Let there be silliness! (Fancy Dress Party)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Fancy Dress Party
Date:	04/12/01 (3582 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: huge amounts of fun both before and during, gives a party a focus

Disadvantages: takes a bit more work.

Fancy dress parties - great fun in the preparation and on the day. Definitely my favourite sort of party, please bear with me while I enthuse.

The first point to make is that themes really do work - just announce a fancy dress party and people may struggle, but a good theme will give them focus. Think carefully about your theme - it should be something that everyone will know about and that anyone could feasibly make a costume for - thus a "Come as DR Who" party is fraught with trouble, there not being many doctors, and no women, but "Come as a time lord" or a general "Doctor Who' party works quite nicely. Suite your theme to your people - if you don't kow your people, go for something nice and vague like "High fantasy", "Mythology" "Nursery Rhymnes." Avoid themes that require hired costumes - eg an "Aliens vs Predators" party will be a bit too chalening for most. If you can't make the costume at home, don't even consider it.

Ok, some personal favourites then.

Rocky Horror - if you've got people who want to dress up in basques, get the video and have a Rocky night - very good fun, but beware of frightening the neighbours.

Vampire party - lots of good films to watch and the costumes are easy enough - lots of velvet, black slinky stuff, cloaks and fake blood.

Terry Pratchett Party - there are so many characters in his books, that everyone will find something, and the real world parallels make the costumes viable. Last time, I went as Nanny Ogg! (you can go as the luggage by putting a box over your head.) I've been to two Pratchett parties, both were great. If you like his stuff, it is an excellent theme.

Go as someone else party - this suits groups of friends, and can result in some fun clothes swapping - definitely worth a try.

James Bond/Austin powers party - running the two together works very well, and gives you e
ven more costume opportunities.

Evil Doubles party - there's a sci fi (especially star trek) convention of evil doubles turning up. Imagine how your evil double would be, and dress accordingly.

Mystery Men party - invent a superhero or villan, give him/her a silly costume and name. You too could be "Captain vulnerable to strontium 90" or "pogo man" watch "Mystery men" if you need some ideas.

If you have a group of friends who share an enthusiasm for a film or a book, take that as your theme - Star Trek parties, Star Wars parties, Tolkien parties, Gor parties, Dragonlance parties, Highlander parties, red dwarf parties and the like can all work really well. When you are planning a party, consult the people you mean to invite, and enjoy the costume design phase - its best to leave yourself a couple of weeks to sort this out, for best effects.

If you have been invited to a fancy dress party that doesn't hve a theme, one good thing to do can be to group up with a few other people and do something collectively - several memorable examples spring to mind - several friends dressed up as "The Doors" for one party, and we had the four horsemen of the apocalypse at one general fancy dress event.

Other things to think of - can you safely wear your costume all evening without bits of it falling off or bits of you falling out? Can you eat and drink and go to the loo safely in your costume? Are you going to be arrested if you try to walk home in your costume?

Fancy dress is a reat opportunity for silliness, creativity and expression. They really are good fun, and can make an automatic icebreaker. A good time will be had by all.

Summary: