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While I’ve never been a big birthday party person, my friends have had other ideas the last few years. It started back in 2014 when I realized many in my various circles of friends hadn’t met each other. For the Atlanta geek community being the size it is, I was honestly surprised at this. So I orchestrated a party under the disguise of personal merriment to introduce some awesome people other equally awesome people. I’ve had friends find their significant others, new best friends, or cosplay partner-in-crimes at the parties! (Which my comprades aptly named “Brianacon” due to the theming put with the first iteration of my Atlanta birthday festivities).
For reference, here is a list of the themes of years past (would you folks be interested in seeing photos from those other years? If so, leave a comment and I might see about writing up some other blog posts about them. 🙂 ).
2014 – Off Duty Superheroes
2015 – No theme (after my accident)
2016 – Firefly
2017 – Time Travel
2018 – 1988
This year is the big 3-0 for me so it took me a hot minute to try to figure out a good theme. I almost went for my first and most beloved fandom – Star Wars, but I also thought that I’m only going turn 30 once, so why not get personal with it with a theme of 1988, the year of my womb escape adventure? (I later expanded it to 1980s for costuming purposes.)
Then came my costume…
I’ll admit struggling to find one as there wasn’t much in 1988 (costume-wise) that I identified with or felt went with my whole Lady Nerd vibe. I wanted something either personal or something I would feel pretty wearing (after a long bout of depression and house renovations – i.e. dressing dumpy). Being a Disney fan, I looked for what came out in 1988 and was disappointed to find no major Disney film came out that year. It was an inbetween year for the major animated features. But I did stumble across a stunning rendition of one of the characters from Disney’s Oliver and Company done by Major Sam Cosplay. She personified Georgette, the diva poodle, into a jaw dropping human starlet outfit.
But I felt it was unprofessional and disrespectful to simple recreate her original design without her permission, even for just a birthday party. So I nervously messaged Sam about my request. To my surprise she answered back not only with permission for the party but to enjoy wearing it wherever, even with conventions! What a darling.
So, although I wasn’t able to recreate it to the same level, I was able to style it together last minute for the party (thank you Amazon and parental units!). And boy did I need it…I had felt quite terrible for various reasons leading up to the party, but when I put that Pinup Girl Clothing Gia gown (you might recognize it from my Bride of Frankenstein post) and that blue wig, I felt like a million poodle-y bucks.
A lovely family from church offered their stunning home for the party’s location (you might see this home pop up from time to time on my blog as a popular destination as the the host are AMAZING party people. They regularly throw large parties for Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie releases). My friends started arriving, decked out in their best 80s costumes and fun party was had by all. So without further adieu, here are some pictures of the festivities!
My Costume Notes
Wig: Amazon
Bow: Party City
Necklace: Dollar Tree
Dog Tag: 3D printed by a friend
Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing
Fur Stole: Poshmark
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