33 Fun Dress Up Party Themes for Adults in 2024

Adult parties don’t have to be boring! With these awesome dress up party themes for adults, everyone at your party will have a blast dressing up to match the theme for a fun night out.

With the help of a fun party theme, you can take your next celebration up a notch. And when it comes to throwing an adults-only party, what better way to celebrate than by dressing up?

Whatever fun theme you pick, we hope you have a good time with your best friends! Don’t forget to take pictures! Even if you don’t post them on social media, you’ll want them for years to come!

Dress Up Party Themes for Adults

Why do kids get to have all the fun when it comes to themed parties? The next time you’re planning a party with your adult friends, pick a theme to make things a little more interesting.

There are tons of great themes that are perfect for an adults-only get-togethers. With these fun dress-up party themes, your guests are sure to have some fun getting decked out in themed clothes for the night.

1. Masquerade Ball

What could be better than ball gowns and fancy masks?

With a masquerade ball, your party guests can have fun picking out an elaborate mask to go with their formalwear, giving each guest a little bit of mystery about them at the party.

2. Mardi Gras

Masks are always a fun option for a party. But if you don’t want to host a fully formal affair, use a Mardi Gras theme instead of a masquerade ball.

Your guests can still wear masks, but your dress code can be a little more relaxed.

3. Black and White Party

There’s no better color combination for a formal affair than black and white. Note on the invitation that each guest must wear black or white (or a combination of the two) for the formal event, then let your party guests get creative with the clothing for the party.

4. Movie Theme

Use your favorite movie as the theme of the party, allowing all your party guests to dress up as their favorite characters. Whether you pick Beetlejuice, Star Trek, Star Wars, or Harry Potter party, everyone will have a blast showing off their movie-inspired costumes.

You could also simply let your party guests pick a movie character to dress as, then let everyone try to guess who their friends are.

5. TV Shows

In addition to movies, using a TV show as your party theme is another fun idea for an adult party. TV show inspired party themes, like Golden Girls, Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones, make a great dress-up theme idea for your adult friends.

Your friends will have so much fun coming up with costumes to match their favorite characters on TV.

6. Egyptian Party / Toga Party

You could go back to your college partying days with the help of a toga party.

Another option is to give the party theme a little more class by calling it an ancient Egypt theme and asking everyone dress as a Greek goddess or a Roman god to celebrate the occasion.

7. Great Gatsby Party

Take your celebration back in time with a roaring 20s theme. Flapper dresses and pinstriped suits are perfect choices for any adult hoping to get dressed up for their next party.

Grab our favorite Great Gatsby menu ideas here!

8. Disco Dance Party

Get your groove on with a disco party for your next get-together. Channel the disco vibes with jumpsuits, bell bottoms, and plunging necklines.

9. Casino Night

Bring the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas to your next party with a casino night event.

Dress up in cocktail attire, enjoy fancy drinks, and play some casino games with your friends.

10. Hollywood Red Carpet Party

Take your next movie night to the next level with a Hollywood red carpet party.

Give your party guests a chance to enjoy the celebrity life with a red carpet entrance to show off their designer dresses.

11. Murder Mystery

Hosting a murder mystery party is a great way for your friends to take on a whole new character. On top of letting them dress up, this fun party theme also gives them a chance to act like someone new to solve a crime.

12. Super Hero Party

Who doesn’t want to be Superman or Wonder Woman? A super hero party is the perfect theme because guests could go all out dressing up or just wear a T-shirt with their favorite character on it!

13. Rainbow

Who needs a color scheme?! Decorate with every color in the rainbow and ask guests to wear bright colors!

14. Tacky Wacky

If your high school did homecoming, Tacky Wacky Day was probably your favorite! Mix and match clothing and go crazy with your hair and accessories for this creative party theme!

15. Salad Dressing Party

For a salad dressing party, encourage people to dress up as their favorite salad dressing. If they like ranch, go with cowboy boots and hats. If they like thousand island, dress up in Hawaiian type clothing. Love a Caesar salad? Go in Greek attire.

16. Monochromatic

Choose 1 color and ask the guest list to wear only that color head to toe!

17. Celebrity Dress Up

Invite your favorite celebrities to your next party by hosting a celebrity look-alike celebration. Ask all your friends to dress up as their favorite celebs the next time you host a themed get-together.

You could ask them to focus on iconic outfits — like Britney Spears’ and Justin Timberlake’s denim outfits — or go for a fancy dress costume like going to the Met Gala.

18. ABC (Anything But Clothes)

Force your friends to get creative the next time you host a party by using an ABC theme. This popular college party theme requires that everyone come dressed in anything but clothes. That means they’ll need to use their imagination to come up with a creative costume for your party.

19. Sports

Another easy and fun theme is to do a sports party! Each guest can wear their favorite team’s clothing. You could also serve up tailgating foods and have sports themed party games!

20. Medieval Times

Take your party guests back to the renaissance era with this fun party theme. Dress in medieval attire and serve food from the times to host a memorable party.

21. Christmas Party in July

You don’t have to wait for December to do a fun Christmas theme party! Ask your friends to wear festive clothing and decorate with Christmas trees and decor.

Grab our favorite Christmas party snacks and recipes!

22. Beach Party

Even if you live no where near the ocean, hosting a beach party is a fun idea! Let everyone dress up in tropical beachwear, then enjoy some fruity cocktails in your backyard decked out in beachy decorations.

We love the idea of doing a pool party movie night and having palm trees as floats!

23. Black Light

If your friends love to dance, why not have a black light party?! Even in a tight space, you could transform your living room into a dance floor by moving the furniture and cranking up some great music!

24. James Bond

Another fun fancy dress theme is have your guests dress up as if they were in a James Bond movie! We love the idea of serving martini’s and giving out a best dress award for a man and woman!

25. County Fair / Wild West Party

Depending on which way you go with the theme, you could offer fair foods like hot dogs, funnel cake, and cotton candy! We also encourage guests to wear cowboy boots & cowboy hats!

26. Wizard of Oz

This theme allows you so many creative ways to decorate! We love the idea of a yellow carpet as your guests arrive to recreate the yellow brick road.

27. Mad Hatter

If you and your friends are Alice in Wonderland fans, a Mad Hatter party can be a lot of fun to decorate and dress up for!

28. Wine Tasting

If you’re looking for a theme and activity in one, you can’t go wrong with a wine tasting! Here’s a quick guide to easy wine and food pairings, and you may also like our whiskey tasting party idea!

29. Scavenger Hunt

Encourage your friends to channel their Indiana Jones and challenge them to a treasure hunt!

30. Deadly Sins

A 7 deadly sins party gives you and guests multiple ways to decorate and dress up! The 7 deadly sins are Lust, Wrath, Greed, Envy, Pride, Sloth and Gluttony.

So guests dress according to one or more of the sins. For example, fishnets and boas may represent lust.

Pride, greed, and envy could be wearing lots of green (green with envy) or wearing lots of flashy gold jewelry.

Gluttony could be candy jewelry or a bib from a seafood place.

Wrath could be blood or fake knife in the head. While sloth could be comfy pajamas and slippers.

31. Ugly Sweater

Another great theme for around the holiday season is an ugly sweater party!

32. Decades (60’s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s)

You could choose any decade for an adult party theme! Have your guests wear clothes from that decade, play music from the decade, and even choose foods that were popular then if possible!

33. Zombie Apocalypse

After surviving 2020, a zombie apocalypse party could be pretty fun, too!

34. Anything but a Cup

An Anything but a Cup party is just that! Guests bring a unique, wacky, and fun drink holder for their favorite cocktail or beverage! Grab our favorite Anything But a Cup Ideas and drink holders!

Whatever idea you pick, a themed party is a great idea for milestone birthdays and big events in life!

We hope these fun ideas help you find the perfect theme for your next get together or birthday party!

If you decide on a costume party theme, make sure to to give costume ideas on the invite to help people get excited to dress up! A costume contest is another great way to build excitement!