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‘Costumes’ Category

  1. All change

    January 3, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    You may notice that ye olde blog looks a little different. I thought it was time for a little update and change of colour, plus changing to a theme that gives me a little more breathing space on the blog side of the panel compared to the last one. You like?

    According to Google Analytics, someone came to my website last month using possibly the most amusing phrase ever as a search term. “how to touch a girls butt without her finding out while she is awaket”. Brilliant. Certainly tickled me. The answer is here for you kiddo: don’t. You’ll get the most amazing slap if you do.

    And finally, I did say that I would make a hat to go with the washing-up themed pantomime dame dress below. That I did. Using baubles hotglued to a base and kept on with elastic, it’s meant to look like washing up bubbles. Unfortunately, given the rigorous nature of the dance routine involved, the hat had to be retired to the dressing room. Mind you, it still looked bloody good up to that point!


  2. Costumes: Television

    February 22, 2010 by Amy Hansford

    One of the widest themes around – trust me! I will be starting small with this post and adding to it as we go, or rather, as I remember. Do add your own ideas! And remember, we already have the Kids TV section so no talk of Rainbow or Fraggle Rock here.

    Ashes to Ashes – Gene Hunt, Alex Drake
    Doctor Who
    – any of the Doctors, Ace, Rose, Martha, Cyberman, Dalek, Captain Jack
    Family GuyPeter, Lois, Chris, Meg, Stewie, Brian, Quagmire, Cleveland and all the rest
    FireflyCaptain Mal, Zoe, Wash, Inara, Jayne, Kaylee, Simon, River, Shepherd
    FuturamaFry, Leela, Bender, Hermes, Dr Zoidberg, the Professor, Amy, Zapp Branigan
    Life on Mars – Gene Hunt, Sam Tyler
    Red Dwarf – Lister, Arnold Rimmer, Ace Rimmer, Kryten, Cat, Dwayne Dibley, Kochanski, Mr Flibble, Holly
    The SimpsonsHomer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Flanders, Nelson and all the rest
    South Park – Cartman, Kenny, Kyle, Stan and the rest
    Top Gear – if you can go as all three (plus the Stig) you’re on to a winner *new*


  3. Costumes: Pubs

    December 21, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    This year, one of the New Year party invites came with a theme I’d not experienced before; Pub Names. Fairly obvious when you think about it, but still one I’d not given much thought to. I’ve pretty much figured out what I’m going as now, but for those of you in my earlier predicament, here’s a handy list of ideal pub names.

    All Bar One – paint every number over your top over and over again, except the number 1
    Anchor
    Bat and Ball
    The Black Cap
    The Blind Beggar – host to 10,000 London cabbies, all seemingly present at the Kray shoot out.
    Boathouse
    Bricklayer’s Arms – brickie
    The Bright Star
    The Butcher
    The Castle
    Cat and Fiddle
    Charlie Brown’s
    The Chequers – black and white dress
    Cock and Bull – oh, behave.
    The Compasses
    Cricketers
    Cross Keys
    The Crown – Beefeater
    The Devil’s Punchbowl
    Dirty Dick’s – Dick Turpin
    Dog and Bear
    Dog and Duck
    The English Rose
    The Fisherman’s Arms
    Flame – gay pub in Luton
    The Fox
    Fox and Hounds
    George and the Dragon – think Saint George in his knight phase
    The Globe
    The Grapes
    Green Man – meant to be a spirit of the woods; with modernisation, now the Green Giant who sells sweetcorn
    The Halfway House
    The Highwayman – Dick Turpin
    Hog’s Head
    Hope and Anchor
    The Horseshoe
    Hungry Horse
    The Jolly Sailor
    King’s Arms/Head – choose a king
    Leaky Cauldron
    Lord Nelson
    Man in the Moon – think the Mighty Boosh
    Nag’s Head
    The Phoenix
    Pig and Whistle
    Pink Punters
    Prince of Wales
    The Queen Vic – Queen Victoria
    Queen’s Arms/Head – choose a queen
    The Railway Tavern
    Red Dragon
    Red Lion
    Robin Hood
    Rose and Crown
    Sherlock Holmes – the famous detective
    Slug and Lettuce
    The Smugglers
    Three Broomsticks
    Three Tuns
    Unicorn
    White Bear
    White Hart
    White Horse
    White Lion
    The Winchester – go as Shaun of the Dead
    The Woolpack – sheep


  4. Frank’s Green Gown

    August 20, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    The fabulous Phil Dunk over at the Timewarp forums has discovered this superb Frank surgeon gown. Notoriously difficult to find, this little beauty is pretty much perfect. Phil suggests that you may wish to snip off the elasticated wrists. Aside from that, this is an incredibly important find, given the difficulty people have had tracking them down. And at just over a tenner each, it’s worth getting a couple! Well done Phil!


  5. Costumes: World Book Day

    February 27, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    The time has rolled around once again for another year celebrating World Book Day and Book Week. A chance for schools to celebrate creativity, make-believe and fun! People get into a right old tiz trying to find a costumes for a dressing up day like this. When working in As If By Magic, we would always advise a good rummage through the costumes to find something you like, then we’d all think up books to match it. So if you find yourself in a bind, try that!

    Here’s a mix of characters and titles that might spark some ideas.

    Aladdin – Traditional (Aladdin, the Princess, Genie)
    Alice In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (Alice, Mad Hatter, Tweedledum/Tweedledee, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, Cheshire Cat)
    Aliens Love Underpants – an alien in some underpants, obviously! **new!**
    Angelina Ballerina – Helen Craig and Katherine Holabird
    Asterix – Asterix, Obelisk **new!**
    The BFG – Roald Dahl (a giant or Sophie? or even The Queen?)
    Bob the Builder
    The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne (thanks Beccy!)
    Burglar Bill – Allan Ahlberg
    The Cat In the Hat – The Cat, the children, Thing 1, Thing 2
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl (Charlie, Willy Wonka, Grandpa or an Oompa Loompa?)
    Dictionary – wear all one colour and stick words/definitions over yourself?
    Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
    Funny Bones
    Gansta Granny –
    Granny! 
    Goldilocks –
     Goldie, a bear
    The Gruffalo – The Gruffalo, his child, the fox, the owl, the snake, the mouse, the BIG bad mouse! **new!**
    Harry Potter and the … – Harry, Hermione, Ron, Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Professor Lupin
    His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman (Take a cuddly toy animal as your Daemon)
    Horrid Henry – Francesca Simon
    Jack and the Beanstalk – Jack, Daisy the cow, the Giant, the beanstalk itself
    James and the Giant Peach – James, the Peach, the Centipede and numerous others
    The Jolly Postman – Allen Ahlberg (Why not go as someone on his round?)
    The Jungle BookRudyard Kipling
    The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - one of the children, Aslan, the White Queen, Mr Tumnus
    Little Miss… – Sunshine, Naughty, Trouble, Chatterbox
    Little Red Riding Hood – Traditional. (Little Red, the Wolf, or Grandma?)
    Lord of the Rings – JR Tolkien (Where to start! Frodo, Bilbo, Legolas, Gollum, Gandalf)
    Mary Poppins – Mary herself, Jane, Michael, Burt the Chimney Sweep
    Meg and Mog – Helen Nicoll
    Mr Men – Happy, Tickle, Topsy Turvy, Tall, Loud
    Noddy – Enid Blyton (Noddy, Big Ears)
    Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens (Oliver, Nancy, Fagin, the Artful Dodger)
    Percy the Park Keeper – Nick Butterworth (thanks Sarah!)
    Peter Pan – JM Barrie (Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, Smee, Tinkerbell)
    Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
    Pinocchio - Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket
    Pippi Longstocking
    Pocahontas
    Joseph Bruchac
    Puss In Boots – Traditional
    Robin Hood
    Room On The Broom – The Witch and the others!
    Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – Snow White, dwarf, wicked queen
    The Snow Dog - The Snowman, the boy, the dog
    The Snowman – The Snowman, the boy
    Spot – Eric Carle
    There’s a Viking In My Bed – Jeremy Strong
    Thomas the Tank Engine – The Fat Controller, plus cardboar dboxes to make yourself into an engine **new!**
    The Three Mustakeers – Alexandre Dumas
    Tin Tin – Herge
    Tracey Beaker – Jacqueline Wilson
    The Twits – Roald Dahl
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar – A caterpillar, a butterfly, a leaf, a piece of fruit, a piece of junk food!
    Twilight – Stephanie Meyer (Pale up, fang up and look a little off kilt!)
    Watership Down – Richard Adams (Here’s some inspiration!)
    Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (I saw the best Max costume from a paper-thin all in one boiler suit and some card claws and ears!)
    Where’s Wally – Martin Handford (Wally or Waldorf?)
    The Wind In the Willows – (Moley, Ratty, Badger, Mr Toad)?
    Winnie The Witch
    Where’s Wally 
    – not just Wally! There’s Waldo, and the Wizard and lots of other recurring characters!
    Winnie The Pooh – Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl and the rest!
    The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Professor Marvel, the Wicked Witch, Glinda the Good Witch
    101 Dalmations – Dodie Smith (Cruella, a dalmation)? **updated!**


  6. Costumes: Kids’ TV

    January 22, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    A good friend of mine needs a Kids’ TV themed costume for this weekend. Remembering that I’m a Londoner, these are all characters from UK based tv shows, old and new. It’s up to you how you interpret the costume; this is just a handy list of some notable mentions.

    Andy Pandy
    Animaniacs – Yakko, Wacko or Dot?
    Art Attack
    Astrix / Oblix
    Bagpuss
    Basil Brush
    Bertha
    Bill and Ben plus Little Weed
    Bugs Bunny
    Byker Grove
    Care Bears
    Chip and Dale? **new**
    Daffy Duck
    Dangermouse? **new**
    Dogtanian
    Duck Tales – Huey, Louis, Duey or Scroodge McDuck?? **new**
    Dungeons and Dragons? **new**
    Ed the Duck
    Elmer Fudd
    Fireman Sam
    Fraggle Rock
    Fun House contestant / Pat Sharp
    Gordon the Gopher
    Grange Hill pupil
    Grotbags
    He-Man / She-Ra
    Henry’s Cat? **new**
    In the Night Garden
    Inspector Gadget
    Knightmare (This would be my choice)
    Maid Marion / Sheriff of Nottingham
    Marvin the Martian
    Paddington Bear
    Penny Crayon
    Phantom Flan Flinger
    Pink Panther
    Pob
    Poddington Peas
    Pokemon (I didn’t want to include this but Alex said I had to)
    Postman Pat / Jess
    Rainbow Brite
    Rentaghost
    Rod Hull and Emu (get yer puppet for only ?20 in the shops!)
    Roland Rat
    Sesame Street – Yip Yip Yips, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie
    Shoe People
    Spit the Dog
    Spongebob Squarepants *new 22/1
    Taz the Tasmanian Devil
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    Teletubbies
    The Raccoons
    Thomas the Tank Engine
    Thunderbirds / Lady Penelope / Parker
    Timmy Mallett
    Tin Tin / Snowy
    Transformers? **new**
    Tweenies
    Wizbit
    Worzel Hummidge /Aunt Sally
    Yogi Bear


  7. Costumes: Pantomime characters

    January 1, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    The most popular costume idea request I get is for couple outfits. This is tricky as sometimes both people are up for it, and cometimes there’s one person who really just isn’t that keen on dressing up.

    The important thing is to dress up as much as you feel comfortable with. Going to a teddybear party? You can just wear some teddy ears, and maybe some mittens, and that’s enough. Or, you can go the whole hug, pad yourself out, do the face, teddy ears etc. You could even be really inventive, do all that, wear red shorts and tshirt with a brown vest, strap a tape player to your tummy and be Teddy Ruxpin. You will truly be the hero of the party. Inventiveness is far more excellent than a hired Pudsey Bear costume.

    However, I digress. Today, couple costumes for a pantomime themed party.

    Aladdin and Widow Twanky
    Aladdin and the Genie
    Aladdin and the Princess
    Buttons and Cinderella
    Cinderella and Prince Charming
    Cinderella and an Ugly Sister
    Cow/Horse combo
    Dick Whittington and his cat
    Dick Whittington and King Rat
    Hansel and Gretel
    Peter Pan and Hook
    Peter Pan and Wendy
    Princess and the Pea (a little abstract, but potentially quite funny)
    Puss In Boots and any other nursery rhyme character
    Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming
    Snow White and any dwarf
    Ugly Sisters

    The secret is that, ideally, one of you needs to be the lead character from the pantomime. The other person can be anyone else from the cast list, as the seed of recognition is planted once the onlooker has figured out the pantomime you’re from.

    And the beauty of this theme is that is doesn’t matter what gender is playing whom – it’s panto, darling!