Sites that Sell Groovin' 70's Halloween Costumes

Keeping holidays simple is always a great idea for the hosts and the guests. When you start to get into elaborate themes, it can cost so much more for everyone that a lot of people won't or can't participate. This is especially true now in these hard financial times. Throwing a 70's Halloween party can be done for little cost and won't cost your friends a fortune in putting together an outfit. Here are some great sites to find vintage clothing to get just the right look for the party.

The 70's saw more of a funky appeal to the clothing, like the hippie outfits of the 60's, but a little tamed down as we progressed through the 70's. One of the most recognizable articles of clothing for the 70's was the bell-bottomed pant. I notice a lot of stores offer what they refer to now as flare legged pants, but its basically the same concept. It's really just a matter of the fabric that is different. Men often wore platform shoes, the equivalent of high heels on a woman, that added as much as four inches to their height. Afros and feathered locks were the styles of hair for men and women and also very long, very straight hair on women was quite popular. Flowing flowery shirts with large sleeves, bandannas, beads and sashes put together truly funky looks. Also keep in mind that the 70's brought us the disco craze (remember Saturday Night Fever?) which gives lots of simple outfits ideas that you can accomplish fairly cheap these days. Check out the following sites for reasonable and authentic outfits to wear to your next 70's costume party, whether it's Halloween or not.

Men - One of the easiest things a man can do to dress for the 70's is the simple suit, such as worn by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. A white or other colored suit, with vest, and a really wide collared shirt is all you need. Throw on some platform shoes and off you go dancing into the night. The shoes could also be a pair of ankle boots for men that were called "dingos". Another option, that you may want to forget, is that dreadful looking tuxedo you probably wore to your high school prom. The tacky colors, blue, mauve and even mint green, with the ruffled shirts. Ugly, yes, but certainly a 70's style whether we liked it or not. There's also 70's Elvis to consider for a costume. This route gives you the option of the gold lame outfit or the more elaborate Vegas show outfits he wore. If you're looking to rent the above types of costumes, check out these sites. One to go to is easleys.com for some costumes for men and women. If you happen to live in a warmer climate and need something that won't make you sweat, then just go with a pair of slacks and get a disco shirt in a shimmery fabric such as lame and the patterned shirts were also popular. The main thing is that the collars flared out much further than current styles and you can see samples of what I'm talking about at all these sites. Fantasycostumes.com is another place to check out some costumes. If you need some visual help in putting something together, you may want to go on line and see what they wore in shows like Starsky & Hutch (the 70's pimp, like Huggy Bear, could be an option), the Partridge Family (maybe you can get a whole group to get up in their matching stage outfits) and even the Brady Bunch for simple everyday outfit ideas. One other very popular pant in the 70's was the corduroy pant and I remember having several pairs in many colors. Men and women alike wore these types of pants throughout the 70's. Something else we saw a lot of in the 70's were Army jackets and torn blue jeans which is an inexpensive way to dress and probably something you can pull together from your father's attic. A final note is that while I was writing this, I happen to be watching the movie "A Star is Born" with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand. This would be something perfect to rent and watch to get some clothing ideas for things you could probably find at home or in your local vintage shop.

Women - We had so much more opportunity and style in the 70's. We also wore lots of bell-bottomed pants, flowing shirts, bandannas and chokers. Our shoes were thick high platforms or wide heeled boots. My favorite outfit of the 70's for a time was the gaucho pant. They were basically shorts, that looked like skirts, and fell just below the knee. I always wore mine with big ugly cowboy like boots called Frye boots. They looked like a poor man's cowboy boot. Choker necklaces were really all the rage too. Usually it was more like a ribbon tied around your neck, worn tight and high, with a possibly decorative piece attached to the center. How about an outfit of hip-huggers and a halter top or tube top. Go to costumesinc.com to find some outfits you can purchase. One of the great disco outfits for women was the skin-tight body suit with flare leg bottoms. You can find some of those at this site for around $45. This is also a great place to get some reasonably priced wigs and the afro wigs are a great way to go. Arlenescostumes.com is also someplace you should check out for costumes to purchase. If you're looking for something with a smaller budget, try halloweenexpress.com for a simple "Groovy" blouse that you can get for under $15 and pair that with bell-bottomed jeans and sandals and tie a tie-dyed bandanna around your head. Since you can probably find something easy to put together you should also check out all the local vintage shops in your town. I'm sure you'll find something there that will work to throw together a simple and inexpensive 70's outfit. Just remember, flare, flare and more flare.