Party Politics

Oh sure, I come off as the happy-go-lucky, carefree party hostess, but in recent times, it’s become apparent to me just how fraught with pitfalls the not-so-average party theme can be. It started with the 1,001 Arabian Nights party my friend Ben and I threw last month (pictured on the right there). We asked people to dress up as their favorite Arabian Nights character. Harmless, non? Ben’s friend Brett came as the perfect replica of Aladdin, complete with a monkey stuffed animal hanging from his waist and his girlfriend’s shorts wrapped around his head with a tassel he must have pulled off some drapes somewhere. I figured I’d go as Sheherezade…only, as it turned out, a Google Images search revealed many Sheherezades, from all covered up in layer after layer of cloth to ooh-la-la belly dancer babe. A little more research revealed, by the way, that belly dancers used to dress in caftans till Hollywood got ahold of the idea and sexed it up a bit. Which in turn begged the quesiton: Was wearing the awesome, yet probably not historically accurate, purple and gold striped harem pants I got off the eBays so wrong?

To be continued…

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