Purple Rain Party Attire

August 14, 2009 5:46 AM

I need fast and easy attire for a Purple Rain party!

Not really a Prince fan at all, but certainly was twenty-five years ago when I bought the vinyl. Some good friends are celebrating the album with a party where costumes are required. Not too interested in breaking the bank, or using too much hairspray or make-up, but I'd like not to be a party-pooper either. I'm a guy. Ideas?!

posted by anonymous to clothing, beauty, & fashion (17 comments total)

Go a costume shop and see if you can find a cheap pirate/swashbuckler shirt....

Get some old (tight even) pants and sew white buttons down the outside of each leg seam...

white long lab coat, lace, spray paint... lay the lace on the coat, lightly spray, remove and let dry...paisley design...

eye liner.

ahh, the 80's!
posted by keep it tight at 5:56 AM on August 14

Wear a raspberry beret. The kind you find in a second-hand store.
posted by ColdChef at 6:31 AM on August 14 [8 favorites]

In addition to the Raspberry Beret, you need to wear strings of Diamonds & Pearls. Carry a Little Red Corvette toy car. Wear Pink Cashmere. Eat a Peach. And a fake tattoo of a crying dove would be a nice touch.
posted by juliplease at 6:35 AM on August 14

You could go nude, like Apollonia.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:35 AM on August 14

Is there a reason this is anonymous?

Go as one of the Revolution. Doctor Fink would be the easiest (scrubs, a surgical mask, and sunglasses).
posted by ocherdraco at 6:37 AM on August 14

Or you could grow a mustache and tiny soul patch, don a white pin-striped suit and go as Morris E. Day.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:39 AM on August 14

Purple trenchcoat or purple velvet blazer. Pirate shirt. Pleather pants, or colored jeans. Must be tight. Paint on a soul patch with makeup. Wear a headband or head scarf. If you're a white dude, you may end up looking more like 80s Bret Michaels or Jon Bon Jovi, but you made a good effort.
posted by ishotjr at 7:18 AM on August 14

You already have a pair of pants, right?

Cut the ass out of them.
posted by box at 7:59 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]

A Dr. Fink outfit would definitely be easiest -- lots of costume shops will have a cheap set of doctor's scrubs. Alternately, there's a character named "Billy" in the movie who really has as his only distinguishing trait a giant pair of sunglasses, which are quite similar to a lot of the ones that are back in style today. Five bucks on some knockoff shades, you offer up some great dialogue like "Aw, buddy, just like your old man", and you're done.
posted by anildash at 8:01 AM on August 14

ah, just dress sharp, and have a friend follow you around. every now and then say 'i need a mirror!' and yuor friend will come running up and hold up a mirror as you comb your hair and admire your bad self.
posted by lester at 8:43 AM on August 14

How tied to Purple Rain era are you? Dressing as the controversy/dirty mind era Prince might be easier - double brested trenchcoat, "Rude Boy" pin, black g string underneath.

If you wanna stick with PR, Billy, the First Avenue manager always had on zip-up track suits along with his large shades. This might be the second easiest costume after Dr. Fink. Otherwise, get some tight pants and put some big, mickey-mouse buttons diagonally across the front, from the waistband to crotch. Don't forget to borrow a pair of high-heeled boots.

You might want to check out the prince.org forums and gallery for inspiration.
posted by stachemaster at 9:10 AM on August 14

Costume? If you can somehow construct a wearable white bathtub filled with flowers, you could go naked.

You could go as Sheila E. She opened for Prince on a lot of the Purple Rain tour dates. Get a big black wig, stiletto boots and a drum. You'd need makeup, though.

For a simple costume, try to find a frilly white shirt (a thrift store?) and a black hat with a long frilly lacy headband on it, and you're good to go.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:10 AM on August 14

Hairspray? You'd need to start out with some pretty extravagant hair to make that work. Just get a big, long, curly, black wig.
posted by Jaltcoh at 9:50 AM on August 14

It'll be easier to go cheap if you accept hairspray and makeup into your life. Pretty much generic new wave will do: a loose white shirt with the collar popped, a skinny carelessly knotted tie, a metallic belt slung low around the hips, black pants. Add 5 bucks worth of dollar store make-up and hairspray (up, gotta be up) and violá, you're a First Avenue opening montage extra. Honestly any 80s cliché will serve... wear a polo, khakis and dock shoes and pretend to be an expert in Prince minutiae... "oh yeah, I'm Kyle MacLachlan - he did an uncredited cameo as yuppie crossover fan number 6 in the final crows scene."
posted by nanojath at 10:11 AM on August 14

(crowd scene, that is)
posted by nanojath at 10:13 AM on August 14

I've got the easiest one--Dez Dickerson. He's the guitarist who played on 1999 and was in the videos for "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" wearing his trademark: a "kamikaze" headband (white with a red circle and Japanese characters in black--they were all the rage for a while). He dropped out of the Revolution before Purple Rain because he was born again and didn't want to play Prince's naughtier songs, but he had a brief appearance in the movie playing a song, "Modernaire", with his new band--it wasn't on the soundtrack and wasn't officially released until fairly recently.

I don't remember what he's wearing in the movie, but generally he seems to have favored loose black and white clothes, so that, some sort of vaguely 80s-Tina-Turnerish wig and the headband, and you should be set.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:03 PM on August 14

Go as a wet grape
posted by zia at 2:38 PM on August 14