Eye rolling, long lines of expletives and a whole lot of clothes shuffling are common reactions to dressing for a themed party. At least for me, but I’m just easily disgruntled.
The themed party is clearly not something I dig nor am a frequent attendee of, obviously.
From the inanely themed anything-but-clothes party to the overwrought cartoon characters party, it really is a drag to constantly think of.
However, it’s something that is so prevalent that it’s hard to ignore.
At every angle of the Thursday night at UCLA is a themed party that one may attend.
Bored?
There’s probably a tropical themed party at the local fraternity house, such as the recent “coconut schooner” party at Beta Theta Pi, with decorations dedicated to an indeterminate humid region.
In for a laugh?
There’s a “Jersey Shore”-themed party on Kelton Avenue thriving with girls wearing Bump-Its and glitter spray tan.
Dressing for the themed party is a drag for the lazy at heart, which is the embodiment of me.
However, for those who live for the themed party, shuffling down to American Apparel to pick up a metallic forehead-band for an ’80s-themed party is a thrill. Perusing the costumes of Aahs! in Westwood can be too much of a heart-pumper to bare, anticipating the cute default pictures that may ensue.
For a night of laughing out loud at the various costumes of the night, it is the party pictures the next morning that really cause some serious rolling on the floor laughing. As well as some plain swearing.
According to an Oct. 12 article by Jacqui Cheng of technology website Ars Technica, it can take 16 months for a picture to be completely deleted from Facebook’s content delivery network, long after clicking the “delete photo” button.
That means that photos of you wearing that fairy outfit complete with tights and a tutu to your bro’s themed birthday party as a joke can still be lurked with the simple memorization of a URL, right clicked and saved for future blackmail materials.
However, it’s the camaraderie and fun in dressing for the themed party that gets some students to unearth that green-screen jumpsuit from the back of their closet.
Some just like the ease of meeting people through the similar thread of dressing for the same theme.
Second-year aerospace engineering student Ian Ferguson said he liked to attend themed parties for the simple reason that it is easy to start a conservation by commenting on others’ costumes.
Second-year nursing student Kaitlin O’Rourke said she thinks themed parties are more fun than regular parties.
“I like themed parties because I like the creativity of dressing in different costumes,” said O’Rourke, who describes herself as a frequent themed partygoer.
And creativity she has in abundance. O’Rourke said her most memorable themed party outfit was dressing as jungle juice for a theme that required one to dress as what one drinks, complete with her face covered in purple marker.
Now that is commitment to the theme.
Though with the ubiquitousness of Facebook photos, I’d think twice about wearing that Franzia boxed wine outfit for the next beverage-themed party.
_If you have embarrassing photos on Facebook from a long night at a themed party, e-mail Jue at tjue@media.ucla.edu.
“Fashion or Whatever” runs every Wednesday._