80s Couples Costumes Where the Guy Doesn't Get Stuck in a Bad Wig
Most couples costume lists are built for one person to look great and the other to look like a hostage. One of you gets the good jacket. The other one gets a synthetic wig, a foam prop and four hours of explaining who they're supposed to be.
Every pair below comes from an 80s movie or show, and for each one we checked how hard it is for the guy's half. Most need no wig at all. A couple need one small trick. One of them is hard mode.
Each pair gets a wig risk score, because that's the question nobody asks until it's 7 p.m. on the 31st.
Jake and Elwood (The Blues Brothers)
The Blues Brothers opened on June 20, 1980, and the look hasn't changed since: black suits, skinny black ties, black short-brim fedoras and dark sunglasses. Deborah Nadoolman Landis designed it, a year before she dressed Indiana Jones. The production also bought about 60 police cars at $400 each so it could wreck them, which was a record at the time.
This is the easiest pair on the list and it works for any two people. Two dark suits, two thin ties, two hats, two pairs of black sunglasses. If one of you is taller, that one is Elwood. Carry a briefcase if you want a prop.
Wig risk: none.
Crockett and Tubbs (Miami Vice)
Miami Vice started on September 16, 1984, and its executive producer, Michael Mann, banned earth tones from the wardrobe. Crockett is the pastel linen jacket over a T-shirt with no socks. Tubbs, in the pilot, wore a dove-gray double-breasted jacket over an ice-blue camp shirt open at the collar, with taupe linen trousers.
For Crockett: pastel blazer, white tee, light trousers, loafers. For Tubbs: a darker jacket over an open camp collar shirt. The Vercetti Shirt 1986 ($47.99) is our best-selling shirt and would fit right in on Ocean Drive. Split the sunglasses between you: one aviator, one square frame.
Wig risk: none. Crockett's stubble is the only thing you have to grow.
Maverick and Goose (Top Gun)
Top Gun came out on May 16, 1986 and was the biggest film of the year. Maverick is the brown leather flight jacket, white tee, jeans and gold aviators. Goose, in the bar scene at the piano, is a blue Hawaiian shirt open over a white tee, jeans and a mustache that does most of the acting.
Maverick needs any brown leather jacket and aviators. Goose needs a loud tropical shirt like the Retro Hawaiian Shirt 1983 ($39.99) and a mustache, real or drawn. If your partner would rather be Charlie, Kelly McGillis's character, that's an aged leather bomber with rolled sleeves over a white shirt, a fitted pencil skirt and square aviators. Skip the movie patches on the jacket.
Wig risk: none.
Johnny and Baby (Dirty Dancing)
Dirty Dancing reached US theaters on August 21, 1987, but the story is set in the summer of 1963, so the clothes are 60s clothes seen through 1987 eyes. Costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld cut Johnny's jackets shorter than a strict period cut so they'd show Patrick Swayze's build. Baby's final dance dress is peach, not white, and it split more than once when Jennifer Grey raised her arms. Grey has said the final lift was never rehearsed before the day they shot it.
For Johnny, go dark and fitted: a close-cut shirt, dark trousers and good shoes you can actually move in. For Baby, a peach dress for the finale or cutoff shorts and a simple top for the practice scenes. Practice the lift in the kitchen, not at the party.
Wig risk: none. Injury risk: depends on the lift.
Bill and Ted (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure)
The movie was shot in 1987 and released on February 17, 1989. Alex Winter borrowed Bill's backwards cap, with a bit of hair pulled through the opening, from what he saw on Venice Beach. Early drafts of the script put both of them in heavy metal T-shirts, and the time machine was originally a van before it became a phone booth.
Ted gets a bright jacket over a band-style tee and shorts. A loud windbreaker like the Color Block Windbreaker 1984 ($59.99) handles the jacket, and the Retro Rock Star T-Shirt ($45.00) gives you the metal-tee energy without borrowing a real band's logo. Bill gets a loose printed shirt, baggy light pants and the backwards cap. Air guitar is mandatory. So is the word "excellent."
Wig risk: none. Your own hair, as messy as it'll go.
Jake Ryan and Samantha (Sixteen Candles)
Sixteen Candles opened May 4, 1984. Molly Ringwald was 15 during the shoot, and the movie ends with Jake surprising Samantha with a birthday cake and sixteen candles.
Jake is clean-cut and preppy, so a sweater or a plain button-down with khakis does it. Samantha is whatever mid-80s high school look your partner likes. Carry a birthday cake with sixteen candles all night, and light them once. People will get it immediately.
Wig risk: none. Cake risk: high.
Marty and Doc (Back to the Future)
Back to the Future opened July 3, 1985. Marty is the easy half: red puffer vest, denim jacket, plaid shirt, jeans and white sneakers. Doc is where couples costumes go to die. His white hair was inspired by Albert Einstein and the conductor Leopold Stokowski, and most store-bought versions look like insulation.
If you're Doc, skip the wig. A white lab coat, safety goggles pushed up on your forehead and as much hair product as your own hair can handle get you most of the way there. If you're Marty, you did the easy part, so you're doing the driving.
Wig risk: high for Doc, none for Marty.
The Kid and Apollonia (Purple Rain)
Purple Rain came out on July 27, 1984. Costume designers Louis Wells and Marie France dressed the Kid in ruffled shirts with puffed sleeves, long coats trimmed with studs and lace, and high-waisted fitted trousers. Apollonia was nearly unknown when she was cast. The Kid's motorcycle was a customized Honda, for anyone planning to arrive by bike.
This is hard mode. The clothes are doable: a ruffled or blouse-style shirt, a long dark coat, fitted trousers, heeled boots. The problem is that the look depends on one very specific person's hair and presence. Wear the clothes, keep your own hair, and don't try to do the voice.
Wig risk: high.
What makes a good couples costume
One recognizable piece each. The fedoras, the vest, the cake, the aviators. If each of you has one thing people can point at, the rest can be regular clothes, and regular clothes are more comfortable at hour four of a party.
It also helps if one half is instantly obvious and the other half makes sense next to it. Nobody knows who Goose is on his own. Next to Maverick, everyone does.
If you're going solo this year, our 80s party outfit guide covers looks that don't need a partner, and our list of 80s Halloween costumes goes wider than movies. For couples who were famous on TV rather than film, there's 80s TV couples and their stories.
Questions we get
What is the easiest 80s couples costume? The Blues Brothers. Two dark suits, two thin ties, two hats, two pairs of sunglasses, and it works for any two people.
What are good 80s duo costumes for two guys? Jake and Elwood, Crockett and Tubbs, Maverick and Goose, or Bill and Ted. None of them need a wig.
What did Baby wear in the last dance of Dirty Dancing? A peach dress, not a white one. It was cut to move and split more than once during filming.
Is Dirty Dancing an 80s movie? It came out in 1987, but the story is set in 1963. So yes, it's an 80s movie, and no, the clothes aren't 80s clothes.
How do we avoid looking like we bought it in a bag? Build it from real clothes and add one prop each. Skip logos and movie patches.
Explore the collections: 80s Men's Shirts · 80s Jackets & Windbreakers · Retro Sunglasses · T-shirts
Pieces for your half
Vercetti Shirt 1986
Retro Hawaiian Shirt 1983
$39.99
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Color Block Windbreaker 1984
$59.99
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Retro Rock Star T-Shirt
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