North of the (Scottish) border today, or more specifically tonight, the life and works of Scotland’s greatest poet Robert ‘Robbie’ Burns are celebrated. A traditional meal or ‘Supper’ usually involving “Haggis wi bashit neeps an’ champit tatties” (Mashed turnip or swede and mashed potatoes) followed by Clootie Dumplin and Bannocks (oatcakes) ‘n Cheese is usually accompanied with some best quality whisky. Of course the Haggis is the centrepiece, being piped in and addressed prior to the start of the meal.
Whilst the Haggis, bagpipes, etc might be a acquired taste for some, today is at least a chance to celebrate Great Scots (Burns? Scottie of Star Trek? Billy Connolly?) and this might involve some element of tartan (which the Americans call ‘plaid’ because it’s Gaelic for ‘blanket’ for which the multicoloured cloth was originally used) and perhaps a sporran: Obviously a ‘McChap’ needs somewhere to put his essentials when wearing what is effectively a skirt with attitude. Originally the sporran was a simple drawstring bag but it evolved into something of a decorative (and decorated) accessory, typically made of badger or goatskin, to dangle impressively at the front of the kilt. Whatever your take on the celebrations, pop along to us here at Props & Frocks and we will do our best to kilt you out!
Here are some famous Scots you may like to base your costume on:
JM Barrie – author of Peter Pan – wear a Victorian mens costume, or dress up as a character from Peter Pan
Alexander Graham Bell – again another Victorian costume, ideal if you can find an old fashioned telephone as well!
Robert Burns – Wear a Regency Style (Mr Darcy) costume
Lord Byron, as Robert Burns
Charles I & II – Cavalier style costume
Sir Sean Connery – wear a dinner suit for 007
Billy Connolly – shaggy brown hair and a dyed goatee beard
David I – Knight costume
Sir Alex Ferguson
Alexander Fleming
William Gladstone – Victorian Costume
James I – VI – kings of Scotland (James VI first King of Scotland & England)
Captain William Kidd – famous pirate – wear a pirate costume
With it being ‘Burns Night’ we had to have a Scottish fancy dress theme today. It’s not just the Scots who celebrate the birth of the legendary poet Robert ‘Robbie’ Burns, we have found this night increasingly celebrated throughout the UK, but for those who are not aiming to sit down with Haggis, neaps, and a good Malt Whisky, what other reasons are there to celebrate today? And, even if you do
If you are having a general Scottish themed party today, take a look at our other blog which has loads of great costume ideas for famous Scots. If you are not planning on dressing up, why not just wear a fun Tam O’Shanter Hat?
Well, singer Alicia Keys celebrates her 30th birthday today, or does she? Most sources say she was born in 1981, although the Internet Movie Database has it down as 1980. Whatever the date, we thought it was a good enough reason to put forward a popstars theme as our party idea for today, especially as yesterday we were concentrating on the eighties.
Now the first question of course, is how do you epitomise Alicia Keys? The answer is with difficulty, unless you happen to look like her (and even then, as so many stars do these days, she has a habit of displaying several ‘looks’ within a given video). Unlike some other popstars, there is not a definitive look and this is a problem that we quite often have to overcome here at Props n Frocks. Sometimes people bring in photographs of a particular star and expect us to have the exact costume. Now we are always up for a challenge, but some requests may stretch us too far. So before you get your heart set on a particular look, why not find out what we can do? After all there are countless popstars out there, some modern, others retro, and some you might be too young to remember. Our costumes include classic artists such as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly through to Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga.
Today, we celebrate ‘All things Scottish’ with a fancy dress party…
Let’s head north of the border and dust off our kilts and tam o’shanters (that’s hats to some of us) and celebrate all things Scottish. This is in honour of the patron saint of Scotland, St. Andrew whose Feast Day it is today. In naming all things Scottish, Whisky would probably be near the top, but has limitations (especially after several wee drams!). It might be better to concentrate on other aspects, such as one of the many famous Scottish men and women (remembering that Robert ‘Robbie’ Burns has his own celebratory day in January) or one of the unique foods such as Haggis or shortbread (as we have not come across costumes for these, they might be best put on the food list). Alternatively any outfit featuring tartan, the multicoloured banded fabric, which the Americans call plaid (although a plaid in Scotland is a blanket or shawl).
So what famous Scotts have there been to get some costume inspiration from? The list below gives you some ideas, although, we do grant that it may be difficult to get costumes for all, but we know that you readers are very clever at putting costumes together.
JM Barrie – author of Peter Pan – wear a Victorian mens costume, or dress up as a character from Peter Pan
Alexander Graham Bell – again another Victorian costume, ideal if you can find an old fashioned telephone as well!
Robert Burns – Wear a Regency Style (Mr Darcy) costume
Lord Byron, as Robert Burns
Charles I & II – Cavalier style costume
Sir Sean Connery – wear a dinner suit for 007
Billy Connolly – shaggy brown hair and a dyed goatee beard
David I – Knight costume
Sir Alex Ferguson
Alexander Fleming
William Gladstone – Victorian Costume
James I – VI – kings of Scotland (James VI first King of Scotland & England)
Captain William Kidd – famous pirate – wear a pirate costume
Let’s head north of the border and dust off our kilts and tam o’shanters (that’s hats to some of us) and celebrate all things Scottish. This is in honour of the patron saint of Scotland, St. Andrew whose Feast Day it is today. In naming all things Scottish, Whisky would probably be near the top, but has limitations (especially after several wee drams!). It might be better to concentrate on other aspects, such as one of the many famous Scottish men and women (remembering that Robert ‘Robbie’ Burns has his own celebratory day in January) or one of the unique foods such as Haggis or shortbread (as we have not come across costumes for these, they might be best put on the food list). Alternatively any outfit featuring tartan, the multicoloured banded fabric, which the Americans call plaid (although a plaid in Scotland is a blanket or shawl). 
