Friday Favourites - Playing dress-ups

I am a huge fan of costume parties. I just love the creative thought that goes into coming up with a fun idea, the search for the costume itself, and then all the preparation on the night getting ready. I think it makes a difference to the "vibe" at the event itself too -- everyone turns up with their 'extrovert' side on show and you instantly have a conversation starter with strangers.

Last night I went to a fantastic party held by my friends Kate and Antony. It was a combined birthday/engagement party and the theme was 'A journey on the Orient Express'. The invitations included a train ticket and a tag with the character you were required to dress up as. I was very excited to be asked to appear as Agatha Christie. Here's me with Kate, who did a gorgeous and very glam Coco Chanel:

Kate did an awesome job with the table decorations too. There was a train set running down the middle of the table which began in Paris (tiny Eiffel Tower, maps, etc) and ran through several destinations down the table to Constantinople. Each place setting was beautifully set as well:

Earlier this year, I had a costume party for my birthday. My theme was Marie Antoinette's court, and I mostly chose that idea because I was desperate to wear one of those gowns! It was a fantastic party and I was so thrilled that my friends really took it to heart and went all out with their costumes. Here's me and a photo of the room:

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening and totally managed to distract me from the nasty business of turning another year older.

Something I recently discovered is that there are some people in the world who do this dress-up thing not just for parties, but as a kind of hobby or lifestyle thing. It's called 'cosplay' and it started in Japan with manga, but it's evolved much more broadly since. The idea is to accurately represent a fictional character and people go to a lot of trouble to create amazing costumes. I really enjoyed watching this video clip that shows some of the fun people have getting wrapped up in their fandoms. Watching this clip makes me want to go hire some outrageous costume and wander around the city, just for the hell of it. :) Let me know, do you like dressing up? Or do you groan if an invitation for 'fancy dress' arrives in the mail?