Woman Discovers A 1986 Costume Book Thrown Away, And It Has Some Of The Weirdest DIY Costumes Twitter Has Ever Seen
Halloween’s still more than half a year away in the distant, mysterious, and far-off realm of Late 2021 (I wonder what that’s going to be like?), but some internet users are already thinking about what costumes they’ll be wearing and gathering intel early. And it’s all because of one little Twitter post that went viral.
Twitter user Alina Pleskova found a book all alone, abandoned, and lonely on the curb and decided to rescue it, bringing it back home with her. She couldn’t help but share the photos from Jane Asher’s ‘Fancy Dress’ book that has dozens of brilliant, wild, and hilariously bizarre costumes for kids and adults alike.
Check out the photos below! And, I don’t want to sound too cheesy but, ready your cheeks for smiling way, way too much. Remember to upvote your fave pics, too! And be sure to drop us a few comments telling us how you feel about the most outrageously awesome costumes featured here.
More info: Twitter | AlinaPleskova.com
This post may include affiliate links.
After long weeks of metamorphosis, Herb was finally feeling himself again.
Well-known English actress Asher wrote and published the book back in 1986, but it’s still relevant today. And with a byline like “Over 100 costumes for children and adults and how to make them,” the book’s got our interest piqued to the max.
Personally, I found the Sandwich Man costume to be the best of the best. Even someone as costume-shy as I am is just itching to put that together and try it on. There’s just something deliciously graceful about it, don’t you think?
Terry Jones Sex Object Iteration 2
He should be the only person allowed to wear this since it's clearly been made with his input. (You can't not love Terry Jones.)
Load More Replies...This is so totally Terry Jones, if you watch Python carefully you'll notice hr is mostly either A) In drag or B) Naked
Okay, you warned me about the smiling, but you forgot to mention the possibility of tears :-( It's only been a little over a year since we lost the marvelous Terry Jones (Monty Python member) at 77 and I'm still not over it. It was heart-breaking to see that incredible mind fade away thanks to dementia. He couldn't speak at all for the last few years. His fellow Python, Michael Palin, used to visit him every week. There were rare days they would laugh together at old memories, but they mostly just spent quiet time together. Terry didn't always know who Michael was. Seeing this totally over-the-top pic of Terry I've never seen before has made my night (even though it has opened the tear ducts). RIP, Terry, you crazy old sod!
Hah hah, it looks like the birthday suite costume is paying homage to much-loved Welsh actor "Terry Jones." He may be well before your time, but was a famous comedian, actor, and writer who was probably best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy troop (you may be familiar with "Monty Python and the Holy Grail.) In many of the Monty Python comedy sketches, Terry would often appear in "drag" (drag is really popular in British comedy...I still don't know why) or in his "birthday suite" (aka nude).
Load More Replies...I have this book. I've used it many times over the years. A friend of mine actually made the Elizabeth 1st costume and wore it to a fancy dress party in the 1970s. Looked great.
Well that would be interesting to see him rock up and trick or treating
I did not expect to come across anything so sexy as Terry Jones on here!
The heavenly Terry Jones...always amazing, either in drag or naked during the python years
No. It's Terry Jones. His name is under the picture. Not that it should be required, because it's Terry Jones. Member of Monty Python, director of some of the funniest films ever made. Not some "guy from American Gods".
Load More Replies...Asher’s ‘Fancy Dress’ looks like the embodiment of GameStop stocks when they were at their peak. In other words: drops of liquid gold! The book is incredibly expensive on Amazon, switching between ‘unavailable’ to exorbitant prices in the US (we’re talking about hundreds of dollars, sometimes rising to above a thousand for a used copy).
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the price is far tamer. It’s still expensive, but 60 or 70 pounds is something that a vintage book collector or fancy dress lover wouldn’t balk at paying.
So if you just have to have the book, pray that you can get your hands on a UK version because the US one makes healthcare costs seem paltry in comparison. Or you could trust your luck and expect to find a copy of the book on the curb just like Alina did!
Alina’s thread got over 165.5k likes on Twitter at the time of writing (it’s been climbing steadily since I started writing this article, so expect that number to be getting higher and higher!). The thread also got around 22k retweets (including those fancy quote retweets that Twitter rolled out). And who can blame anyone who’s so excited to see photos from the book? You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be fitting in some of these photos whenever the context is right while chatting with my pals online.
As for Alina herself, well, she’s incredibly talented. The Moscow-born woman is currently living in Philadelphia. She’s a poet and an editor by trade. Her collection of poems, ‘What Urge Will Save Us,’ got published by Spooky Girlfriend Press in 2017, according to her website. So she’s a professional in her field.
The wings are made of a broken umbrella
Final step: glue your child to the ceiling and enjoy the party getting smashed like you did back in '83.
What’s more, Alina got the Leeway Foundation’s 2020 Art & Change grant. She also hosts poetry workshops, events, and panels for a variety of organizations, from Rutgers University to the Institute of Contemporary Art.
This is a “jail bird”
If that wasn’t enough, Alina is also the founding member of the Cheburashka Collective (loving that name!) which is a group of “women & nonbinary writers who are emigres/first-gen/refugees from the Soviet diaspora.” But even while she’s editing literary magazines and coordinating festivals, she also finds the time for her day job in higher education communications. Do we wish that we all had the amount of energy that Alina has? I’ll say!
Roll up, roll up to the circus, I am the only clown inside
I..have vague memories from 80's halloweens seeing this. I think this was a thing.
Edward and Emilia Fox, more successful father and sister of alt-right knobhead Laurence Fox
So, dear Pandas, what did you think of the ‘Fancy Dress’ photos? Which costume did you like the most? Which one did you think was the wackiest, weirdest, and worth making? Did you get any ideas for Halloween, however far away that might be? Maybe you’ve even got a copy of Asher’s ‘Fancy Dress’ at home? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Like half the good ones on this list, it looks like it's stolen from a Cronenberg movie... This one for example is from a little-known version of "The Fly", where instead of Jeff Goldblum a medium-sized dragon is in the transmogrifier together with a fly.
This is supposed to be a “rock salmon”
These costumes are brilliant for Covid era. Most are so large they effectively adhere to social distancing rules. Others are so nuts, no one will want to come near you
Jane Asher is a well known British actress, which is probably how she got famous people such as Donald Pleasance and Terry Jones to pose for her, although I doubt the late, great Terry Jones would have needed much persuasion!
She also dated ex Beatle Sir Paul Mc Cartney before he met Linda Eastman. She is also an author but is better known for her line in extravagant cakes.
Load More Replies...Paul McCartney's ex-fiancee has done very well for herself. These are charming and harmless. Better yet, not overly cliche sexualized, i.e. Naughty Nurse, Naughty Schoolgirl, Naughty Maud ad infinitum.
A little FYI, Jane Asher is an English Actress in case you were wondering.
Told my friends that next Halloween we can only wear costumes from this book ;P They are already choosing which one they want to wear xD
Some of these are actually cool. Others... need context.
I haven't laughed so much in a long time ;D But some of these disguises don't look safe - broken umbrellas, cut plastic bottles and other sharp objects... O_O
My mom still owns this book. It’s in the depths of her cabinets somewhere. It was was of my favorites to look through as a kid during Halloween season 😂 I’m 40 now and it’s terrifying.
Wow! Seeing this book again has brought back so many memories! My mom made us do many costumes from this. I was always so excited to plan what we get to be.
These costumes are still fabulous! Have you seen the cheap crapp sold for $50+ in costume shops? These beat them down!
If after all this time you've continued to use twitter and still now, after what Twitter has just done and is doing now, you are the plague. You're probably so committed to being a plague that you're still using Fakebook and goOggle and making assumptions about people because of their race, too. Aren't ya.
Tom Allen once showed some of these costumes on the show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and what’s crazy is that Rachel Riley’s mother had the very same book! Silly
Wacky. Of course they never set anything up on that show, but set up or not that's the most mundane thing I've heard today, and I'm in a Networking class.
Load More Replies...These costumes are brilliant for Covid era. Most are so large they effectively adhere to social distancing rules. Others are so nuts, no one will want to come near you
Jane Asher is a well known British actress, which is probably how she got famous people such as Donald Pleasance and Terry Jones to pose for her, although I doubt the late, great Terry Jones would have needed much persuasion!
She also dated ex Beatle Sir Paul Mc Cartney before he met Linda Eastman. She is also an author but is better known for her line in extravagant cakes.
Load More Replies...Paul McCartney's ex-fiancee has done very well for herself. These are charming and harmless. Better yet, not overly cliche sexualized, i.e. Naughty Nurse, Naughty Schoolgirl, Naughty Maud ad infinitum.
A little FYI, Jane Asher is an English Actress in case you were wondering.
Told my friends that next Halloween we can only wear costumes from this book ;P They are already choosing which one they want to wear xD
Some of these are actually cool. Others... need context.
I haven't laughed so much in a long time ;D But some of these disguises don't look safe - broken umbrellas, cut plastic bottles and other sharp objects... O_O
My mom still owns this book. It’s in the depths of her cabinets somewhere. It was was of my favorites to look through as a kid during Halloween season 😂 I’m 40 now and it’s terrifying.
Wow! Seeing this book again has brought back so many memories! My mom made us do many costumes from this. I was always so excited to plan what we get to be.
These costumes are still fabulous! Have you seen the cheap crapp sold for $50+ in costume shops? These beat them down!
If after all this time you've continued to use twitter and still now, after what Twitter has just done and is doing now, you are the plague. You're probably so committed to being a plague that you're still using Fakebook and goOggle and making assumptions about people because of their race, too. Aren't ya.
Tom Allen once showed some of these costumes on the show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and what’s crazy is that Rachel Riley’s mother had the very same book! Silly
Wacky. Of course they never set anything up on that show, but set up or not that's the most mundane thing I've heard today, and I'm in a Networking class.
Load More Replies...