Summer is the time to have a ‘Beach costume Party’, and even in our typically British weather, why not hold it inside and turn the heating up a couple of notches?

This theme gives your guests the chance to wear some summer clothing, or if they are brave some swimsuits. It also gives those of your friends who love dressing up the chance to wear a full costume as well.

Some of our Beach Costume Ideas include:

• Shipwrecked – just wear tatty clothing, men can grow (or purchase) a beard
• Shark
• Fish
• Mermaid
• Pirate
• Hawaiian Outfits
• Rasta costumes or accessories

With the summer solstice tomorrow and our mention of the 1940s yesterday, our thoughts turned to aspects swimwear – by a rather convoluted route. As we noted, the Wartime is on the National Curriculum and therefore we get requests for ‘evacuee’ wear for children. These are not always easy to cater for, there being few manufacturers who offer costumes for this market. Ever helpful, we sometimes suggest that perhaps an older relative might whip out the knitting needles and rustle up a cardigan or woolly waistcoat/tank-top to create the right impression (interest in knitting may be on the up, but to be honest, wartime wear is not top of the tree, when it comes to what to make – but it’s worth a try). Anyway, this led the older ones amongst us to recall what a style disaster knitted swimwear can be. As you will know if you have hand-washed a woolly, the water often gets absorbed, making the garment heavy until it drains and dries. Put this in a beach environment and you end up with seriously saggy swimwear. Thank heavens for synthetic stretch-knit fabrics for those beach, barbecue and tropical parties that crop up around this time of year.