Monday, December 22, 2008

Create Your Own ABBA Costumes

By Fred Tellier

Dressing up in costumes is popular with everyone, regardless of age. Young children might want to dress as an animal or ghost for a trick or treat outing. Adults and teens also enjoy costume parties. If you are going to a party in a group, it is a lot of fun to dress up as members of a well-known band. Depending on how many men and women there are in your group and the total number, there are various bands to go for. One great idea is to wear ABBA costumes. You might think it is difficult to get ABBA costumes and go to a fancy dress party as this well-known Swedish band, but it is easier than you might think.

If there are just two girls in your group, you might want to go as Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad and Agnetha Falkskog. Bjorn Ulvaues and Benny Andersson, the male half of the band, would suit two guys going to a costume party. If you are going to the party alone, you might want to find a solo singer but choose wisely - an Elvis costume covered in sparkles and sequins won't be the easiest costume to create!

Of course, there are always going to be specialty shops and seamstresses and tailors that will offer to sew the ABBA costumes. This is an option for those who have the money and do not have the time to make or prepare one.

However, if time is not an issue, you will find that making your own ABBA costumes is a very rewarding and fun activity. To make your ABBA costumes, you have to know how to make, follow, and sew patterns into clothing. This will represent the type of clothing that ABBA wore. It is also a good idea to find a specific material that matches the bands. You should also measure each person who is going to be dressing up in an ABBA costume so that the costume does not turn out to be too big or too small. ABBA costumes can be quickly thrown together from items that are found in your local stores. You don't have to buy new items that you will never use again. Buying new things is the worst way to make an ABBA costume. It is best to be unique.

Thrift shopping at stores such as Goodwill will keep your costs down. Many different things can be found there. Old styles of clothing are often found that can be used for costumes. Many times ABBA costumes can easily be put together from just finding the clothes, buying, washing, and wearing them together. It is a great thing when this happens.This is not always the case. The great part about thrift shopping is that the clothes are cheap. There is no guilt in actually making adjustments to them or actually cutting them to make them look like completely new items.

It is quite simple to imitate plain clothes. You can make headbands and vests with relative ease. Shiny costumes are harder to do but you can often find disco clothing or 70s outfits in thrift stores. You need to look at other items, rather than just adult clothes. You might find something in the baby's or children's department which you can chop up to make wrist bands or headbands. You might also find the perfect color. If not, remember you can use a dye to dye all your items the same color.

If your hair does not match your costume, you can always buy a wig or you can save money and do your hair up and dye it with temporary dye that washes out. ABBA costumes are all natural hair colors, so finding a wig or dye to fit the costume is really easy. If you really want to make your ABBA costumes look authentic, get your hair styled that way that ABBA did. Keep your ABBA costume cheap and go to hair school or have a friend who knows how to do hair do it for you.

The most difficult part of completing an ABBA costume is finding the platform shoes that you need. Before you wear the costume, even months back, stop at shoe stores whenever you can and try to find the platform shoes that fit the costume. Just remember, making your ABBA costumes should be fun, not frustrating. Go out and disco to "Waterloo" and "The Winner Takes It All. - 16492

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