We love to dress up at AbFab fancy dress and it seems that more and more people share our love of costuming. Some costumes though, are proving to be less popular than they used to be.

 

Over at The Guardian, there’s a story about how Freshers parties might be seen as racist. It’s a tricky line to tread, especially if you’re a semi-drunk teenager trying to find a fancy dress outfit for your next party - and as the article says, But sometimes attempts to curb cultural appropriation has led to accusations of heavy-handed censorship … yoga was banned at one university in Canada because it originated from cultures that have experienced oppression”. What?

 

So, here’s our quick guide to choosing a culturally appropriate costume for Freshers:

 

1 - scifi and fantasy are usually completely safe. Klingons, as yet, have not complained about culturally inappropriate use of facial hair and the Jedis seem completely cool about people waiving lightsabres around.

 

2 - cross-dressing - also cool, but only if you’re not dragging up. How to establish the difference? If your costume is an homage to a famous character and it’s not at all ironic then go with it - we saw an awesome Miss Piggy last year, who was a rugby second row forward during the day - he totally rocked it because he’d clearly practised the voice and everything . If you’re just converting your old Britney wig into Harley Quinn for the laughs, you’re probably lacking in respect.

 

3 - accept the rules. When a swingers’ club in Dagenham bans clown outfits for Halloween, you know there’s a big problem with clown outfits. If your campus has outlawed certain costumes, it’s because they offend or threaten, not because they are trying to curtail your freedom of expression.