British culture in the news. Dress up ideas

I read on the news today about children being asked to come to school in costume for ‘culture day’ the idea was to celebrate an aspect of ‘your’ culture to show the blend we have in this country, all the positives and how diversity makes us stronger. Some schools specifically banned ‘flags’ because while a flag is the emblem of a country it isn’t really part of it’s culture. 

Of course this enraged some people who for some reason love the flag more than anything, certainly more than the actual culture of England. They assumed that schools were ‘banning the union jack’ .

So this  post is for parents struggling with costume ideas for British, specifically English, culture. And yes of course if we go back far enough it may well have originated somewhere else, but if we did that to it’s logical conclusion we would all turn up naked and bring a rock into school.

So these are costume ideas of things that are ingrained into the British/English culture. 

You could dress as a food. The French famously insulated us by calling us Roast Beef (les rosbifs), so dress as a big joint of beef. Or the traditional Christmas pud. Or maybe a scone, the perfect way to start a class discussion around jam or cream first.

You could dress as someone who added some culture (or at least fame or infamy)  to our country, Shakespeare, Dickens, one of the Austen or Bronte sisters, a new romantic poet, Henry IIIV , Queen Elizabeth I, or an artist. Dress as a Turner painting! Or a character from a famous English book. Follow the Olympics idea and celebrate the NHS. 

You could dress in a recognised ‘English’ way, pinstriped suit and bowler hat with umbrella and briefcase, a Morris dancer, a police officer, or don something to resemble a Vivienne Westwood outfit. How about a pearly king or queen? Or a Punk Rocker!

You could dress as a native animal, red squirrel, badger or deer. 

and of course there is nothing more British than the weather and moaning about it..

I would honestly love to see a class, and parents really embrace this idea for all the cultures of children in a class. What a wonderful way to learn and explore. 

I do think though that teachers need to have a lesson prior to this to discuss ideas, and the ‘why’ and what the day is expected to do. Randomly telling children to ‘dress as your culture on Friday’ is really a recipe for disaster, children need steering through what culture is, they need teaching and parents need a few weeks notice!

If you were dressing a child for YOUR culture, what costume would they be wearing? (No flags 😉)

None of the amazon links are affiliate links, I couldn't be bothered - you can probably find the costumes cheaper on eBay. 

Halloween Fun, Fear and Fancy Dress

Halloween has become a proper mishmash of cultures and ideas since it all started. And who even knows when it all began? The celebration seems to have started around the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, a sort of harvest festival linked to the collecting of crops and the slaughter of animals for winter, the Celts also linked this time of year to a thinning of the walls between the worlds, where spirits may pass.

Later, half stolen by the church (as so many pagan festivals were) it became All Hallow's Eve, the eve of All Saint's Day (hallowed meaning holy) and All Saints day a day to honor the saints. Of course people liked to cling on to the superstitions and fears of the past too, so spirits and the departed were caught up in it all over again.

The idea of dressing up seems to stem from the Scottish tradition of guising, where children dress as the dead and perform entertainments in exchange for apples, cake and nuts. In Americia this has become trick or treat with vague threats for those households not giving treats to those dressed up!

The Day of the Dead in Mexico (Dia de Muertos)  also occurs around this time so it is of no wonder that it too is stirred into the melting pot of myth, magic, respect and fears of the dead in costume and decoration, though it's origins are slightly different.

Zombie Bride

In the US trick or treat costumes have totally moved away from those of the dead or of scariness, with people dressing as cowboys, cartoon characters and animals. But in the UK we still look to scare or at least cause a squeak of surprise with our costumes, drawing from around the world with vampires and werewolves from Eastern Europe, mummies from Egypt, voodoo and zombies from Haiti, ghouls, wraiths, goblins, ghosts and skeletons. (and even killer clowns!)

Spider Ghoul - guaranteed to give you nightmares

While I won't be attending a halloween party this year I do plan on greeting the trick or treaters that visit the house in costume!

Stop staring at my coccyx!

There is no excuse not to look fabulous while terrifying if you pop over to the Morphsuits website and check out the amazing costumes. This year I will be wearing the gorgeous Sugar Skull suit, with a mask of course. But there are many frightening suits to choose from. How about a clown costume? A monster? an alien?

What would you choose?

Pop over to Facebook and let me know - or let Morphsuits know! and visit me on twitter to see me in the suit on halloween.

You still have plenty of time to choose and buy a suit - prices start at  £9.99 and they have suits and fancy dress costumes for all shapes and sizes, adults and children.

I was sent a Sugar Skull Morphsuit in exchange for this post. And for reference, I'm a size 12/14 and the ladies large is slightly too big on me! So while there is extra room for pumpkin pie and sweets, you might be better buying a medium if you are a 12.

Fifty Shades of terrible judgement - a world book day post

It’s world book day so you send your 11 year old off to school as Christian Grey from the 50 Shades saga.

Is this inappropriate? Yes.
Is this offensive? again, to many people, Yes.
Is it sensible? No.
Is it funny? Maybe to some.
Is it a publicity stunt? Maybe
Was the school right to send him home? Absolutely

I was horrified to see a child dressed as the lead in a soft porn book which deals with all aspects of sexual control and some pretty extreme sexual activity. The mother’s arguments in favour seemed to mainly consist of:

1) It’s a book,
2) It was his idea
3) It’s just a bit of fun
4) It wasn’t meant to be offensive and there are worse characters
And lastly 5).Everyone has heard of the book.

Hmmm I think that at the very least your child should have read, or have had read to them, the book in which their character appears. Of course this young boy has not read this book or had it read to him,nor has he seen the film, of course he hasn’t it is a book for adults. So on this point alone I think the idea was wrong.

As to ‘it was his idea’ I’m not sure I can argue as I wasn’t there – but I suspect that either it wasn’t or that he was egged on after suggesting it, if my own child suggests something inappropriate we discuss why it is not a good idea, we talk about it and I, as the adult have the veto.

Just a bit of fun? For whom I wonder. For him? Hardly as he was excluded form school and mocked online. For his mother? Maybe, she is an internet celebrity for the next few days, though notorious rather than famous. Probably not a ‘bit of fun’ for any girls at his school if he had any inkling at all of how to act out his character…what did he imagine the cable ties where for? Tidying the space at the back of her PC ? This might have been funny at a family party, but at school? (actually I'm struggling to see it as funny anywhere)

Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo

It wasn’t meant to be offensive, maybe not – but unless his mother lives under a rock she would know that a great many people found the books and film extremely offensive, or at the very least controversial.
Dressing as a character that sparks debate is great if you fully know the book and the character, that is after all what world book day is about! Sparking debate and allowing children to share their favourite books and their knowledge of characters with their friends. But dressing as a controversial character for the sake of ‘a laugh’ I’m not sure I see the point.
Worse characters? Well yes I suppose there are, the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood eating up a grandmother, the villainous thief and murderer Jack in Jack and the beanstalk,  even the ugly sisters in Cinderella who bully and abuse their stepsister could count, but these are children’s stories for children. Stories that children can read and discuss, they can make up their own minds as to the worth of the character and learn because of them. In the case of Mr Grey, in a book the boy has not read he is merely a person..nothing more nothing less and as such is at worst offensive and at best pointless.

And everyone had heard of the book. Of course we have, due to the movie and massive media attention. Most of us are fed up to the back teeth with it if we are honest – surely even those people that actually liked the books are bored of them by now. But of course here I am along with all the news outlets talking about it, again. So maybe that’s the real reason her son went to school as a sexual control freak. To be in the news. My opinion is that the costume was tasteless, pointless, inappropriate and attention seeking.

What do you think? Was the costume funny or offensive? And was the school right to send him home?

Dressing up for World Book Day

I love dressing up. Yeah I hear your filthy giggles and see your smirks, well I don't even care! I like dressing up, any excuse and I'll try and find a costume to suit. Sadly I'm old and when you are old the chances to dress us recede (unless you just go the whole 'crazy old lady' route and wear a ballgown and tiara to do the weekly shop) 

but when you are young... oh the opportunities are endless and schools even encourage it with the rather fabulous World Book Day - encouraging young readers to choose their favourite book and dress in character for a day - I don't mind admitting I wish I was at school and if I was I'd be dressed as Sir Samuel Vimes' good lady, Sybil  (and only then as I'd look silly as Sam Vimes himself) ..but alas, I am not.

But dear readers, I know many of you (like me) have adorably cute offspring that are probably already trying to convince you to get them the perfect costume for WBD. And that's where this handy blog post comes in, because, via the medium of Twitter I discovered a rather awesome online fancy dress shop called Simply Fancy Dress! 

They kindly sent me a costume for the lovely DD to review but I need to tell you all about the site anyway because it's ace! Go on CLICK this link and take a look, I'll wait, no actually I won't - click it in a minute, because if you go there now you'll be ages and ages as it's such fun to hunt and browse around! They have the usual daft hen and stag fancy dress of course (much of it pretty tasteless, but there's hen and stag dos for you) but they also have some rather super child costumes, they even handily divide them into sections to make the search simpler (hang on SIMPLY Fancy Dress - the clue was in the name all the time!)

Horrid Henry Costume

So you can look at the likes of Horrid Henry costumes to simple Red Riding Hood and anything else that takes your fancy and childrens book day costumes start from £3.95 with £3.99 delivery! Honestly I was impressed - I wish I'd known about them for Tudor day!

Musketeer Costume

Look at this Brave Musketeer for only £17.99 I can't help wishing I knew some boys to dress up as the Three Musketeers!

Or maybe you have a girl who simply adores "How to Train Your Dragon" , (Viking Girl £16.99)

or a fan of Harry Potter,  I was roaming the site for ages. They have all sorts of great accessories too so if your costume is 'almost perfect' they probably have that last little finishing touch you need, like a pair of glasses or make up (including some zombie and vampire stuff to turn your stomach!)

Of course you are all dying to see DD in her glorious costume - so here she is looking rather glam in this Teen outfit which we were impressed to find included the tights, mask, dress and wings for my little butterfly daughter. The outfit is really nicely made too and was all packaged nicely. I always think that costumes, especially for small kids (but also for those like me that just LOVE to dress up) are a great fun present too - opening a whole world of imaginative fun.

 

 

 And if you don't have kids but have a dog...actually if you don't have a dog, buy a dog, just so you can dress it in this!

Raptor Dog Costume(sadly now no longer available)

Disclosure: I was sent a free costume in return for my review but the post contains only my own thoughts on the Simply Fancy Dress website!

I leave the last word on the fun of fancy dress to DD