Cool runnings costumes for hire!
In fact I just sent I one to Brisbane for this weekend, leaving 4, a complete bobsled team left to party on this weekend!

Made to fit 6 foot tall plus guys.
So get your mates together, call up and book them! Complete with totally blingin’ chunky gold chain first place medals.
Awesome!

Tell your friends.

www.hoopempire.com

Hooping is an all time fun craze for children’s birthday parties, Hen’s nights, and corporate events, adaptable to events for children and adults of all ages, and parties of all Themes.

Are you looking for the next fun thing for your gorgeous child’s next Birthday Party? Your next fun Co-orporate event?
What about your girlfriends Hen’s night entertainment? Get those hips moving with hypnotic circular motion, watch in amazement and join in under the experienced tutorage of BunnyHoopStar herself!

Sydney’s incomparable Hooping extraodinaire BunnyHoopStar is polished to WoW, Wonder, and physically engage your guests with colourful hooping antics, light and fire shows if appropriate.

A mesmerising show and guest participation can be designed to suit your requirements and space, so what are you waiting for?

Hoop Empire

Get your guests dressed up for circus, Wonderland, Disco themes, Cowboys and Indians, Space Age themes and more, and organise Hooping Star BunnyHoopStar to design a Hooping set to suit your theme.

Contact BunnyHoopStar directly for discussion and quote, and have her team contribute to a party that will be talked about for years to come:

BunnyHoopStar’s Hoop Empire

Hoopla!
Let the party begin!

www.hoopempire.com

www.hoopempire.com

www.hoopempire.com

www.hoopempire.com

www.hoopempire.com

What do I wear to a 1970′s fancy dress costume party?

The answer is: which ever style of the seventies which best resonates with you.

Ask yourself, do you want to be all glitz and glamour, or would you prefer a more toned down denim or leather casual look? Are you a Studio 54 sequins and satin lycra? or are you more of a hippy, peace signs and wooden beads? Are you more edgy punk? Are you a cowboy from a western film made in the Seventies, or a cowboy from the village people?

What are you going to feel comfortable in? What are other people going to be wearing? Would you like to push your boundaries and surprise your work colleagues with your imagination and outrageous daring? or would you prefer to walk the line and simply set the tone in a basic way, not too far from you current look?

Let’s take a look at some of the styles, movies, TV shows and fashion influences of the Seventies to get a better idea of what you like.

Genres:
Disco, Glam Rock, Pop, Blaxploitaion, Soul, Hippy, Funk, Progressive Rock, soft rock, Punk Rock

TV shows:
Charlies Angels, The Brady Bunch, The partridge Family, Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky and Hutch, Are you being served?, The Bionic woman, Dallas, Diff’rent strokes, Mork and Mindy, Six Million Dollar Man, The Sonny and Cher comedy hour, Fantasy Island, Good Times, Happy Days (although set in the 50′s), Wonder Woman, Hawaii Five-O, Mary Tyler Moore, MASH, Monkey Magic.

That seventies show,

Movies – made in or referencing the Seventies:
Xanadu, Star Wars, Austin Powers – Gold Member, The Rocky Horror Picture show, Grease (though it was set in the fifties), The Exorcist, Jaws, Superman, Logan’s Run, Apocalypse Now, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Blazing Saddles, Caberet, Dirty Harry, The Wiz – A Motown take on the Wizard of Oz, Rocky, The Godfather, The Jerk, King Kong, The lady in Red, Carrie, Clockwork Orange,

Music of the times- in no particular order:
Bee Gees, Blondie, Donna Summer, Jackson Five, Super Tramp, Queen, The Osmonds, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Joan Baez, The Village People, Ziggy Starudst, The Supremes, Simon and Garfunkle, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Olivia Newton John, Suzie Quatro, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, The Doors – Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Elton John, ABBA, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Gary Glitter, Cat Stevens, Elvis Presley, AC/DC, Sherbet, Dragon, Bob Marley, The Clash, Split Enz, Joy division

and there’s more….

Hairstyles:
Afro, Mullet, long with middle part

Pants: Bell bottoms, hot pants

Glam rock inspiration:
David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust, Roxy Music, Gary Glitter

Punk inspiration:
Sex pistols, Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren- fashion designers
Siouxsie and the Banshees

Glam rock lurex jumpsuits!

Blaxploitation movies – Shaft, Cleopatra jones, Foxy Brown, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,

Star spangled Glam Rock jumpsuit, seventies costume

Glam rock black sequin costume jumpsuit

1970's rock star and jumpsuit

Have you ever dreamt of flying in costume into the vast blue skies yonder?
Up Up and Awaaaaaayyyyyy!
Well now is your chance to make it real! (well, more real!)

Dress to theme, “Come Fly with Me” the song made famous by Frank Sinatra, pictures exotic far off places for dreamy lovers to visit and excite the senses.
Acapulco, Peru and Bombay specifically, but why not some tropical Hawaiian wonderland, or magical ice palaces with ski slopes, … or … another favourite holiday destination?

Come Fly with me! Jump on a plane and head to your favourite destination, or take to the skies yourself and get there by your own star power.

Who else flies?

• Angels
• Superheroes
• Fighter pilots
• Sky divers
• Birds
• Insects
• Monkey Magic on his pink cloud
• The Red Baron
• Apollo the winged god
• Witches on Brooms
• Pegusus
• Hippies get high
• Astronaughts fly
• Fly fishermen cast flies
• Rock Stars
• Celebrities
• Politicians
• Tourists
• Business travellers
• Trapeze artists
• Fairies
• Aliens
• Astro Boy
• Shuttle cocks!

There must be more.

We may have some of these, we may have parts of these, we may be able to make something up to add to something you’ve got already, or we can make you a full outfit!
Maybe you have your new idea that you need some help with.

So pick up the phone now and have a chat with a costume expert.
Call in for ideas, or make an appointment and get suited up and accessorised for your party.

Try some things on, and if you like it, book it for the night.
We’re open late some nights, and Saturdays too.
Appointments are flexible for those of you who work late.

Flight attendant in a suitcase costume

Flight attendant, Air stewardess costume

Super hero Acrobatic costume

Space age rock star costume

Robin Hood swings on vines and flies through the trees

Peter Pan costume

Tinkerbelle costume

Air hostess in suitcase

Hurrah!
Another LOST party to get your well heeled wild imagination striding confidently onto.

It’s a theme which needs some time to balance the elements just so, so that combined they teeter on the line which sits between the ridiculous and the sublime.

If you are a highly creative person then this is just the place for you to get your fix of amazing creative expression.
And if you don’t consider yourself to be highly creative but would like to step out of the ordinary, dare I say mundane, for moment, and practice “creative experience” then this is your opportunity to really let go and test your imagination.
There is no right or wrong.
There is only fun and more fun.

Quick! book a ticket if there are any left!

Find out more about LOST here: Lost on the Catwalk

I’ve got my hands full making outfits for this weekend and other projects, but I DO have a storage space FULL of amazing possibilities.

If you are in need of an amazing discounted, yet highly stylish amazing quality costume, then make a time in the evening this week to get styled, and get your catwalk on! YEAH!

Don’t miss out! Get yourself an outrageous catwalk worthy outfit together before Saturday

Glam Rock Costume hire!

We have two amazing Jumpsuits made to fit a big blokes.

And I mean 6’4″, or shorter and wider. The suit stretches up or sideways depending on who’s wearing it.

Come on all you Eastern Suburbs Rugby player sized blokes who can’t find outrageous cossies to fit your buff bods for your next 70′s, 80′s, Glam Rock, PoP star, Eurovision, Music, Myths and legends (Freddy Mercury) etc Costume party.
This is your answer.
We can add a cape if you like, headband, silver glove…
(I know it doesn’t look big, but believe me, it stretches)

Get some facepaint and get your Glam rock on, tonight!

Yeah.

Moulin Rouge Fancy Dress costume Party Theme.
Yes we Can Can!
Corsets, frills, feathers and lace.
Typically red and black seem to be the favoured costume colours of choice, but all that glitters, sparkles and marvels seem to be the go with this flavour.

Moulin Rouge feathers and gloves

Go wild, go over the top. The world is your stage, and you need to be seen all the way from the back of the theatre.

Hot Moulin Rouge costume

Limber up ladies, get those high kicks in before the floor fills up with other delicious creatures of the night and you find yourselves dancing way into the night and riding home on the shoulders of dawn.

Men, suit up. Look smart. Top hats and tails. Skinny waxed and curly moustaches. Pink cheeks and monocle. Polished Cane, polished shoes.
Whether you choose to take a vintage or modern angle, be sure to take care.
The ladies are worth it.

This is a night to shine, so polish up your dancing shoes, gather your most sparkly jewels, get your hair done, and shine shine shine on, you precious diamonds.

Question:
How much fun is a Bad Taste costume party?
Answer:
Heaps!

For a start, people can relax knowing they are not going to be judged for their fashion sense, or sense of “cool” and sophistication.

Some examples of people who may not warm to this theme would be:
1. Those who take themselves a bit too seriously and are afraid their idea of bad taste may be misconstrued.
2. They are afraid, that to meet people whilst dressed with bad taste would have their first impression count in this way.
3. Are afraid they’ll see their own style in someone else’s idea of bad taste.
4. They have a really awesome outfit they’ve just purchased and are dying to wear it instead.

I’ve got news for all of you.
1 & 2. It doesn’t matter what you wear, it’s who you are ultimately that leaves the impression.
3. You need to find out about it sooner rather than later.
4. If you’re one of those who has just found an awesome outfit you’re dying to wear to the next party, then wear it! Tweak the outfit, mismatch accessories and get it wrong, just for one night.

Now if you’re afraid of who you think you are, whether or not you can carry it off, or have an underlying subconscious fear that it doesn’t matter what you do you’ll get it wrong anyway, well, this is the one time you can and are in fact required to do so, so you’ll be fine.

If you are still convinced you wont get it right, then that’s a whole other kettle of fish, and you’ll have to work at reminding yourself you feel that way when it comes up so you can then remind yourself it’s not true, and life is actually fun! Just remember, there’s no point freaking out about what impression you’re going to leave when everybody else is too busy worrying about themselves anyway. The best way to get over this fear is to actually concentrate on other people, and get the focus off yourself. Ask them questions about their costume or consider how they may be feeling, rather than focusing on all the ways you could be looking stupid.

I mean, what if people laugh at you?

Well guess what, at this party they’re supposed to!

Other names for a similar theme could be:

• “Over the Top” or “OTT”
• “Fruit” – as in the youthful colourful fruit on Japanese streets
• “Fruit and Nuts”
• “Worst fashion sense”
• “Wrong”
• “Your worst fashion faux pas”

It’s your chance to really experiment. You can stylishly Glam it up to the max using the American TV series Dynasty as a reference aiming for big hair, equally big shoulder pads and masses of glitz. Other references for outlandish glamour could be Eurovision, and images of Royalty at special occasions.

Another way to bad taste it would be to wear things that are simply not flattering.
Break all the rules!

Go over board tacky, or overboard baggy. Wear too much make up, or forget to groom yourself.
Your outfit will say something like:
“I’m a clueless tart”
“I’m desperate for fame”
“I’m a nerd”
“I’m desperately looking for a man”
“I’m a spoilt slob”
‘I’m a spoilt princess”
“I don’t care about fashion as long as I’m comfortable”
“I’m not in the game of fashion conscious”
“I was never in the game in the first place”
“My mum buys my clothes”
“My Mum stopped buying my clothes 15 years ago and I still wear that style”
“i got dressed in the dark, and my mirror is broken”
“If I copy my favourite gangster you’ll think I’m awesome like I think he’s awesome and you’ll never see the real me who’s definitely not as cool”
“It’s important you view me as sensible and style is for silly people”
“I’m stuck in my Hey day and I can’t break free”
“I’m pretending I don’t care about my presentation while all the while comparing myself to everyone including you”
“I spent a fortune on myself and you wish you were me”
“If I were you I’d wish you were me”
“I wish I was you”
“I almost believe myself in this way, if i try hard enough you’ll believe it too”

Another way to express bad taste would be to pick a well known personality with questionable fashion sense, or social opinions and dress as them. Think carefully about this one as you don’t want to offend anybody. The aim of a good party is to keep things light hearted and fun.

The funniest bad taste outfits are the ones where people really do go to effort matching things just so, balancing everything so they look really unflattering, and wear it like they think they look awesome.
It helps to pick a character, define their hobbies and interests, and then go out to an op-shop and pick out the ultimate party outfit for them!

Cowboys and Indians Costumes, Wild West Fancy dress parties.

Saloon bar girls, Little House on the Prairie, Beverly Hillbillies, Zorro, Mexican Ponchos, South of the border, Frieda Carlo, Spanish influence with flamenco dancers and mariachis! Cactus, Dolly Parton, Pinatas! Donkeys, Maverick card players, … the list goes on

More in depth Cowboy ideas and references.

I often receive emails about custom making Super Hero costumes and prices.

There are similar costumes are available online, how ever, the quality is questionable, and there doesn’t seem to be any option other than super cheap and super cheap.
Now between the Super cheap and the super cheap, the only other options are “don’t bother”, “make it yourself”, and my personal favourite “commission a professional!”

TaDah!
That’s where I come in.

What you don’t see on line when ordering the cheapest available option, is the laddering of the fabric and general wear and tear after even one wear.

Or the flimsy ties that fasten the costume at the back, meaning you spend the whole night with your back to the wall, waving and smiling as if you don’t care, surreptitiously picking the wedgie out of your backside because size “L” ain’t all that large for some. Especially for some of our Eastern Suburbs rugby player sized blokes.

And let’s not get into the whole sweat shop below minimum wage (thats being generous) mass produced production line. I mean, we can go there, but let’s not today.

And all that’s fine if all you want is a cheap joke amongst friends. But really, how do you get into character or experience what it might be like to really be something of that character if all your wobbly bits and hairy back are exposed through flimsy fabrics and holes between the fastening ties?
Well?

There are so many layers to wearing costume, other than the actual layers of the costume itself.
There are martial arts practices that recognise the importance of preparation. Winding the sash around and around is like a meditation that prepares the wearer for the role they are about to take on, and all the responsibilities that come with it. Tying the knot in a specific way, the way the hands move with poetic economy are all part of the preparation. Concentration, presence of mind, focused intention.
All things a cheaply considered garment will not afford you.

So, back to the enquirer with whom this story begins. With a little negotiation and discussion about options, an agreement was reached, and I began work on two masks, one for the fellow in question and one for his friend. It was scary, but fun. It’s always growth inducing to push ones boundaries.

They were so enthused, they came back to commission more pieces! Once you get a sense of the value then the question of cost turns to appreciation, and even gratitude!

YaY!

And so my friends, it seems my work has only just begun.