Tarts in Turkey: The Many Faces of the Mad Hatter

Monday, October 29, 2012

The Many Faces of the Mad Hatter

This weekend was Halloween celebrations here in London. Back in the States, we would have been sitting at home, waiting for trick or treaters all night, and I more than likely would have been complaining about the trashiness of costumes, or lack of costumes.

Here in London, there isn't really much trick or treating. Without stand alone houses or porch lights to turn on and off to alert kids, it is a lost cause.

But that doesn't mean they can't party! We had decided to attend a party thrown by the Texas Exes UK Chapter - since both Paul and I went to UT, we thought it would be a great way to meet other Texans in London.

But, before we could make it to the party, we had to decide on a costume. 2 other girls from work were going too and we decided to do a group ensemble. It's nice because on one hand we're all in it together, on the other hand, ensembles can be tough. Throw in the fact that Halloween is my least favorite holiday (it and Valentine's Day run a close last) and I don't like dressing up and it could have been a recipe for disaster.

Luckily, the rest of the troops rallied around the occasion, picked us out a theme and got me out to the costume shop. And, all in all, I was pleased with our results. It may have been the fact that I was the last costumed of the bunch, or the punch they concocted that reminded me quite a bit of trash can punch from my college days......

Now, for those who haven't already deduced, we went as Alice in Londonland (aka Wonderland). We had myself as Alice, which often confused people when I introduced myself as Alyson which sounds like Alice-son, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. Yes, we are so clever.

The BEST part of the ensemble by far was Paul with his mad hat. Which we made from scratch. Neither of us are crafty at all, but I wasn't pleased with the cheap top hats found at costume stores and they just weren't mad enough. So we got some poster board, fabric, spray paint and wire and voila! The mad hatter.

This hat was the hit of the party, photographed on many a head that night. So, who wore it best?