Easy Musical Theatre Fancy Dress

I’ve been a student at university, and that involved quite a few fancy dress parties. Couple this with the fact I was a drama student, and my costumes almost always become musical-related. I don’t like to splash too much out on costumes; I prefer to be a bit savvier and use what I have or buy something on the cheaper side.

So here’s some of the characters I’ve dressed up as, to show you just how easy some of these outfits can be to put together…

Heather Chandler, Heathers the Musical

Long before the recent West End production of the cult 80s film, I was obsessed with the off-broadway production. Couple that with my friend Seren being a huge fan of the original film, and Veronica Sawyer and Heather Chandler was the obvious choice of costume for Halloween.

Heather Chandler: Blazer from New Look (similar here), shirt and skirt from Primark, socks from Amazon, and shoes are from a charity shop. The gold necklace was borrowed.
Veronica Sawyer: All of Seren’s costume came from Forever 21 (similar blazer)

The Heathers are such an easy look to pull off. The only part of the outfit which needs to be kind-of exact is the coloured blazer and a matching hair accessory. Of course, don’t forget a red scrunchie if you’re playing Chandler!

Mary Poppins

This is an almost Disneybound look, cobbled together very last minute for a Disney club night during Freshers – simple and stylish, and not to difficult to walk in like a Princess dress might be!

For further impact choose red flowers instead of pink, and tie a red ribbon around your neck. An umbrella or penguin badge would also look cute and add an extra reference to the film.
Shirt – charity shop, skirt – Primark (as before), hat – Primark, paper flowers – craft shop

Little Red Riding Hood, Into the Woods

For my friend Cara’s 18th birthday party (all those years ago!) I dressed up as Little Red from the Sondheim musical Into the Woods, basing my costume around the one from the 2014 film.
Cape – Amazon, dress – New Look (similar), shoes – charity shop, basket – car boot sale.
I also weaved some red ribbon around the basket and in my hair, too.

Sally Bowles, Cabaret

For my 20th birthday I naturally had a musical theatre themed birthday party, which gave me and my friends the perfect excuse to dress up as our favourite characters. From Billy Elliot to Chicago, my pals certainly knew how to dress up as some of the most iconic characters in musical theatre. I dressed up as Sally Bowles, basing my costume off of Liza Minnelli’s.

Hat and stockings – Borrowed, blazer – Miss Selfridge (similar), bodysuit – New Look (similar),  stockings – Primark, boots- New Look (similar)

Janet, Rocky Horror Picture Show

My final year at uni included a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening, so myself and the rest of my theatre committee dressed as the cast! I went for quite a demure Janet Weiss (left). All of the outfit was sourced from my wardrobe, though you can get a similar pink pinafore here.

Have you ever dressed up as a musical character? How did it go? Let me know in the comments!