Agree one costume theme as a group, weeks out, then put one lad in a showstopper and everyone else in something they can wear all night. That is the whole answer to what to wear to a stag do. The average UK stag do now runs to around 14 people, per industry data from StagWeb, and 14 costumes do not organise themselves out of a group chat the week before.

Table of Contents

Agree the theme before anyone shops (six weeks out)

Stag fancy dress usually fails the same way. Everyone has their own idea. Nobody wants to be the one who organises it, and by the time somebody does, half the group has already bought something different. So hand the job to one person, usually the best man, and put the theme to a vote six weeks out. Six weeks is not fussiness. It is the gap you need to order, to collect everyone's real chest and waist measurements rather than what they say they take, and to still absorb a late yes.

A theme is not a uniform. Open the stag and hen fancy dress range on one screen with the group and pick a loose set inside a theme, rather than one costume ordered in five sizes. It photographs as coordinated, and nobody feels like they drew the short straw. If the same crowd does a Halloween night together, our guide to planning a big group Halloween costume goes further on splitting one theme across a group this size.

Pick one showstopper costume (four weeks out)

Every stag group has one lad who will go all in. One costume like that does more for the photos than five people in matching t-shirts. Settle who it is four weeks out and order his first, because the showstopper is the piece with a real size range to get wrong, and you want it in the house before the other four are paid for.

Fat Stripper Piggyback Costume, a self-stuff piggyback-style novelty costume for a stag do

Fat Stripper Piggyback Costume

Designed and manufactured exclusively for us, and built to be the group's one big laugh. The dummy legs are self-stuff, so filling them is a job for the hotel room before you go out: towels or scrap paper, roughly a minute, done. On fit, the numbers are the useful part. It covers 5'4" to 6'4" (165cm to 195cm) and a 28" to 48" waist, and the laces pull it in from there, which matters when one lad is built nothing like the other four. It is tested across 30+ measurements, but that is a build standard rather than a fit promise, so read the size range on the product page against the wearer before you order. Hand wash only, empty the leg stuffing first, air dry.

Order the rest as a matching set (three weeks out)

For everyone else, a one-size tabard is the easiest thing on the order form. It goes on over your own clothes, so there is no size chart to argue over and no size query coming back at the best man three weeks out. A food theme gets you costumes that photograph as a set without being identical. There is a second reason to order the whole set from one place: a group order only works if the last parcel matches the first, and we run over 500,000 quality checks a year across the range for exactly that kind of batch-to-batch consistency.

Adult Fried Egg Costume

The fried egg is printed front and back, so it still reads when the wearer turns round for the photo. One size, 100% polyester. Put a mate in bacon and the breakfast double act writes itself. Hand wash only, air dry.

Adult Fried Egg Costume, a printed one-size tabard costume
Adult Octopus Costume, a blue one-size tabard costume

Adult Octopus Costume

Blue, one size, 100% polyester, and it pulls straight on over whatever the wearer already has on. No fastenings to find after a few pints. This is the one for the lad who says he is not doing fancy dress, because it goes over a shirt in a single movement. Hand wash only, air dry.

Avocado Costume

Green tabard with a printed padded stone on the front, from our partner brand Fun Shack. One size and pull-over, which makes it the sensible spare to keep in the bag for whoever turns up empty-handed. Care is a bit fussier than the other two: hand wash only, do not wring or tumble dry, air dry flat.

Avocado Costume, a green one-size tabard costume with padded stone detail

Three weeks is the number because it buys you a swap. Order the set now and anything that turns up wrong on the wearer can go back and come again with days in hand, instead of being worn wrong because there is no time left to fix it.

Sort what actually goes wrong on the night (two weeks out)

Most stag costume guides stop at the ideas. Nobody writes down what goes wrong once the costumes are on. The inflatable is the clearest case: biggest laugh of the night, and the one thing in the bag that needs batteries somebody forgot to buy.

Eggplant Inflatable Costume, a purple inflatable costume with a built-in fan unit

Eggplant Inflatable Costume

Purple, one size, and the built-in fan holds it fully inflated for up to 4 hours. It takes 4 x AA batteries and they are not included, which is the line worth reading twice. Buy the spares two weeks out and run the fan once at home. Nobody has ever enjoyed discovering this at the pub. Reinforced stitching at the stress points. Hand wash only with the fan and battery pack out first, and let it air dry fully before you deflate it and put it away, or what you are storing is damp fabric folded up until next summer.

Do not wear the inflatable for the whole crawl. Use it for the arrival photos or one venue, then take it off, because deflated it is an armful of fabric and a fan unit, and somebody has to carry that between pubs. Decide in advance where it comes off and whose job it is. Otherwise it is the thing left in the taxi.

What to actually pack (the week of)

Three things go in the bag the week of. Spare AA batteries for whoever is in the inflatable. A plain white or yellow top for each lad in a tabard, worn underneath for coverage and so the tabard is not against skin all night. And one holdall big enough to take the costumes off the whole group between venues once the photos are done, because the alternative is four men carrying their own. If someone confirms late, add a one-size tabard: it is the only thing on this list that needs no sizing conversation.

One last thing, and it should save an argument in the group chat. Since we started tracking website orders this spring, piggyback costumes and inflatable costumes have sold in close to a 1:1 ratio on our site. There is no wrong answer between the two formats, so pick the one that suits the lad actually wearing it and build the rest of the order around the stag and hen range from there.

Frequently asked questions

Are Morphsuits and MorphCostumes fancy dress good for a stag do?

Yes, for practical reasons rather than stylistic ones. A Morphsuit is a single piece, so there are no accessories to lose across five pubs, and it comes on and off in seconds late in the night. Every costume goes through over 30 measurement checks, and the pack contents are listed on every product page, so you know what is in the parcel before you order for fourteen people.

What should you actually wear to a stag do as a group?

Vote on one theme six weeks out rather than letting everyone choose on their own. Put one lad in a showstopper, and the rest in a one-size tabard so nobody has to pick between sizes. That gets you a line-up that photographs as a set, without ordering fourteen identical costumes in fourteen different sizes.

How do you size fancy dress for a stag group when everyone is a different build?

Split the group in two. For the one or two costumes that have to fit properly, use the ones that publish a real range: our piggyback-style costume covers 5'4" to 6'4" (165cm to 195cm) and a 28" to 48" waist, and the lacing takes up the slack. For everyone else, a one-size tabard sidesteps the question, because it sits over their own clothes rather than needing to match a body shape. Check the size guide on the product page against the wearer, not against the size he says he takes.

What if someone confirms for the stag do late and needs a costume last minute?

Plan for it from the start by keeping one or two one-size tabards in the order. Nobody needs measuring, so a late yes gets a costume without the group reopening the theme vote or waiting on a second delivery.

Do stag do costumes have to be identical, or can they be a mixed theme?

No, and a mixed theme is usually the better call. A food or novelty line-up with one bigger showstopper in it reads as a planned group in the photos, and it saves you ordering the same costume in five sizes for five different builds.