, this is not a fat look. AS ALWAYS THE SHOES ARE IMPORTANT, NOT TOO HIGH OF A HEEL. This woman was the definition of class. If you want to go as a couple looking like JFK, is not hard - you need a two button suit, slightly rumpled, a tie and the hair. There are Kennedy masks available if you really want a complete look, but please get a good one.

The Khrushchev Look

If there are four of you and you want to continue the political theme one can dress as Kennedy's nemesis Khrushchev. The look is chunky and balding. A cheap brown suit and support shoes and carry an extra shoe to pound on the table for emphasis and you have got it. If you are not a baby boomer check out the old news footage of Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the podium at the UN to get it right. The fourth in this political quartet would be Cuba's infamous Fidel Castro. Put on some fatigues, a round Cuban military hat and grow (or buy) a beard and you have it.

Hippy Fancy Dress Ideas

The most popular and colorful costumes at any sixties party are the flower children or hippies. If you have lots of old clothes you have a good start. The women wore many different versions of skirts, denim, paisley, or tie dyed with tops from wife beaters to tie dyed tee shirts or gauze shirts. Long hair was the thing for both sexes. Paint a flower on your cheek, wear a flower in your hair and add a pair of wire rim glasses, preferably rose-colored, a couple bracelets and the mandatory necklace with a peace symbol. Guys should wear jeans, preferably well worn, with any kind of tee shirt and a fatigue or sergeant pepper jacket. The best part of the costume is you get to take a joint to the party.

The Beatles Fancy Dress Look

The Beatles! This is a costume look that requires shopping around with a copy of the album cover from "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in hand. In addition to the clothes looking like the Beatles requires glasses, mustaches and definitely a Beatle's wig.

Hells Angels Outfit

The sixties were the heyday of the bad boy look and the Hells Angels were the baddest of the bad. Leather was the choice, leather motorcycle jacket, leather pants, leather vests, and a leather hat. On the jacket was always a design to indicate what club a member belonged too. The boots were heavy and dangerous looking and dirty. A tattoo is required. If you have the money your local Harley shop will have all this, including the motorcycle but you can probably find all the pieces in your closet or at a Goodwill store. Don't ride the motorcycle into the party and don't look too scary, they may not let you in.

Hare Krishna Fancy Dress

On the corners in most big cities in the sixties you would see the Hare Krishna. Sheets and baggy Indian pants, a drum and a shaved head will create the Hare Krishna image. Heck, on the way to the party someone might give you their loose change.

Tina Turner Costume

Tina Turner had the hot look that requires a great body and one very hot short red dress and lots of hair. Just don't take an Ike look-alike with you, he was a bad dude.

Gloria Steinem Outfit

Another great female 60's icon was Gloria Steinem. Perhaps more famous in America than else where, still, her look is classic 60's. Steinem made feminism sexy with her sweaters and jeans and that streak of blond in her long straight brunette hair. Wire rim glasses with big round lenses complete the look.

Black Panther Fancy Dress

"The times they were a changing," Bob Dylan sang and was he right. In the sixties the black radical look was in. To pull off this look it helps if you are black. The look was Malcolm X with his glasses, the Black Panthers with their berets and very tight fitting tee shirts and Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and a rhyming poem. Big Afros were all the rage and the attitude was rage. Pull it off and you will pick up all the girls at the party. Please forget any idea that you have about going to a party as Martin Luther King, just don't.

60's Military Fancy Dress

The sixties were a turbulent time filled with dichotomies and contradictions so with all those hippies and peace symbols a couple of military uniforms are definitely in order. Military uniforms are great costumes. These uniforms can sometimes be found in your father's closet, but if not there try a second hand store. Please go as a general or an admiral, the admiral uniform is fantastic. And who can resist a man in a uniform, they look hot!

Astronaut Fancy Dress Outfit

The most amazing event happened in the sixties, America went to the moon! To celebrate the space race go to the party dressed as an astronaut. Where do you get an astronaut's suit and that cute helmet? NASA probably won't give you one. So you will to be creative... maybe a gray jumpsuit with a few wires and tube and a makeshift NASA ensign. Then you have to get the helmet. Try a costume shop (kids still wear costumes with space helmets). Or if you are really good you might make one starting with a football helmet painted gray and add a transparent shield in the front and a few mandatory tubes and you will capture the look. Wearing a helmet all night long could be a problem, but then you will be the only one at the party who does not need to know where the bathroom is located.

A sixties party is a celebration the most turbulent decade in American history, with every conceivable character you can image. You should not have a problem finding a costume that meets your budget, makes your political statement and is a lot of fun to put together and wear.