Frivolities

One of the things I really like about England is the unusual frequency of fancy-dress parties. I have gone to two this term already. The first was, of course, the annual epic that is the Constantine House Hallowe'en party. Throwing to the wind the English custom of dressing in a scary manner for this holiday (which, we must admit, does make perfect sense), I became my 19th-century alter-ego Elizabeth Bennet with a little help from a costume I made a couple of years ago. Thus:



The most illustrious inhabitants of 2, Precentor's Court: Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the man from The Deerhunter, and a random guy dressed in black, already a little intoxicated by the early evening. Good times were had by all.

The other fancy-dress party was one with a nautical theme. I only heard about it 24 hours before the fact, so my ingenuity was a wee bit challenged until I pinched a straw boater hat from the fudge shop and became a lady gondolier:


Best costume, however, went to housemate John, for being a lighthouse. He spent most of Saturday morning making a rather impressive cardboard contraption, which had a torch in the top to make it light up. Points for creativity and sheer bloody-mindedness, minus points for wearing it only for the first 30 seconds of the party. Oh, and that's his friend Alex, who stayed with us for the weekend and went to the party as the Captain from the fish fingers box.