Today we thought we’d get everyone thinking about conspiracy theories as our fancy dress theme.
Conspiracy theories surround many historical events, see our list below of just some of them. Maybe you could be the person it is about, or dress up as someone involved in the incident…
We were noting that it was on this day in 1928 that a famous film couple first appeared on screen together. The film was an animation called ‘Plane Crazy’ and the couple were Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Minnie Mouse is a popular costume request – Mickey perhaps less so (possibly too busy being the icon of the Disney Empire) but the burning question arose ‘Did Mickey and Minnie actually ever marry?’ (You can tell that sometimes here at Props & Frocks time can hang heavy whilst doing the more routine tasks). The official answer, for no less than Walt Disney himself was that ‘Mickey and Minnie were married in private life but on screen she’s his leading lady’ yet on another occasion he said “There is no marriage in the land of make-believe, Mickey and Minnie must live happily ever after”. This seems a little odd given that in most fairy tales, especially those from Disney, the marriage is said to be the start of the Happy Ever After. Real conspiracy theorists point to the fact that there is a piece of music from the 1930s called ‘The Wedding of Mister Mickey Mouse’ (apparently it’s a foxtrot, and it was sanctioned by Disney) and more recently, some will remember the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s seminal tune from the Gorilla album ‘Mickey’s Son and Daughter’. And you thought Mickey and Minnie were just cartoons!
Why not have a Heroes & villains costume party? This is one fancy dress theme that just keeps on going, although it can also be called Goodies & Baddies or Saints & sinners, it basically is the same thing.
This is an interesting fancy dress theme as you have the option of looking at film or real life heroes. You could also look at your own personal ‘hero’. Now this may be a famous film star (maybe you always wanted to be Marilyn Monroe?) Or it could even be a teacher from your school days. This is a brilliant costume theme that will give you plenty of scope for a huge variety of costumes.
Well it’s George Lucas’ birthday today, but as we did ‘Star Wars’ ten days ago instead we celebrate the anniversary of ‘the other’ famous Australian actress – Cate Blanchett. Possibly best known for her portrayal of Galadriel, the fairy queen in ‘Lord of the Rings’ (she reprises the role in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’, part one of which is due for release in December 2012). Cate Blanchett has also portrayed a number of wartime heroines, has played Elizabeth the First of England twice, was the ‘baddie’ in the last Indiana Jones film and even turned up uncredited in Simon Pegg’s ‘Hot Fuzz’ film. She has also recently been seen on theWest Endstage. At a time when there are many other actresses constantly in the public eye, Miss Blanchett has built a good portfolio of strong but ‘unshowy’ roles, yet some of the parts she has played, can be potentially popular when it comes to something different for a Movies or Heroes & Villains party.
We seem to have had a bit of a musical fancy dress theme running through our blogs this week, so today we thought we would go a bit more high-brow (well we did say a bit) and celebrate the fact that 170 years ago today the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan was born. The musical half of the Gilbert & Sullivan partnership which enjoyed great success with the various light operettas produced by the D’Oyly Carte Company, he was also a noted musician in his own right: In his later years he created a ballet ‘Victoria and Merrie England’ for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, amongst other works – perhaps someone will ‘revisit’ it for the Queen’s jubilee this year.
Gilbert & Sullivan costuming tends to be a bit of a niche market, especially as there are specialist firms who offer integrated packages of costumes for G&S and other musical-based productions ‘off-the-peg’. That said, the themes covered by the G & S works cover a number of bases from countries such as Japan (‘The Mikado’) and Italy (‘The Gondoliers’) to Nautical choices such as ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘HMS Pinafore’, the characters offer opportunities for some colourful costuming.
Some Gilbert & Sullivan Costume Ideas:
Victorian Gentleman, one blond, one dark, both moustached
Vampire costumes are still one of the most popular costumes, all helped by the ongoing release of another vampire film. Due out on general release today in the UK is the movie ‘Dark Shadows’. This is another Tim Burton film, which stars Johnny Depp, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer (who last worked with Tim Burton as Catwoman in ‘Batman Returns’ back in 1992) and Eva Green (possibly best known as Vesper from the Bond film ‘Casino Royale’). Actually billed as a comedy/fantasy film about vampires, and set in the early 1970s (with an appropriate soundtrack), it is difficult to know how this will be perceived by the general public, although it can probably best be described as a sort of updated Addams Family with attitude.
At Props & Frocks we are often asked for various Johnny Depp costumes from his varied stable of characters, and the Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman is also a popular choice (even if there is a new version in the offing in the latest Batman movie). Looking at the trailers, the costumes from this film are not likely to be particular trendsetters, but we may be pleasantly surprised. For those of you who are going to see it, we would love to hear your views on the film and the stars performances.
Yesterday, we were speaking about comic book hero fancy dress ideas and 1960s TV, so today we thought we would draw your attention to some of our most popular requests for costumes, namely those of the 20th century decades. Now you might think that the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s would be the costumes most people might want, but you might be surprised to learn that at certain times of the year, other decades feature heavily. For example, last month with the commemoration of the Sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, the requests for Edwardian and 20th century Georgian outfits were quite prolific.
Similarly, this month we have the anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) day on 8th May, which of course took place in 1945. With many 1940s events scheduled around the country, demand is set to be quite high, particularly for uniforms of the period. Here at Props & Frocks we not only have some great costumes, but we also provide lots of back-up material, not only in these blogs, but also in the form of newsletters, costume and party ideas. So, if you want additional information on any twentieth century decades, particularly if you are holding a decades party, why not get in touch?
Regular readers of these blogs will know that today is known in some quarters as Star Wars day, (May the fourth be with you). However, for this year it is another film that has been taking centre stage over the past week or so; The Avengers (but not as you know them). Actually, like ‘Pirates; An Adventure with Scientists’ last month, the name has been changed (this time in the UK) to ‘Avengers Assemble’. This is so that people do not confuse the film with the much-loved TV series of the 1960s, featuring Patrick McNee as John Steed, with arguably his most famous assistant being Diana Rigg, as Emma Peel. An attempt to bring these particular Avengers to a movie screen in 1997 (with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as Steed and Peel and Sean Connery as a baddie) was not a great success. But we digress..
Avengers Assemble actually brings together a number of superheroes from the Marvel comics to save the world, including Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johanssen).. The latter’s costume has a nod towards the black catsuit of other comic-book female characters such as the original Catwoman (and, by all accounts, the newer Ann Hathaway version in the new Batman ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ film), Batgirl and Storm from the X-Men. It is also reminiscent of Diana Rigg in the 1960s Avengers and is becoming very much the ‘look’ of the season for action females.
Our mentioning of Las Vegas yesterday in connection with Elvis leads us to remind you just how versatile a Las Vegas fancy dress theme can be. On the face of it, the theme might seem to be all about gangsters, gamblers and showgirls. However, as the famous casinos are located within themed ‘resorts’, there is a lot more scope than you might realise: For instance, to save people the bother of having to travel the world, there are microcosmic versions of Paris, New York and Venice on the famous Vegas strip. There are also resorts based on Treasure Island, Circus and, of course, the Wild West (Las Vegas -‘The Meadows’- grew out of a frontier town). Given the number of other specialist hotels (such as the Vegas Hard Rock Hotel which houses many rock & pop artefacts), there are few costumes which cannot be found a place within the theme. Incidentally, an inhabitant of Vegas is known as a Las Vegan (or just Vegan), which is appropriate for a place that can make you feel like you are on a different planet.
A great party theme to have some gambling tables as additional entertainment.
Gangster costumes – 1947 – 1963 Las Vegas became a hotbed for organised crime
Las Vegas Casinos – use their theme to give you costume inspiration
The Rio - Brazilian Carnival & Mardi Gras theme
Excalibur – Medieval banquet served by your own wench. Jousting entertainment
Marina – features a huge lion enclosure
Treasure Island – Pirate Theme & Cirque de Soleil
Luxor – Pyramid shaped casino – Egyptian theme
New York-New York – Master of Ceremonies is a drag queen, also another home for Cirque de Soleil
Mandalay Bay – South East Asia theme – Current show is The Lion King, Michael Jackson – The Immortal World tour is a tribute show performed by Cirque de Soleil. It was also host to the Miss Universe contest 2010
fancy dress theme.
