Fancy Dress Ideas For Women

 

 

80s Women

The 80s was all about attitude, action movies, and out there fashions typified with big hair, bad makeup and crazy clothes covered in colour and neon. With conventional clothing taking a backseat, this decade of daring fashions saw the start of Spandex and a new love for leather. With a new boom of pop-culture heroes that laid the groundwork for some of the most popular fancy dresses and costumes still used today. If you're after an 80s fancy dress costume, the 80s selection has all you need and more.

Vampire flirt

This one isn't only for Halloween - the vampire woman is welcome at any fancy dress gathering. Provocative, fun and somewhat underhanded. You just need loads of dark, bunches of ribbon, heaps of attractive make up and a few teeth to sink into your prey and you can also use Venitian masks.

 Ruler of Hearts

Presumably the most well-known costume of the most recent two years is the Queen of Hearts costume, since Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. This magnificently extreme costume dazes any individual who sees it - with its sumptuous hues and extensive skirts that give a glorious mod girl costume look.

Pixie Fancy Dress

Tinkerbell or any dream pixie is constantly amusing to dress up in. You can wear a little bright pixie dress, some provocative tights, and a couple of sings that fly out behind you. What's more, remember your pixie wand and pixie dust - you won't most likely cast any enchantment without it.

History of Venetian Masks

 

Masks have been worn in several cultures, going back thousands of years, but never with such pageantry as in Venice. Venetian masks date back to the 13th century when Venice was a republic with a population of around 150,000. Nowadays, Venetians and tourists only wear masks during Carnevale (Mardi Gras) but in the 13th century masks were worn on a daily basis to conceal peoples' identities.

In the 13th century the Republic of Venice controlled several trade routes which extended beyond Constantinople. It also owned shipyards which were able to produce battleships in 30 days. This was possible because the shipyards employed 15,000 locals, a staggering 10% of the population. Apart from the shipyards, Venice also employed large work forces in other industries. Due to the high rate of employment Venetians were therefore wealthy and enjoyed a high standard of living.

With time, some Venetians realised that by wearing Italian masquerade masks, they were able to go about their daily lives and conduct certain business affairs in secrecy. They started making deals and agreements with other people, which, because of their hidden identity, did not fall within the gaze of the law.

Masks also took social status out of the equation in peoples' dealings with each other. This prevented prejudice and allowed everyone to be treated as equals. Both citizens and officials visiting the city benefited from this as they were able to speak freely without fear of retribution and receive honest opinions.

It didn't take long for people to start noticing the other "advantages" of remaining anonymous. Sexual promiscuity became common, women started flaunting their sexuality by wearing revealing clothing* and gambling was widespread throughout the day and night. Even those who had taken religious vows, such as monks and nuns, were tempted by and succumbed to the debauchery. In order to prevent complete moral decline, a decision was taken to ban masks altogether except on the days of Carnevale which was a time for fancy-dress parties and excessive celebrating.