Oktoberfest London branded “Okt-sober-fest” after its unexpectedly cancelled

Oktoberfest London at Tobacco Docks was unexpectedly cancelled less than 30 mins before the Friday afternoon session was set to start due to ‘unforeseen circumstances' leaving punters furious. Tickets cost between £10 and £60 for a seat in the huge Beer tent brought in especially for the event from Munich. 

The Tobacco Dock venue tweeted yesterday: "*Important* Due to operational issues identified last night the decision has been made to cancel all further @OktoberFestLDN sessions." The website has since been taken down with the following message posted on the holding page. Guests are advised to hold onto their tickets and to await further information regarding refunds.

Over 4000 turned up on the opening night leaving staff unable to cope. An Oktoberfest London guest told the Evening Standard that his friend “spent hours waiting in the queue with only two security guards on the door struggling with the volume of guests wanting to get in”.  Inside the event, guests complained there was only one variety of beer which was served warm, the food was disgusting and the Oompah bands didn’t really have enough oomph! Guests were expecting live music but instead there were just a few guys with instruments.

Rugby World Cup Fixtures

Have you been watching the Rugby World Cup? Since the Opening Ceremony last week, the nation has been watching eagerly as the initial games get underway. The underdogs have shown the other nations that they are ready to compete and they have fared well against some of the heavy weight countries. Thank goodness we are only one week in and there are 5 more weeks of rugby! 

To help you navigate your way around the Rugby World Cup 2015 we've found this great fixtures listing. 

To check out the full size image click on the link here.

Come on England!!

5 things you should know about Oktoberfest

As we prepare to celebrate Oktoberfest Munich 2015 we’ve rounded up five facts everyone should know about the event.

1) It is not a beer festival. It started as the celebration of the marriage of Crown King Ludwig and Queen Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in October 1810 and is now a celebration of their anniversary.

2) It doesn’t start in October – Oktoberfest starts on Saturday 19th September when the Mayor of Munich cracks open the first keg and runs to 4th October. That’s 16 days of beer drinking but who’s counting?

3) Oktoberfest doesn’t serve beer- instead they serve ‘bier’ (nearly 7m litres) brewed especially for the event by six local breweries all within the Munich city limits.

4) Paris Hilton is banned from Oktoberfest – The American socialite arrived in 2006 to promote a brand of canned wine and after a drunken outrage and offensive outfit she was banned.

5) No need for tinder – Depending on which side the apron is tied on the ladies’ dirndl, signals whether you are single. If the bow is on the left side of the apron it means single and ready to mingle.

Want to read more. Check out the full blog here

Rugby Sevens goes Galactic for final showdown in London

Marriott London Rugby Sevens returns to Twickenham this year on 16 and 17^th May 2015. Teams finishing in the top four of the Sevens World Series will secure Olympic qualification for the first ever Olympic Sevens tournament in Rio 2016 so there is a lot to play for on the pitch. Off the pitch, Saturday tickets have almost sold out so the fancy dress competition will be fierce! The theme this year is galactic/ out of this world so prepare to travel into space, the Milky Way and galaxies far away.

Star Wars is one of the best known Space film so I’m expecting to see a few Luke Skywalker's trying to save the day/ universe, some evil Darf Varders and a few girls opting to dress as Princess Leia. Check out this Darf Vader costume at Angels Fancy Dress (£35) complete with black cloak, chest piece, mask and famous 'lightsaber'. We also like the Princess Leia outfit with white dress with thigh high splits, metallic belt and brunette wig also £35 from Angels.

Astronaut's are another great option and there are loads available. Boys there are some amazing Buzz Lightyear outfits available from Escapade at £42. Costume includes white jumpsuit with astronaut chest piece and arm cuffs. Girls check out the sexy Fever Space Cadet outfit, £32 from joke.co.uk, including sexy silver mini dress, with purple belt, silver sleevelets and boot covers. Add a bright, neon coloured wig to look space-tastic!

If you don’t want to go as a specific character I see Galactic as ‘all things silver’ including 1960’s style silver miniskirts/ dresses with bright futuristic leggings, silver onsies with oversized foam shoulders and sexy silver cat suits. Morphsuits do a fun range of 'mechanical' second skins starting at £35 on morphsuits.co.uk.

We are going as Virgil from the Thunderbirds in blue jumpsuits complete with yellow sash and hat. We will of course be practicing our robotic moves so definitely look out for us and join in!! See you there....

TP 

Are you ready to head ‘Into The Wild’ for SnowBombing

Snow Bombing returns to Mayrhofen, Austria from 6th to 11th April 2015 for another action packed week of skiing, boarding and world class music. Spend the day on the snow or enjoying live music on one of the mountain top stages. At night watch cutting edge performances from this year’s top tier line up including Rudimental, Basement Jaxx, Skrillex and CarlCox to name just a few.

 

During this week-long whirlwind it would be rude to not invest in a little fancy dress. In the words of Snowbombing itself If clothes maketh the man, Fancy Dress maketh the Snowbombing! This year the theme is ‘Into the Wild’ so we are predicting crazy, colourful, animals hitting the area. Animal onesies have to be the 'school uniform' of the event or perhaps go for animal prints lycras if you want to be a little alternative (zebras and leopard skin are our favorites). We love 'Lee the Lion' adult onesie by RG Costumes (pictured) available from Angels Fancy Dress at £34.99. This ultra comfortable onesie is perfect for chilling on the slopes during the day and parting at night. Kigu also stock a fantastic range of over-sized, animal onesies for all shapes and sizes. We like their Leopard onesie in classic leopard print with mustard stomach priced a £40 on their own website. And if you want to wear lycra, then we suggest the Zebra Second Skin and Zebra mane (pictured) priced at £30.99 from Joke.co.uk.

 

Another option is to dress as a poacher in khaki cropped trousers and matching jacket, with thick brown belt and a license to poach anyone and anything. Check out the men's and ladies safari suits at Joke.co.uk at around £25. Whenever anyone mentions the wild, we always think of ripped checked shirts, tight jeans and of course a cowboy hat - the most ionic hat in the world. Check out some of the Great Western films for inspiration. Angels fancy dress have a couple of cowboy hats on their website priced from £2.99.

 

St Patricks Day Fever – get ready to dress green!

Last year parties erupted worldwide for St Patricks Day with major cities also jumping at the chance to celebrate the occasion by lighting up their famous landmarks in Green. In London, we enjoyed an all day festival in Trafalgar Square after the famous St Patricks Day Parade where thousands of Londoners came to the streets dressed in their finest green attire. This year the parade returns on 15^th March starting at Piccadilly Circus at Midday moving towards Trafalgar Square and ending in Whitehall. The theme this year is World of Dance, so expect lots of Irish dancing and lots of traditional Irish folk music. 

 

Need some ideas for your outfit this year? We love this hilarious Sheamus Craic Costume from 'Fancy Dress Ball' complete with green tailored jacket with orange detail and a mock Shamrock waistcoat. A foam bottom is attached to the cropped trousers making this outfit fun yet cheeky. Teamed with a pair of green striped socks, a green top hat and a ginger beard we think this is a great outfit for just £26. As the Irish are famous for their Guinness, dress like a pint with the 'hoptastic' Paddy's Draught Costume available from Escapade for £23. If you want a smarter look then the Shamrock Stand Out suit is the perfect option – a bright green two piece suit and tie covered in the Irish symbol of good fortune available at Joke.co.uk for £45. Also on the Joke website we love the Second Skin green jumpsuit which can be combined with a Leprechaun hat and beard available for £25.

 

For the ladies, we’ve found a Sexy Female Leprechaun outfit by FunShack including dress covered in clover leaves with cute cap sleeves, hat and green stripe hold ups. All you need to do is accessorise with a pot of gold! We also like the Green Beer Girl outfit consisting of a black lace up bustier with green skirt and small French maid style apron. White stockings and a beer tankard are optional but the tankard might come in handy for the Trafalgar Square festival. Available on ebay for around £20 search Women's Sexy Beer Girl Green Fancy Dress.

Wanting to just wear accessories? Head to Angels website and check out the Leprechaun top hat with large ears for £10 or the Irish hat with beard for just £5!
 

Are you reddy for Comic Relief??

In less than 3 weeks Red Nose Day returns on Friday 13^th March once again stopping the nation in their tracks and encouraging them to do something funny for money. The money raised by Red Nose day is used to transform the lives of millions in the UK and Africa so why not ‘join in, have fun and change lives’. PG tips has made history by sending the PG tips monkey up to the top of the shard whilst The Comic Relief Bake Off returns to the BBC with Jonathan Ross and others competing to bake all things British. What are you doing to raise money this year?

 

The red nose day website offers loads of ideas to raise money from sporting challenges to cake sales and sponsored silences. Looking for something new in 2015?? We love the idea of organising a fancy dress sports match. Swap the standard team kit for a red shirt or swap your football socks for some bright red ones. If you want to really look the part and raise some serious cash head online and get yourself a bright red onesie. Morphsuits have brought out a range of 'M suits' which are a cheaper alternative to the original Morphsuit. The good news is that they are double stitched to ensure durability and the high quality blend of materials means that it wont reduce your vision so you will never miss that free kick!! We've found loads on Ebay for about £15 meaning you can donate your left over cash to Red Nose Day itself. Want something a little brighter? We love Sesame Street Elmo - check out the fully body suit and headpiece available at Angels Fancy Dress (fancydress.com) for just under £50. Another option is to dress as Where's Wally or Where's Wally Wenda also available on the Angels fancy dress website.

Prefer to do something at work? Arrange for your colleagues to ditch their work clothes on Friday 13^th and dress up in their finest red attire – dare someone to wear a red suit for the day and sponsor them. We've found a great Red Devil Oppo Suit that we think would definitely brighten up the office available directly from Oppo Suits for £60. And if you can’t encourage the ‘big wigs’ in the office to dress red then get them to wear a funny wig for the day. Joke Fancy Dress have got loads of red wigs on their website including some fantastic red Afro ones and we also like the Rock Star mask complete with red and black mohawk for any rockers out there. 

For even more ideas head to the Red Nose Day website and don’t forget to buy your red nose.

Happy V'Day all

As Valentine’s Day returns this weekend, we are surrounded by websites offering the perfect gifts from flowers and fizz to lingerie and chocolates. Valentine’s day is traditionally a day where we show our loved ones how much we really care and if you’re not in a relationship you vent your Feb 14^th cynicism and hit one of the capitals many anti valentine’s day parties.

Lingerie has long been a popular gift associated with Valentine’s Day but would you change the tradition and wear sexy fancy dress instead? We've searched the web for the best Valentines Day, sexy fancy dress to get pulses racing.

Sexy cupid is a popular option available from Angels fancy dress in red including a dress (aka bra and mini skirt) and suspenders accessorized with wings, gloves and of course a bow and arrow to target your loved one. Fever red devil costume is sure to heat up the night, complete with red tutu dress and sequinned top and a red devil horn head piece. Check out Smiffys website for the whole Fever range. We also like this seductive Leg Avenue naughty French Maid Costume with a thigh skimming PVC black ruffled dress and white lace apron. Add a pink feather duster to complete the outfit. Catsuits always appear in any sexy fancy dress search and Joke.co.uk stock a variety of figure hugging catsuits with front zip detail in black, red, silver and gold. 

Would you dare to wear? We'd love to hear from you. 

Happy Valentines Day

Love TP xoxo

(Pictures courtesy of Angels fancy dress and Leg Avenue)