Freshers – Student Fancy Dress on a Budget
Check out our top tips for nailing your fancy dress outfit, whatever the theme, without breaking the bank!
You will soon discover that most nights out at uni are all about the ‘theme’, especially if you’ve joined one of the many sports teams, clubs or societies on offer at Loughborough.
But buying brand new fancy dress outfits every week can soon start to add up and weigh heavy on an already stretched student bank account! It’s just not practical…
But fear not, with a little lateral thinking and a creative can-do attitude, fantastic fancy dress can be yours for a fraction of the cost!
We know that as a fresher getting involved is key and putting together standout fancy dress is a really easy way to impress your new club mates! So, to help you out, we’ve put together our top tips for nailing your fancy dress theme every week without ending up out of pocket.
1. Facepaint is a TOP Investment
Whilst stumping up £4-£5 for a single colour palette of face paint may seem steep, this is an investment that we think is worth making early on — and it’s worth buying the quality stuff too!
Face paint is, in our opinion, the unsung hero of the university themed night out. From Frankenstein to The Incredible Hulk, or even a Christmas pudding, face paint is an easy, cost-effective way to transform yourself into anything a student themed night can throw at you.
Plus, it’s a great way to brush up on those artistic skills!
2. Be Creative with What You’ve Got
Sometimes a little lateral thinking can go a long way and make a huge difference to your fancy dress prowess — not to mention saving you precious money!
Most of us have clothes and shoes that are a little past their best which can be easily turned into your next great creation. Not to mention the everyday household items, like boxes and bottles, that you’d normally chuck in the bin.
ANYTHING can be incorporated into a fancy dress theme if you put your mind to it. Here’s just a selection of our favourite cardboard box ideas…
CARDBOARD BOX FANCY DRESS
- Rubix cube/Dice
- Christmas Present
- ‘Cereal’ Killer
- Spongebob
- Lego/Lego Man
- LMFAO Robot Head
- Robot/Dinosaur
- Tetris (great for groups)
3. Become a Charity Shop Champion
Sometimes it’ll be necessary to purchase a few items to create your costume, after all ‘Grandad’ theme is pretty hard to do from an 18-year-old’s wardrobe!
Charity shops are the hidden treasure of uni fancy dress. You can often find individual items for under £1 and they’re the best place to find hidden gems for more specific themes – Hawaiian shirts, army pants, hats and accessories of all shapes and sizes, and dresses (often hideous but often that’s the idea!).
Second-hand retro shops, 99p shops, and cheap clothing stores with ‘basic’ ranges are also handy haunts to get to know for when you need basic base clothing to build your costumes around.
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Whenever possible, reuse and recycle your costume creations! You’ll be surprised how many different things you can create out of one costume.
A green spray-painted torso (The Incredible Hulk) can be repurposed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Shell; reuse that Where’s Wally top for a Pirate or Sailor theme, and those red shorts you had for 118 118 can be repurposed as part of a lifeguard outfit… The possibilities to recycle your outfits really are endless!
We are Andrew CHELL Premier Student Homes, Loughborough’s leading private-sector student landlord with an unrivalled reputation for quality and service.
Browse our available houses now and Find Your Happy.
Andrew Chell can be contacted as follows:
Phone: 01509 552814
Mobile:07769 684800
Email: [email protected]
Office: 66 Ashby Road, Loughborough LE11 3AE
Published 15th October 2019
