Maybe Halloween isn’t your thing? Maybe, in fact, the whole of October fills you with dread, the clocks going back, the weather turning, tans fading … well then we have a suggestion to fill you with cheer - well maybe not so much cheer as beer!

Octoberfest fancy dress

Octoberfest - just the word conjures the pleasures of chilled beer, meaty sausages, oompah bands and still costumes. And if that’s the kind of jolliness that would make your October more fun, why not have an Octoberfest of your own?  There are several Octoberfest events around the UK, or you can simply have an Octoberfest themed fancy dress party. 

It’s October, which can mean only one thing … Halloween! At AbFab we love Halloween - fancy dress is our life blood and we love helping our customers to have the best Halloween parties ever by providing ideas, costumes and just great fun.

Trick or Treat is always a laugh but dressing up to welcome those little trick or treaters is an art in itself. A costume that’s too terrifying can simply cause your house to get blacklisted on the trick or treat routes - we know somebody who managed to be such a convincing witch that she had to apologise at the school gates the following Monday. Apparently she’d caused a weekend of nightmares for the kiddies who’d come to her front door. Bet she wasn’t first choice for the PTA after that!

Alexandra Gallagher will. She’s going to wear a different fancy dress every day for 30 days throughout November 2016 to raise funds for and awareness of, pancreatic cancer. Her mother, Lydia, died of the disease last year and now she’s trying to help bring this cancer to people’s attention in November which is national Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. She says that only 1% of the cancer funding in the UK goes to the disease.

While our minds are officially boggled over the leaked documents that show that there was a plan to smuggle Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in a fancy dress costume, we’ve also been planning our big September event - our Back to School party!

There’s no need to limit your imagination with this one. As the kids get miserable about the return to the schoolroom, we grown ups can enjoy reliving the few good things we can remember about school. First - pick your costume!

Ahoy me hearties, stay the mainbrace and other nautical terms! August means Cowes Week, when the rich, the ruthless and the chinless descend on the Isle of Wight to demonstrate their prowess with anchor, jib and rudder.

For the rest of us it’s a bit of a washout … well, there’s only one thing worse than being on a yacht crew and that’s watching a yacht race. However - it’s the perfect excuse for a pirate party! And with Talk Like A Pirate Day just around the corner in September (19th, to be precise) it’s good to get some practice in.

For those who are lucky enough to visit Rio de Janeiro, the Notting Hill Carnival in August might seem quite low key, but if you’ve never experienced carnival time in Rio or New Orleans, Notting Hill is the next best thing. And if you can’t even get to Notting Hill, don’t despair, the carnival can come to you!

What’s on the menu for July? Well, if you’re anything like us, you might be heading for a festival. Of course everybody like something different - while the posh are carrying their picnic hampers down to Glyndebourne in their evening dress, the dedicated field festival aficionado is heading for Latitude. T in the Park appeals to those who don't mind midges and like to combine their festival with a north of the border holiday, whilst the Llangollen Eisteddfod has a die-hard appeal for fans of  choral music including Choir of the World - that’s a pretty big claim, isn’t it?

It will soon be here! Murray Mount, or Murray Mound, or Henman Hill (there’s a very British row about the whole subject) will soon resound to the tears, jeers and fears of thousands of tennis fans as Wimbledon takes over the living rooms and lives of many Brits.

But there’s no need to sit alone, glued to the TV, when you could throw a Wimbledon party and enjoy the matches in the company of your friends.  Here’s how to do it.

It’s Father’s Day on 21 June - and whether you help your Dad celebrate with a cheap card and a cup of tea that he didn’t have to ask for, or a full on roast dinner and a glass of finest brandy, Dad deserves to have some fun!

With Avengers just out, and Ant Man and The Fantastic Four just around the corner, we think it’s a great time to be holding an alter ego fancy dress party. From Super Mario to Superman, from witches to Wonder Woman, dressing up as an alter ego can be a great way to free guests from inhibitions so that they have a great time!