Why do people have costume parties? Why are costume parties so popular?
Well, the best reason of all time has to be the following statement:
Costume parties are fun!
You know how travelling expands your mind? You are exposed to things you hadn’t considered before. You integrate and file newly discovered cultural norms, behaviours, beliefs, into your understanding of life. With any luck your perception becomes richer, you return home with an updated brain, your experience of life alters too, hopefully for the better.
A good costume party is like travelling to another world. The landscape is foreign and the people are different here!
[box]In the environment of a costume party you are no longer defined by your work, your relatives, your culture or heritage, even your upbringing. You are, quite simply put, defined by your imagination, if you let it. And you are free for 2 hours or more to explore that.[/box]
Sometimes it takes a while to recognise your friends. Things are not always as they seem, the whole experience is thought provoking and mentally stimulating.
You can recreate yourself. You can discover new ways of being for yourself. You notice how people respond to you differently, and therefore your experience of yourself is also different.
If the idea scares you, just remember, everybody else is scared too, that’s what makes it so thrilling! Challenge yourself! Challenge your friends, promote yourself as the person you’ve always wanted to be! Be it Buffy the vampire slayer, or Little Red Riding Hood, Austin Powers or Captain Jack Sparrow.
Think about all the movies you’ve been moved by, any fairytale or TV show you’ve enjoyed. Pick a character you admire or enjoy, and impersonate them. Take on their character, their mannerisms, their posture. Think about the type of person, or character they are and be that for a night!
Be thrilled by your own daring! Dare to be a cowboy for one night, or a french maid, or a space-age time traveller, or a character from your favourite TV show.
If you are uncomfortable putting so much attention on yourself and your appearance, then create a character with the intention of adding to the atmosphere your host is creating and contribute to the experience of others.
You don’t always have to be sexy, or stylish, or super cool, pick a dorky character for once and have fun being deliberately dorky for the night!
It’s all creative and it’s all good exercise for your mind.
There’s something silly about adults delving into the world of make believe, which is what makes it so funny.
Sometimes it’s surprising to see how your friends have used their imagination. “John! In a million years I’d never expect you to be such a great Ali G!”
Your experience of them changes. Maybe even your connection deepens. Years on you’ll always have that time..”Remember that party, when you cross dressed as Dolly Parton, and you thought you were really popular with the women, but they were just so comfortable to dance with you because they didn’t think you’d get the wrong idea and try to ‘hit on’ them! Hahahaha!”
[box]But seriously, playing dress ups and practicing different ways of being by creating characters to play for a night is a healthy way to keep the creative mind exercised, and your imagination – whether you’re aware of it or not – is what has you define the world and create your life.[/box]
And besides, no matter what you choose to wear, you can still always influence another’s impression of you with the skill of conversation.
(If your conversation skills worry you, then discover some interesting authors, or publications and read more, reading also expands your mind)
As far as I’m concerned, costume parties are a way of time and space travel with your friends, or work colleagues.
Costume parties exercise your imagination, they bust you out of your complacent norms, they challenge, develop and give you an opportunity to exercise creatively in a way we don’t normally get to play with.
Costumes don’t have to be expensive, i’ve seen some amazing home made costumes using found items around the home!
[box]If you are time poor, then consult an expert. scroll down to contact Agent Costume with your enquiry[/box]
Find someone who knows how to have the most effective conversation with you to discover what you’ll enjoy wearing, and how to link it to the theme.
Be intentional about your appearance.
So what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and give us a call. Agent Costume may already have what you are looking for!
And if we don’t, we can make it, provided you have the time and the resource.
[box type=”tick” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Are you in need of a fancy dress costume? Contact Agent Costume below for ideas and/or a quote[/box]