ABBA Halloween Costumes

Looking for a four-person blast from the past this Halloween? Dress up like ABBA, the iconic Swedish pop group of the 1970s! A bold way for two couples to crash a party, coordinated ABBA Halloween costumes will bring all the velvet-poofed, silk-caped, bell-bottomed fun your friends can handle. Voulez-vous?

Though they rarely wore completely matching gear, ABBA members’ outfits were typically coordinated to feature some of the same colors and styles. There was the faux French countryside look, the Mork-style alienwear, and the disco satin bodysuit – just to name a few. Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn, and Anni-Frid certainly had different looks over time, which means that all kinds of outlandish 70s wear will generally work.

After you decide who’s going to be which Swede, then it’s time to plan the details of your ABBA Halloween costumes. Here’s a brief guide to each ABBA star:

ABBA Halloween costumes: Agnetha
In some respects, Agnetha is the easiest to recreate. Her long blonde hair was straight or slightly waved through most of the ABBA years, so look for a simple blonde wig (unless you’ve already got the perfect ‘do). Pair the hair with an egregious amount of blue eyeshadow and add lip gloss to sheen. Agnetha frequently wore tight bodice tops with low necklines and *lots* of boots and ruffly stuff. Cloaks, scarves, neckbands, puffy-sleeved blouses, and accent belts were often part of her look too.

ABBA Halloween costumes: Frida (Anni-Frid)
Over the years, Frida’s hair changed dramatically from frizzed-out perm to near-bob – and it ranged from regular red to an almost purplish tone. A curly red wig should do the trick, as long as it’s not clown-bright. Frida’s eyebrows tended to be especially high and thin penciled in, and she wore rouge regularly. Compared to Agnetha, Frida seemed to sport more pointy geometric collars and fewer ruffles (though it’s all relative). And she liked boots, too.

ABBA Halloween costumes: Bjorn
Perhaps the most important Bjorn accessory is the guitar. If you can create a cheesy looking guitar shaped like a multi-pointed “POW!” bubble from a comic book, then you can nail his early look for sure. For hair, look for a dirty blonde wig that’s a cross between He-Man and Dana Carvey in Wayne’s World – a sort of bulbous mullet. Bjorn frequently wore capes, as well as sparkly bell-bottomed overalls. He went sleeveless often, wearing bold vests and strange clinging tanktops.

ABBA Halloween costumes: Benny
The beefier of the two ABBA men, Benny tended to wear lots of pointy-collared blazers with rolled up cuffs and lots of ruffled shirts while sitting behind the piano. If you watch old videos, you’ll see that he also sported leopard prints on more than a few occasions. An crucial part of the Benny look, of course, is the facial hair: he consistently had the chops/beard/mustache/goatee thing going on, so be sure that the Benny in your Halloween group can sport some scruff, or else you’ll need to glue on a fake beard.

Whatever you do for these four ABBA Halloween costumes, just keep them stylistically synched, and don’t be afraid to go over the top, as the group was so typically theatrical – lots of accessories and bold, flashy designs. If you need some inspiration, visit YouTube and watch old ABBA videos: Waterloo, Ring Ring, Take a Chance on Me, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, etc.

But be careful with these ABBA Halloween costumes. You don’t want to end up looking like Ace of Base instead!