A Titanic affair

By day I am the art director for an educational publisher and this year the theme for their xmas party was ‘Tales from the sea’. This fabulous theme, set by yours truly, allowed people to wear as little in the way of a costume or as much, as their hearts desired. So, what would a born extravert like myself wear? Why the Titanic of course!

Too fabulous to be handled by one person, my partner in crime for the evening was sketch-comedy writer, editor and all round awsomenerd Martina. We planned and schemed for months, originally she was to be the entire Titanic and I would be the fateful iceberg. This scenario would have provided hours of  amusement as I butted my pointy-ice head against her hull. However the burden of the colossal vessel was too great for Martina and we decided, as the boat had split once it was destined to split again. Therefor I was to be the bow, she the aft.

One month before the xmas party and knee deep in work, manuscript writing and general Astred-style-mayhem I turned to SNH with a desperate look in my eye and pleaded for his help. You see, SNH is an industrial designer and holder knowledge and the knack of patience when putting things together. He kindly agreed to assist in the construction and sent me off to the art store with a list. Gone were my half-assed ideas of getting a couple of pieces of cardboard and stapling them together, oh ho ho! Not in this house, not with the vision and talent of SNH. No, the bow of the Titanic was constructed much like the bow of any boat, only out of foam-core and with struts and ribs and a flat base. After the bow was complete SNH handed it over to me to decorate and finish the look.

And decorate with glee I did! Wood grain decking, port hole windows, bollards with figure-8 rope and sailor knots, hand rails and bunting, Oh my! Cleverly SNH had cut the bow to fit me and the foam core was light as air, so wearing the boat was very easy. To top of the look two smoke-stack hats were made and steam conjured through the magic of toy-stuffing.

Martina worked on her sturdy propeller and found the perfect captains jacket on which to sew her captains stripes. To make ourselves giggle we added port and starboard signage: TIT / ANIC and like the rings of Shazzan when combined we blew people’s minds.

Sadly, fate was not on our side and we were robbed of the best costume prize. How did this happen? Who was this person who beat such a magnificent idea and accomplished outfit? It is not important, as history will always remember us as ‘those strange girls who dressed as a boat one xmas party’. C’est la vie!