Leisure Suit Halloween Costume Ideas
The leisure suit -- once a sign of good taste and style -- is easily identified as a throwback to the fashion nightmare that was the 1970s. No one wears a leisure suit anymore unless they're being funny, ironic, or putting on leisure suit Halloween costumes. Because leisure suits are such an easy visual joke, and because they aren't too difficult to find or replicate on your own, a Halloween costume consisting of nothing more than a leisure suit and a couple of accessories is a great idea.
Leisure
suits are such pop culture icons, they have their own annual convention.
Once a year in Des Moines, Iowa, people who love leisure suits get together
to celebrate their passion for the horrible fashion icon of thirty years
ago: the leisure suit. The casual 1970s business environment (still very
much a boy's club) gave rise to the leisure suit's popularity, and why not?
Made from lighter material than traditional business suits, leisure suits
are far more comfortable, if a little bit outmoded. The 1980s demanded a
more rigid "look" for work, and in a few short years the leisure suit had
gone the way of free love and vinyl records.
70s Plaid Leisure Suit Adult Costume
Though they have become harder and harder to find, authentic leisure suits are still available from online retailers and vintage shops the world over. This image from the Henry Ford Museum, shows off the main characteristics of the leisure suit. Wide lapels, contrasting stitching colors throughout the suit, bell-bottom hems, crazy colors, and polyester fabric are the hallmarks of traditional leisure suits. These were not expensive suits -- the height of leisurely fashion was available to people of all income levels -- but their fast fall from grace in the early 80s means few actual examples of leisure suits are still available for purchase.
Leisure suit Halloween costumes don't have to be authentic for the costume to work. To make your own leisure suit, start with the brightest colored and loudest patterned shirt you can find. One with wide lapels or poofy sleeves would be best. Add to that a fancy piece of jewelry, like a gaudy ring or thick gold chain. Find a sport coat and pants in the same color (ideally a color that exists on your loud 70s shirt) and hopefully in polyester fabric. Bell-bottom pants would be best, though not every leisure suit had bell bottoms. Poof up your hair and pour lots of gel in it, find a pair of platform shoes, and be ready to disco the night away.
The leisure suit had a lot going for it -- cheap, comfortable, easy to wear, and (in its day) attractive, it is a wonder that the leisure suit phenomenon didn't last much longer than it did. To keep the 70s alive, try out a leisure suit Halloween costume this coming October.