What's in a theme?

In this day and age there is one social phenomenon that cannot be avoided: a themed party.

What’s not to love about a themed party? A themed party is like playing dress-ups when you were a kid, except your mum doesn’t have vito power over your final outfit choice. Also, now you are of drinking age, it is much easier to ‘get in to character’ (or at least to forget who you are for one night).

Like with any good thing (ice cream, a holiday, a first kiss) the anticipation is what makes themed parties extra special.  Good outfits need time to prepare, so the lead up to a themed event can be an exciting time – especially the obligatory trip to Savers (or Opportunity/ 2^nd Shop). Then all is revealed on the night of the party itself, where you get to check out what people are wearing and see the effort they’ve put into their costume.

When hosting, themes are a must in my book, especially if the party is just a regular ‘house party’ of the ‘no particular occasion’ variety. Establishing a theme helps you set the tone of the event, and frames costumes and decorations. In the past three years alone I have thrown or co-hosted the following themed parties:

Blue Train - complete with Thomas the tank engine cups

Halloween – a broad brush costume theme, where people came dressed as scary things or just random things. For this particular occasion I chose to wear a Christmas Pudding outfit. Unfortunately the costume hire place had misplaced the custard neck decoration. This resulted in me looking less like a pudding, and more of a giant poo.

Mad Hatters Tea Party – I aimed for the queen of hearts but ended up looking a bit like a German beer wench. The costume might have been a size too small...

Onesie Just for Funsie – a good excuse to wear something I would never have the guts to wear in public.

Mathletes vs Athletes – had lots of fun painting a black eye on my face.

Mad Men – This was especially fun to decorate. We busted out the cocktail fountains, big boss lolly cigars and fads and had episodes of the tv show playing in the background.

Even my 21^st birthday was black-tie ‘with a touch of hawaii’. Although I have to admit that was more than three years ago.

Stuck for ideas for a themed party and not happy with one of the above? Don’t know why you would be as they were all great ideas...but here are some others I’ve attended in the past:

Politically incorrect (I wore a Gadafi T-shirt), famous couples (I was one half of the Julia/Rudd coupling), glapron (aka glamour apron), traffic light party (where going as an orange ‘just to be social’ is a sure way to get into an argument with your boyfriend, trust me, I learned the hard way). A Disney party, where I dressed as Princess Jasmine so I could wear pyjama pants. Other themed parties attended in the past, 20s, 60s, 70s, 80s (been to a few of these. My favourite outfit was a satin pink puffy dress with gigantic sleeves). Rock, Gangsta, crazy hats, Doctors and Nurses, German themed, Best of Britian, Olympics, When I grow up, Fluro, Nautical, Mafia, Wild Wigs, Jane Austen tea party, Under the Sea, Pirates of the Caribbean...

Impressed with my themed party creds? I certainly feel like I’ve now seen it all. But that is the great thing about a theme – you are only limited by your imagination, so the possibilities are endless.

Sadly however, it is inevitable that there will be a party guest that ‘forgets’. Not embracing a theme is just plain laziness in my opinion.  Don’t be a party pooper. If you are invited to a theme party, appreciate the effort your host has gone to and get dressed up!