21 Fun Dress Up Party Themes For Adults

Dress up parties are so much fun to plan for! From deciding on the theme and putting together the outfit to wowing your friends with the costume, the entire process is thrilling! Before you can get to the fun of shopping for accessories and perfecting your voice lines you’ll need to decide on the theme of the event! That’s where Peerspace comes in; we love helping people make plans for special occasions. So let us help you decide with these fun dress up party themes for adults!

1. Pirate party

Channel your inner pirate with a party to match! Pirate parties are one of our favorite dress up party themes for adults because it is so easy to find matching costume accessories. Pirate outfits are some of the most popular for Halloween so be on the lookout for hooks, eyepatches, ruffled shirts, oversized belt buckles, and swords!

2. Masquerade ball

How about a dress up party theme that is a little on the elegant side? Masquerade balls are chic yet mysterious, with masks that you can either buy or make yourself. A masquerade ball is also one of the easiest ways to throw a dress up party since the mask is the most time-consuming part of the costume to put together!

Once you have your mask and guest list, think about booking a venue with enough elegance to match the occasion. Have you seen the party halls we have on Peerspace? Spaces like this large Japandi-inspired studio in Los Angeles, CA, are exactly what you want for a more upscale dress up party!

3. Wild West dress up party

A Wild West costume party is a thrilling step into some of our favorite American historical tropes! It’s also one of the easier themes to put together since cowboy hats, duster jackets, jeans, scarves, and other accessories aren’t hard to find. Score a few toy pistols and you’re ready to challenge someone to a shootout at high noon!

4. “Come as You Were” party

Remember what it was like to be as you were 5, 10, 20, or 30 years ago? The clothes, the haircut, the accessories, and your taste in music? This dress up party theme lets guests pick an era and dress the part! You’re guaranteed to see a lot of unique takes and probably have a few laughs at each other’s expense! If your wardrobe is tastefully modern, you might need some help dressing the part! So check out our lists of 70s, 80s, and 90s outfit ideas to channel your inner child or teenager and truly dress the part.

5. TV show party

Here is a dress up theme that’s perfect for the start of the next season of your favorite show. Or if you just want to re-watch your favorite episodes, eat snacks, and have some fun in style! Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Golden Girls, Downton Abbey…There are a lot of shows with distinctive outfits you can plan an event around!

6. Toga party

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Bring back fashions from ancient Greece and Rome with a toga party! Togas can be as simple as a bed sheet tied to your waist with a rope or belt. Or you can pick up something a little more iconic, with embroidery that fits the Greco Roman aesthetic! A laurel wreath, rings, and sandals are accessories that go nicely with any toga!

These fun toga party ideas will have you putting a fresh spin on this classic dress-up party aesthetic. Check them out!

7. Comic book dress up party

Comic books provide an unlimited amount of source material for a dress up party! So why not dress up as your favorite heroes and villains for the evening? Comic book hero costumes are some of the most in-demand outfits to buy or rent so finding even an obscure champion of justice won’t be hard to do. If you do choose someone weird, maybe bring a comic along so people know who they’re looking at, though!

8. Disco fever party

Disco didn’t die in the 70s; bring it back with a disco fever dress up party! Start with our list of outfit ideas for a 1970s party for a retro-themed evening. And from there you can build on the theme with accessories or wigs in hairstyles like classic shag or a natural afro to complete the look!

9. Zombie bash dress up party

Channel your inner survivalist – or a zombie version of yourself – with this dress up party theme! The survivor might be wearing a worn work shirt, jeans, a bandana, and enough ammunition to take out a mall full of the living dead. Meanwhile, zombie dress up options include makeup for a rotted look, bloody wounds, and torn versions of regular clothes! 

10. Black and white party

Black and white parties are fun for wedding receptions, birthdays, cocktail parties…Any fun special occasion where you want to add a color theme to make it feel more cohesive! So why not make black and white the theme of a dress up party? No matter what apparel options your guests choose they are bound to be eye-catching as black and white are some of the most contrasting shades possible!

11. ABC (Anything But Clothes) party

This is one of our favorite dress up party themes for adults because there is so much possibility here! Anything But Clothes means you have to cover up with creativity; duck tape, cardboard, shower curtains, blankets, leaves, tinfoil, cereal boxes…How well can you dress when clothing is not allowed?

12. Cocktail dress up party

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We’re asking the real questions here…What would your favorite cocktail look like as an outfit? Find out by hosting a cocktail dress up party! Only instead of just “dressing up” to look nice, you’re dressing up to embody your favorite cocktail! Vesper martini in a James Bond outfit? A Great Gatsby outfit along with Prohibition-era drinks like the Chicago fizz? 

13. Movie-rhemed party

One of our favorite dress up party themes for adults is to choose a movie and ask guests to dress the part! From the Avengers to the Wizard of Oz, your options are endless! You can also make it more open-ended by allowing guests to choose their own movie to dress up as.

14. Monochromatic color party

Color parties are a great way to bring some structure to your dress up party themes for adults, be it a birthday or another event. But what if the host chooses a color you hate or don’t have clothes for? Give guests some flexibility by making it a monochromatic color party! This means everyone gets to choose their own favorite single color to dress up with. A red, gold, white, or blue ensemble is guaranteed to be eye-catching!

Our color party food ideas will help you whip up the perfect menu for this dress-up party suggestion!

15. Rainbow color party

Embrace all of the colors of the rainbow with this dress up party theme! Instead of choosing a single shade, everyone has to dress up in rainbow hues! That might mean tye-dye, apparel choices in different shades, clothes with actual rainbows printed on them, or some other interpretation entirely. This idea has a lot of leeway to it so expect some very creative takes on the theme!

16. Hawaiian dress up party

Bring the feel of the Pacific home with a Hawaiian dress up party. Grass skirts, flower leis, flower-printed shirts, straw hats, surfer shorts, sandals…There is a lot more creativity here than meets the eye! You can even include some of our luau food ideas for grub to go with the tropical beach theme!

17. Mexican fiesta 

The neat thing about Mexican dress up parties is how much color is involved. Bright colors in detailed patterns are the norm here. Dia de los Muertos face paint, colored fringes on the edge of a dancing skirt, colorful accent scarves…The possibilities are endless! In case you need a little inspiration, check out our list of Mexican party ideas to get you started!

18. Celebrity dress up party

How well can you dress the part of your favorite celebrity? Have each of your guests wear something truly iconic, like a replica of Michael Jackson’s Thriller jacket or Uma Thurman’s yellow jumpsuit in Kill Bill! From hairstyles to accessories, there is an endless amount of material to explore with this dress up party theme for adults!

19. Star Wars dress up party

Can you really have a Star Wars party without at least a few costumes included? Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi…These costumes are instantly recognizable as cult classics, which makes it incredibly easy to put together an outfit for this theme. A Star Wars party outfit is a little more involved than some of the other themes since you probably don’t have a Vader or Chewbacca costume sitting in your closet (or do you?). But it’s also that much more exciting for the work it takes to make it happen!

20. “Grease” party

The 50s fashion of Grease only gets more delightfully retro as time passes. Hunt down a poodle skirt or rolled jeans to get started! A venue like a drive-in movie theater or diner decorated in 1950s fashion is by far the best place to host this dress up party! Peerspace even has spaces for rent like this 1950s themed diner in New Hyde Park, NY that are a perfect fit to the Grease party theme!

21. International culture dress up party

Choose a culture that you have a personal connection to – or just one that you’ve always found fascinating! From traditional Chinese dresses to West African headdresses, there is an entire world of fashion to choose from! You can even reach into the past or present for fashion ideas with this one.

Dress up party themes for adults: conclusion

Dress up parties have endless possibilities and we had as much fun coming up with our favorite themes as you will making them into a reality. Peerspace is all about making lasting memories with your favorite people. From party plans to party venues near you, we love being a part of your special events!

Find unique event spaces for your dress up party on Peerspace