Today, we celebrate The Best Of British as our fancy dress theme. The patriotic elements of this month are coming to a climax. Although we are in the middle of the Easter weekend, today is also St George’s Day, the Patron Saint of England, and the anniversaries of the birth (1564) of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest Englishmen, and of the coronation of Charles II in 1616. The latter event brought about the restoration of the British monarchy. We are also less than a week from the Wedding, so this is a great time for planning your Best of British event or putting the final touches in place for next week’s celebrations.
Us Brits are also know for being a bit eccentric, just look at our traditional pantomimes, so this is also a great costume choice for today. Morris Dancers are also quintessentially British, so can give other potential costume avenues.
Take a look at some of our Great Britains’ Costume Ideas (not a complete list, but we have given you a wide selection for you to start putting your own thinking caps on…)
Today, as it is a traditional part of Christmas, we are suggessting a Pantomime fancy dress theme as people recover from the excesses
Use as a Genie Costume For Aladdin
of yesterday. Traditionally, this used to commence on December 26th and its roots can be traced back to the Italian Commedia dell’arte, with ‘Harlequin Executed’ being the first pantomime in the UK, back in 1717. In modern times, the pantomime season has extended itself, with many starting way before the Christmas festivities and going on well into the first few weeks of the New Year. Nowadays, pantomimes are based on the traditional fairy stories of childhood. These are kept current by developing storylines and ad-libs (oh no they don’t, oh yes they do!) which reflect current popular culture. A good Panto also has loads of audience participation, with chants of ‘behind you’ and ‘Booing’ when the villain comes onto the stage. A real feel good factor as good also wins over evil ‘hooray’.
Though there are different fairy tales, most pantomimes have various essential characters which feature in many, if not all performances. From the Pantomime Dame, where males relish the chance to dress up as females, with over the top bright, colourful, ‘loud’ dresses, wigs, make-up and appropriate accessories such as jumbo eyelashes, to the Principal Boy, which is often played by a girl. At Props n Frocks we have costumes for most pantomimes, including Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Dick Whittington and Jack and the Beanstalk. Not only do we stock the major characters, but we also have costumes for the chorus, from fairies, to villagers and everything in between. Take a look at our large range of Fairytale costumes
Here are some Pantomime costume suggestions, but there are so many more, and there is something to suit all sizes and budgets.
Snow White - Other charactersinclude; Wicked Queen (use a witch costume), Prince Charming and who can forget the seven dwarfs?
Cinderella – a whole host of costumes available here from Ugly Sister costumes, to rats, Fairy Godmother & Prince Charming outfits and don’t forget poor Cinders and Cinderella ballgowns.
Aladdin – another fantastic story with a large range of characters to help you to choose your costume. Aladdin, Widow Twanky, Jafar, the baddie, Jasmine (wear a belly dancer costume) and of course, the genie. There are also roles for a parrot and monkey.
Peter Pan – Yet another great story, full of terrific characters that you can dress up as. Firstly, we have Peter Pan, a greeen Elf costume will suffice as will some Robin Hood costumes. Captain Hook, Peter Pan’s arch enemy. You will need to wear a pirate captain costume and of course, you must wear a hook. Smee, Hook’s second in command. You will need to wear a standard pirate costume for this character (as played by Bob Hoskins). Wendy wears an old fashioned white nightgown and the lost boys wear medieval peasant style clothing. Green fairy costumes are available to purchase for Tinker Bell. Other characters include: Indians and mermaids.
Alice in Wonderland, choose from Alice herself, The Queen of Hearts, The Mad Hatter or the white Rabbit
Beauty & the Beast. You may need to wear a werewolf mask to get the beast effect. Beauty wears a yellow Victorian style dress. A lot of the characters (Wardrobe, light, tea pot) can be quite difficult to put together unless you are very talented and artistic.
Puss in Boots. We stock a large range of cat masks and accessories as well as over boots, hats and swords.
Jack & the Beanstalk – Jack and his mother wear peasant costumes. You may need a very tall friend to go as the giant
coming to a climax. Although we are in the middle of the Easter weekend, today is also St George’s Day, the Patron Saint of England, and the anniversaries of the birth (1564) of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest Englishmen, and of the coronation of Charles II in 1616. The latter event brought about the restoration of the British monarchy. We are also less than a week from the Wedding, so this is a great time for planning your Best of British event or putting the final touches in place for next week’s celebrations.
