27 Comments

I am so with you on fancy dress. Party invitations are bad enough, but throw a fancy dress directive in the mix and it's my own personal brand of hell.

My husband and I are opposites in many of these matters. As we planned our wedding, I went to great lengths to ensure that everyone was seated next to people they know, for comfort and reassurance amidst a large social gathering. He reckoned we should mix it all up, that people would much prefer to meet a bunch of strangers - Again, there are two types of people.... 😀

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Oh my God…and you still married him?? 🤣🤣🤣

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🤣 They do say opposites attract.....

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Fancy dress.. no thank you! 🙄 Maps.. confuse me, but don’t hate them... and I have absolutely no fucking idea who the bloody hell “Adnan” is! 🤣

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Brilliant Eva 🤣🤣🤣 (as always)

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Oh my god Emma, for some reason I was thinking please don't let Emma like fancy dress, there was a real sense of relief! 😂 Maps I can take or leave, my husband LOVES maps, any excuse to buy a map. I don't really do true crime on the account of taking it all very much to heart, reliving it, imagining it might happen to me. That sort of thing. Wow, these questions are gooood.

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Hmmm I don’t hate fancy dress though I don’t love it as much as some. I’m wanting to go to a fancy dress as she-ra next month. Only my sister has turned out the inviteds for her partners 40th bbq on the same date and now I’m in a conundrum. I give out one years notice for such milestone age events, why can’t others do the same😆🤣

Maps. I not a big fan of maps. Instructions. Or big menus. It’s just too much😅

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Oh no!!! Date clash!! I do have a lot of friends who like fancy dress, and I do get the ‘instructions’ thing on maps, but come to think of it I also love a menu 🤣🤣 who knew…

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I fucking hate fancy dress too!!!!! I missed my sister’s hen doo last month as it was ALL fancy dress. I don’t get it 🤦‍♀️ However, I get to arrange her another one a week Saturday, NO fancy dress allowed. I haven’t given maps much thought though, now I’m reflecting on how I feel about maps 😂

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Ok...well that's one out of two...our friendship seems to be building on solid foundations 🤣

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I work in costume and so everyone always assumes I’ll love fancy dress, but it just makes more pressure on a thing I hate. I just want to shout ‘leave me alone!’ I also iron a lot at work. And in my real life - NOT AT ALL!! 😂

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🤣🤣🤣 hilarious - love that. Oh God I never iron…. My husband is known as crumple stilztkin

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Oh, that’s too funny! I avoid ironing at all costs too! 😅 Loving your Substack, Emma! Just subscribed 💖💖💖

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Aah thanks so much!! Lovely to meet you 💕

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I fukn hate fancy dress too, but I hate parties generally. I’m one of those “you’ll always find me in the kitchen at parties” people. I also really fukn hate surprises. My family know that my worst nightmare is a surprise party 😂.

Give me a quiet corner and a book any day!

Or a map. Maps are great!

And I’m not sure if Adnan Syed made much of a ripple in Oz press 🤷🏼‍♀️. Either way - he either did or he didn’t do it I guess.

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The kitchen is the place to be… with a map? I have a great one on my kitchen wall 🤣

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🤣

I reckon if I had a map in the kitchen, no food would get made 😆.

I’m too easily distracted!

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I love playing the environmental card to wheedle out of fancy dress. 🙌

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👌

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I ADORE maps! I once papered my bedroom wall with OS maps so I could lie in bed and see a great swathe of the Scottish Highlands in 1:50000. Invite me to your party. I’ll come as a Chambered Cairn, or would you prefer me as an Electricity Transmission Line? On second thoughts, given my age, I’ll come as a Site of Historic Interest.

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Haha you can come as any of those!! Maybe that’s my break through. I embrace fancy dress with a theme of ‘maps’…

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Oh gosh this made me laugh. Thank you! Nope, fancy dress brings nothing to my life. I admit, I've gone along with it several times as a people-pleaser, but those days are pretty much gone. There is nothing appealing about it for me. The part I dislike more than the costumes are when people say you can't come unless you dress up and that you're no fun if you don't. I just can't play those games anymore. As for maps...they don't do much for me either. I've been lost in new places many, many times. 😂

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Sometimes all the fun is in getting lost!! Yep that thing about being 'no fun' reminds me of a waitressing job I had when I was 18 for the American Diner 'TGI Friday's'. We had to wear a ridiculous stripy outfit with badges and braces, it was all like 'don't leave your personality on the bus'!! I remember thinking - it's a good job I do or I'd be telling all the irritating customers to feck off 🤣. My people pleasing days are so over... 🤣

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I have a visceral fear of organised fun - what if I’m not doing it the right way?! - and used to participate because of fomo, but now I just say thank you very much but no, and spend time with those friends in other ways instead.

Also. I think Adnan possibly did it, but that everyone was too zoned out on hours of cellphone tower talk that no one could possibly know for sure.

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Organised fun…an oxymoron? Yes to saying ‘no’…. And of course the phone masts…it’s all coming back to me now! 🤣

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I don't like fancy dress either! In fact, with each passing year, I've had less patience for anything that isn't either pyjama-level comfortable or highly functional. I'm happy for others to enjoy dressing up - but I politely decline anything requiring elaborate costumes.

Jess Pan's book was an absolute delight. I'm so glad you recommended it.

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Loved reading this. Last time when I was supposed to buy a dress for an important event, I talked myself into going to the mall. After the second store, I changed my mind, went to a bookstore and bought two books. I was happy.

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