Help me Dress for Prom!

[Tychris1]

Hey guys! So I'm trying to get ready for Prom, and this year the theme for Prom was Red Carpet. But I thought "That's stupid! It's the year 2015! This is the future man! This is when Marty Mcfly comes through in the Delorean and sees Self tying shoes! We should have that as a theme!" My idea got rejected, but my spirit is not crushed! In spite of the theme (Or perhaps complimenting it, Back to the Future was a red carpet movie after all) I have decided to dress like Marty Mcfly when HE went to Prom in Back to the Future. Trouble is some of the pieces I need are kind of weird and I've only shopped for my own clothes once before, so I come here to my friends in the Giantitp forums for aid!

Make me look pretty! I'm learning to play the guitar and sing Johnny Be Good so it'd be kind of lame if the rest of the outfit didn't match.

Pictures (http://www.top10films.co.uk/img/marty_rocknroll.jpg) for (http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2012/08/11/ab/1b/slideshow_991635_BacktotheFuture.jpg) Reference. (http://beyondthemarquee.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/14692_10.jpg)

[dmaxno]

The only thought: Thrift store hunting. It takes a lot of work, but anything bigger can always be taken for alterations.
If you need something a bit different, maybe check what Micheal J Fox used for the red carpet for the movie itself.

[Anarion]

Let's start easy. You can buy a white shirt, black slacks, and a red tie at any department store or order them from anywhere. I'd actually be surprised if you've made it all the way to prom without owning at least 2/3 of those items already.

If you don't have a grey sport coat, they're not hard to find but they're usually not cheap. I'm not sure where you could find an inexpensive one, try a discount store or browse online.

The shoes are the hard one. Some googling gets me similar ballroom dance shoes. http://www.usadanceshoes.com/latin_ballroom_dancing_shoes_tango_swing_salsa/tom-black-and-white-wide-ballroom-dance-shoe.html
I really don't know your budget though, but maybe try a costumer?

[Tono]

I found these (http://www.amazon.com/121-FRED-Saddle-Oxford-Gangster-Costume/dp/B0054PUDT4/ref=pd_sbs_309_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KTEM8TN1KFVCTY0H2AN)and some similiar ones off of amazon, but i don't know anything about the specific vendors.

[Oddman80]

Not to burst your bubble... but The Dance you are referring to was Hill Valley High School's Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
It was most certainly no a Prom as it was held on Nov 12, 1955.
Unless you have ever heard of a Prom in November... most likely it was the equivalent of what most high schools now call a Homecoming Dance which take place during the autumn football season.
Homecoming dances are typically just Semi Formal events (Sport Jacket, Tie & Slacks), compared to the Prom and Academy Award Red Carpet - which are both Formal events (Tuxedo, or Designer Suit & Tie).

[Peelee]

This may sound silly, but the level of detail you want may make a huge difference; I actually tried to make Marty's earlier outfit for one of my friends' 30th birthday, since thats his favorite movie, and the checkered shirt he wears is no longer sold; a fabric of it is made (specifically named "Marty McFly," so you can get the idea of how not-general-use it is) that would've run me about 85 bucks for enough yardage to make a shirt. And then there was the rest of the ensemble (the vest would also have to be custom made, due to the positioning of the pockets. And dude wears, like, four layers).

I didn't do any research into the suit he wears for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, but if you want to look EXACTLY like McFly, be prepared for a few hours of research and potentially insane pricing. You can probably pull off a similar-but-not-quite-perfect look for pretty cheap, though. One of the biggest things to look for if you want a reasonably accurate look is any sort of pattern in the fabric, especially in the texture. That can add a LOT to the look of an outfit, and with the exact same pieces in the same colors but in different textures, one can look like a Walmart costume and one can look like you swiped it off the set.

Below is the best QD image I could find of his upper body - ideally, you want a suit with a black/white checker pattern, but with really small checkers. Might be a really small houndstooth; I can't quite tell. I can tell you right now, you're not gonna get the tie. That would have to be a custom job. A flat red tie will do fine, though. The tie clip, on the other hand, is something you want to have; it's small details like that what can really make a costume come to life. It's hard to tell, but it looks like it's a four-in-hand knot. It also looks like his shirt collar is pretty wide and well-starched. Can't really tell without a comparison, and I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment. You also want a get a good look at the shoes; that's something a lot of people overlook until they get to that part, and man, shoes can have a LOT of looks. Anyway, good luck!

http://davelandweb.com/blog/bttf/bttf_church3.jpg

Oh, and don't forget the Gibson ES-345. Come to think of it, that may run you more than a screen-accurate jacket.

[Caceneviver]

Go to google search and choose your favorite dress.

[Peelee]

Go to google search and choose your favorite dress.

....you realize this was someone asking for help pulling off a Marty McFly costume over a year ago, right?

Though I would like to hear from OP how it went. I also feel kinda bad now because I never mentioned to get the clothes at least one size too big (I never thought about it before, but his suit clearly had to belong to Emmett Brown, and as a very small visual gag, the clothes are too big on Marty). Again, it's small details like that what really make a film costume seem authentic.

[Vinyadan]

This. https://www.opposuits.com/media/catalog/product/cache/8/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/o/s/os_pac-man_website_01.jpg