'Hat? Check! Shades? Check! Harmonica?....'

Time for one of my occasional social trips out and about. It was my friend Simon's 30th birthday. Venue: unimportant. Theme: 80s fancy dress. And what glorious fancy dress it was! Luckily, a fancy dress shop has popped up near to my home, undoubtedly catering to student revellers, but very handy nonetheless.

All the usual choices (Darth Vader/ Scooby Doo/ He-Man) seemed promising, if a little pricy. But it'd need large amounts of alcohol to get me out the door. So, I opted for the cheap and easy ('and conservative' as Ellen intoned) option of being one of the Blues Brothers. Hat, sunnies, skinny tie and harmonica: 10 pounds all in. Nice! And, as an added bonus, I wouldn't feel like a penis riding down to Guildford on the train!

We arrived at the venue 10 minutes before the main partygoers. Will never forget the sight of them marching down the alley to reach the venue entrance below me - it looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Here are some of the pictures of the outfits concerned. My friends and I dressed in bright finery like the peacocks we all aspire to be.. ;)

I love how Simon skulks in the back of shot looking like something out of 'Alien'.. oh and yes, Harry bought exactly the same Blues Brothers 'outfit' as I did.. before you ask...

Simon as a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle with Ellen. Simply the most wondrous fancy dress costume I've ever seen.
Check out my extra long right arm!

Mark as a Ghostbuster, with proton pack. He seemed a little miffed his outfit was not the grey of the movies. Maybe it's their away kit or something. I look like some sort of blind, Mafia jazz musician.