Welovefancydress's Blog

You all toyed with us… and didn’t we just love it

welovefancydress — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:31:52 +0000

When cowboys, lego pieces and rubix cubes come together in darkened townhouse off the Tottenham Park Road it’s definitely time to play. We had scrabble and slinkys and dominos and dolls, all there to celebrate the wonderful Pollocks Toy Museum in it’s darkened glory.

Some of the reported liasons were particularly exciting – we can’t wait to see the product of the lovechild of a toy soldier ( typical) and an airfix model!

The tin soldier band whistled, strummed and banged their way through the night and the toys all responded from the dignified ( the old german doll in the attic was seen gently swaying) to the fired up ( the rocking horse claimed he hadn’t rocked so hard since ’69 ( that’s 1769)).

All the prancing and dancing and drinking and slinking raised a good amount for the museum and we at www.welovefancydress.com were thrilled to have you all. Here’s to next year! ( We heard it might be in a lingerie factory…)

Scarlet O Hara Please Click Here

welovefancydress — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:32:19 +0000

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5674711

There is a marvelous lady on Etsy who runs a shop called Spooky Kitten selling the kind of sensational period costume you would sell your granny for. Sorry gran.

Police in Haverfordwest are seeking Darth Vader, Bananaman, James Bond and a female Manchester United player, following an incident of damage in Haverfordwest’s HSBC bank.

welovefancydress — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:16:45 +0000

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CCTV cameras captured the four fancy dress revellers messing about with a football in the foyer of Haverfordwest’s HSBC branch over the weekend. During the kick about lighting in the foyer of the bank was damaged. Analysis of the bank’s CCTV cameras revealed that the damage had in fact been caused by three men and a woman, all in costume, and a football.

Anybody who has any information about the incident, is asked to contact PC 626 Davies at Haverfordwest police station on 0845 330 2000.

http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/4207181.Police_seek_Darth_Vader__Bananaman__James_Bond_and_footie_star/

“Images and text courtesy of A. Jarvis, P. Raine ‘Fancy Dress’, Shire Publications.”

welovefancydress — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:11:25 +0000

During the 1820s and 1830s, costumes depicting popular characters of romantic poetry and fiction were all the rage. Fanciful representations of ‘foreign peoples’ were also popular, and few were the Fancy Dress parties that didn’t have their Circassian slave or Great Turk. Queen Victoria herself was quite fond of fancy dress and her personal interest in British history and desire for authenticity resulted in the popularity of historical characters and historical themes for Fancy Dress balls during much of the 19th century. By the mid nineteenth century, fancy dress parties were held for almost any occasion, both private and public. The opening of a new bridge; a civic holiday; a daughter’s coming out – Fancy Dress was the theme of choice. The majority of costumes continued to be based upon historical styles, which were thought to be in better taste than exotic or humorous ones. The period now most favored was the eighteenth century, although costumes taken from literature such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet or characters from Dickens novels or Tennyson’s poems made their appearance. Many young ladies chose to go dressed as peasant girls ‘from countries where the poor dress picturesquely’, as such costumes could be colorful and piquant, offering excellent opportunities for displaying their charms. Another popular choice for ladies at the fancy dress ball, and a type that had appeared only rarely before, was the emblematic or allegorical costume. At one event no less than twenty-two ladies chose to go dressed as Night, and in addition, ‘Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, Snow, The Last Rose of Summer, Morning, Undine, Harvest, Ceres – the possibilities were only limited by the imagination of the designer. Ladies AllegoricalAllegorical costumes, which enjoyed quite a vogue during the 1860s were often nothing more than a few stars or flowers sprinkled upon an evening dress and given an exalted name, costume was also often used as an excuse to expose more than merely a lady’s cleverness and many were the ankles that saw the light of day during a fancy dress ball!

From the V&A… ( our party will be a bit like this I expect)

welovefancydress — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:04:25 +0000

In 1903, Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra organised a special fancy dress ball. They invited the aristocracy to attend in Russian dress of the 17th century, prompting renewed interest in Russian history and traditional garments.

The guests commissioned their costumes from important tailoring and dressmaking workshops in Moscow and St Petersburg, especially from the studios of St Petersburg’s imperial theatres. The imperial family employed the director of the imperial Hermitage and former director of the imperial theatres to design their costumes.

The Russian ball was so exclusive and impressive an event that many remembered it as the last ball in Russia’s history. One commentator described it as a true fairytale, with a ‘profusion of traditional national costumes, richly decorated with rare furs, magnificent diamonds, pearls and semi-precious stones, most in their original settings. The family jewels were out in an abundance that exceeded all expectations.’

welovefancydress — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:20:21 +0000

Tomato… Tomato ( A Cautionary Tale)

welovefancydress — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:58:37 +0000

An English girl, moved to New York and, soon after arriving, romantically acquired a local boyfriend. Shortly after that they were both invited to a party. It would be, she was told, fancy-dress. After many sleepless hours, She decided on witty outfits for herself and the boyfriend and they turned up resplendent and a little sweaty as a pair of tomatoes. She was a tomato, he a tomato. They were shown into the grand residence and waddled into a room full of Americans wearing black-tie, cocktail frocks, and diamonds. The English girl had misunderstood. “Fancy-dress” had meant dress fancy.

Wall Street Crash!

welovefancydress — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:54:51 +0000

Obama loves fancy dress!

welovefancydress — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:38:23 +0000

Welovefancydress ‘s blog inauguration coincides with that of the new leader of the free world. No coincidence.

We are having cheese burgers to celebrate.