Novelty Costumes
Novelty costumes have always been a staple of fancy dress parties and events, but the market has been particularly exciting in recent years as designers utilise new materials and technology to become increasingly creative and imaginative. PPE takes a look at the novelty costume market in all its various guises.
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ovelty fancy dress has been around for a very long, from the first time that a small child put a box on their head and declared themseleves to be a robot; but the trend for oversized, inflatable and cleverly-designed costumes has undoubtedly been increasing in recent years. This can be attributed to a number of reasons – the costume designs themselves are becoming increasingly creative and boundaries are being pushed. Above: This new costume The last 12 months have seen a from Amscan is taking its cue phenomenal rise of popularity from the current in the step-in or carry-me emoji craze. costumes which have flooded into the party and costume industry, resulting in a huge social media buzz. The rise of novelty fancy dress being
LIFT FOR A LAUGH
“The novelty costume trend seems to be growing exponentially with no sign of stopping. Over the summer, group costumes are always popular for stag and hen dos as well as festivals and this year has been no different. We have launched an entirely new Lift Me Up range this season as these are some of our most sought-after comedy costumes and and includes characters for all events including Oktoberfest and Christmas.” Above: There is a
Alice Knight, sales and marketing, Fun Shack
huge range of Lift Me Up costumes available from Fun Shack
Right: Super ‘Staches from Rasta Imposta are huge, oversized moustaches up to 60 inches long!
worn at carnivals, festivals and other large social gatherings (often when there is no official reason for dressing up) has seen a whole generation become comfortable with standing out from the crowd. Of course, tongues are often firmly in cheek here, and so oversized, novelty costumes become the natural choice with people hoping to make themselves the centre of attention Unsurprisingly, the ‘spiritual home’ of this type of costume – Rasta Imposta – has an incredible number of lines available. “We are definitely seeing a growth in this area, which isn’t surprising as fancy dress is essentially about having fun,” states Emma Angel, director of Angels Fancy Dress, who distributes the Rasta range in the UK. “Festivals and events this year have proved that over-the-top, extravagant costumes are becoming an increasingly popular trend among partygoers,” she continues. “People who choose to wear fancy dress to these occasions often dress up in groups, as this creates a feeling of comradery and adds to the excitement of the occasion.” “We are also seeing people opting to dress as more unique comedy characters and icons,” Emma says. “We’ve added the ‘Eggplant’ and ‘Peach’ tunics to our range this year, as emojis are becoming more popular and customers want to keep up to date with the latest trends.” Also key in the novelty costume market at the moment is the inflatable costume, and there are now a wide variety of different choices available. One
of the best-known is Rubie’s inflatable T-Rex costume – which is actually an officially licensed Jurassic World line. “The market for inflatables is definitely growing,” says Olivia Lord, marketing executive at Rubie’s. “Especially given the
EMBRACE THE SILLY!
“We have recently bought in a whole range of new novelty costumes, as they never let us down. A lot of our dress-up products rely on people wanting to have fun by dressing up and be silly – the comedy element in our product has always sold well and continues to do so. We have found that people are having more parties at home instead of going out at the moment (because it’s cheaper!) allowing people to really embrace their silly side!”
Bethany McCormack, marketing, Henbrandt
Above: This Willyman costume from Henbrandt is perfect for stag dos.
huge success of our T-Rex this summer! The power of social media is definitely contributing to this inflatable trend, with customers sharing their funny videos on the internet. Our Inflatable Stuart Minion costume has also sold well and so we are working on bringing more inflatables into our range over the course of 2018.” Novelty lines are becoming more of a staple and less of a novelty – but crucially for retailers looking to fill those seasonal gaps, these costumes remain popular all-year-round. Left: A cheeky nod to current affairs from Smiffys with this ‘dictator’ costume.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 PROGRESSIVE PARTY EUROPE
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