An incredibly rich-looking costume made from old curtains & cardboard. Much of the decoration is gold spray-painted pasta (bow-ties & wheels), fruit gummies, and paper doilies. And yes, I meant to post this for Halloween and here it is, almost Thanksgiving. Sigh.
Jane Asher’s Fancy Dress was a childhood favorite. Every trip to the local library, I’d end up pulling it off the shelf, marvelling at the costumes and dreaming of the day I’d be tall and beautiful enough to dress like an elegant palm tree (below).
Click for slightly larger image.
So I had mixed feelings when I rediscovered it through a post on Awful Library Books, a blog that mocks old & awful library weeders. On the one hand, it was like rediscovering an old friend; on the other hand, said friend was being pelted with eggs. Further Googling yielded another derisive article, this one from The Daily Mail titled “What were they thinking?” (the “they” refers to the book’s many British celebrity models, including Joanna Lumley and Terry Jones).
I decided to post in praise of the book, then, for balance. Because I still think it’s brilliant. Asher does amazing things with cheap materials and straightforward construction tips, and better an elegant palm tree than another slutty nurse. Some favorite costumes below the cut.