As 2012 has now dawned bright with promise for over 24 hours, with the benefit of an extra day at the end of February to help us squeeze in all we want to do, we can get back to fancy dress business.  As regular readers will already know, we try and give you possible costume themes based on historical events for certain days, film releases, and major events that are happening. This year is going to be very busy…

Somewhere in between the Dickens bicentennial, the Titanic centenary, Her Majesty’s Jubilee and the Olympic Games there may be other chances to dress-up and we at Props & Frocks are here to help. Looking at early trends, we touted Fairy Tales as a theme last year because of the Royal Wedding, and the theme is set to get bigger this year: Not necessarily the tales with which you are familiar, of course, but some of those ‘reimaginings’. For a start we have two new versions of Snow White – one, ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, featuring Kristen Stewart (fresh from her ‘Twilight’ efforts) about SW and the huntsman who was supposed to be killing her – we don’t think there is too much of a plot spoiler there – and the other (which will actually be the first to the cinemas) ‘Mirror, Mirror’ a somewhat fascinating technicolour costume fantasy on the story, with Julia Roberts playing the jealous Wicked Queen – she’s taking this Pretty Woman thing far too seriously! Elsewhere we can look forward to ‘Hansel & Gretel – Witch-hunters’ – the title’s fairly self explanatory, plus a new version of Jack and the Beanstalk (and you thought panto season only happened at Christmas?). Moving out of fairy-tale country, we will just mention the titles of two other potential movies, based on trends ‘rising’ in their own unique ways last year, and leave things to your imagination (although we’ll doubtless be returning to them nearer the time): ‘Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’. Don’t have nightmares!