After going all high-culture and “literary” last year, we decided to go low-brow and “pop culture” this year. Thus you get the Snook as Chairman Kaga and myself as Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai. (I was originally going to be that actress chick who commentates – “Ooh, this tastes so good in my mouth!” – but in the end I couldn’t pass up the chance to sport a ‘tache.)

The Snook’s outfit came together rather well in the end. We tried on lots of different options at The Costume Shop and finally settled on this bullfighter’s bolero along with black shirt, shiny black sash, large cuffed black gloves, and a white cummerbund. The wig was actually a women’s wig that his sister lent him.

As for me, my outfit was entirely constructed by hand. The fabric was all 100% polyester crap that I got at Spotlight. The shirt top was sewn by my awesome friend Leanne, whose boyfriend Brendan kindly donated one of his apprentice chef’s shirts so we could dissect it and use it as a pattern. I made the pants myself from a cheapo pajama pant pattern. (They split down the front within an hour. *shrug*) And my hat was made by covering a cereal box with leftover material.

And there’s Leanne on the left! She not only sewed my costume; she also made herself this awesome flapper outfit from scratch. With her are Miss Jane and Fiona dressed as “Facial Peel Victims.” Very creative! (They didn’t wear the bags all night.)

Here’s my co-worker Bridget with her husband Joe. I loved her mask; very exotic.

My boss Albert came as a crazy Hawaiian Santa. It actually kinda worked, despite the fact that Leanne later informed us he’d thrown the costume together out of random crap he’d found in his van on the way over.

Random party guests. Visible on the left there is Amy, who came with her husband Rob as “Jack and Jill.” (Hence the bruises and the bucket. And yep, he had a broken crown.) You can also see Miss Jane sans paper bag talking to The Other Andrew, who came in his Battle of Trafalgar getup.

Major and Steph also went the couple-costume route this year. He was the Phantom and she was his wife, Diana Palmer-Walker. Please note: Major’s nipples aren’t normally that prominent. You’ll see why in a minute.

Despite the fact that he hates capsicum, the Snook felt duty-bound to re-enact Chairman Kaga’s bite from the opening credits.

See? Totally fake Phantom Nips. (I believe a Phantom Codpiece was also employed, but I’m going to write that off as an alcohol-induced nightmare and not dwell on it.) Oh, and you can also see Rob wearing his broken crown.

Drunken Sakai poses with one of Helen‘s mini-Blythe dolls. Also note that I’d smeared some of my ‘tache onto my chin in an attempt to channel Shannon Noll.

As the party winds down, Chairman Kaga airs out his skull as I snooze with Dr. Amy Jones. That’s it for 2005, folks! Stay tuned for next year…

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