“Join Vanguard Culture for its most adventurous costume party yet.  Participants will experience over a dozen delicious food stations and three beverage stations, an extraordinary avant-garde fashion show, live dance performances, party music, costume contest, raffle prizes and much more.”

One of the many events supported by Vanguard Culture is the Avant Garde Costume Gala, and that’s where we are going!

Avant Garde Costume Gala

“Vanguard Culture hosts the Avant Garde Costume Gala, a wild and wonderful evening of creative and sensory pleasure. Guests are requested to wear their wildest, most unique or thought-provoking costume or accessories.”

The Avant Garde Costume Gala is a Costume Gala.

The Avant Garde Costume Gala is a Costume Gala.

The signage is understated.  It is, indeed, a fabulous event.

One of our more conservative looks.

One of our more conservative looks.

We arrive a bit early.  Part of the enjoyment is milling about and visiting with other participants.

Okay......

Okay……

There are wings, boobies, and liquid being poured from one container into another.  Beyond that, I don’t know what’s going on.  But check-out the mermaid in the background.  Yum!

Tea time at the gala.

Tea time at the gala.

We visit the Alternate Reali Tea Party room to enjoy some wine, but there isn’t any.  Good thing we didn’t sit down!!

What's wrong with her nipple?

What’s wrong with her nipple?

Great minds think alike, right?  We meet a new friend with similar tastes in clothing, and everyone is full of smiles.

One of them is real--but which one??

One of them is real–but which one??

There are many, many creative people in the world, and events such as these allow them to be themselves.

Now, the aliens can't read my thoughts.

Now, the aliens can’t read my thoughts.

Just a bit of foil with pink and green decorations, and she’s ready for a night on the town!!

Less is more.

Less is more.

There are folks for whom “black and white” is an entire world to explore.  I just wish she’d trim her mustache a bit…

Please enjoy this gallery of other creative costumes at the gala!

We are not really sure...

We are not really sure…

One of the performers has exceptionally long fingernails and a costume that is a bit on the formfitting side.  (The one on the right, in case we aren’t being clear.)  She also looks like she was run over by a small truck.

What's black and white and busty all over?  These two.  :-)

What’s black and white and busty all over? These two. 🙂

I pose with her, and she seems to enjoy my dĂ©colletage.  She doesn’t have said dĂ©colletage, but that does not affect my appreciation of her womanly goodness.

Fashion Show

The Avant Garde Costume Gala features a fashion show, and, of course, it is not what you would expect.

It looks like she’s getting married. She’s not.

It looks like she’s getting married. She’s not.

Given that a girl is adjusting her train and that she’s holding a drink and a phone, you’d think this woman is about to get married. (Yes, that makes sense if you were born after 2000.)  But it is just a model preparing for her performance.

Panties? Seriously, who wears underwear these days?

Panties? Seriously, who wears underwear these days?

Even stranger, she is wearing panties.  Well, we told you this would be an unusual show…

Let the show begin!!

Smiles, everyone!

Smiles, everyone!

We aren’t sure if we are to admire the clothing, the hair, or the make-up.  In any case, it is certainly interesting.

Jacobim Mugatu would have been proud.

Jacobim Mugatu would have been proud.

The models pose for us, and we admire their modelness.

Poses

The gala offers many opportunities to pose, and we propose to take advantage.

Rainbow poses.

Rainbow poses.

A rainbow transitions from a wall painting to a ribbon of cloth.

Everyone loves Raymond.  I mean, rainbows.

A little problem with arachnids, I guess.

A little problem with arachnids, I guess.

The gala has thoughtfully provided a large spider web (or is it spider’s web?) for us to enjoy.  It’s not sticky, but we can pretend.

Come at me, spider!

Come at me, spider!

For some people, a web is where they become the predator, catching their prey and sucking out their life-juices.  Yuk.

I think it's some kind of spider...

I think it’s some kind of spider…

No, that’s not a mustache; it’s lipstick.  And I’m not really sure what the costume is—which is good, I guess.

How very fashionable!

How very fashionable!

We pose for a photograph.  Yes, men in powder look slightly faggy, but it’s the fashion, so shut up. ?

Consider it done!

Consider it done!

Alice in Wonderland provides ideas that were in my head anyway… ?

Let's decorate my chest, shall we?

Let’s decorate my chest, shall we?

There are many artists here, and one of them agrees to decorate my chest.  I sit patiently, wondering what will become of me.

I'm bejeweled!

I’m bejeweled!

My necklace becomes a pearl necklace!  Well, I guess anything goes at the Avant Garde Costume Gala.

So cute!

So cute!

Yes, I know: now people have even more reason to stare at my chest. 

A classical pose.

A classical pose.

You may have noticed in Renaissance paintings that women sometimes wore clothing that displayed their nipples.  From what I’ve read, this was to show that the women’s breasts were firm and fresh, unsullied by nursing infants.  Thus, I have sufficient license to do just that.  ( . Y . ) 

Help!  I don't know where I am!

Help! I don’t know where I am!

Help! I don’t know what I am!

We have many more photographs of the wonders found at the Avant Garde Costume Gala, but you get the idea: it’s lots of fun people doing fun things.  We hope we’ve inspired you to find just that in your own life!

awa Travels Tip: “And the moral of that is—‘Be what you would seem to be’—or, if you’d like it put more simply—‘Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.” — The Duchess, Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll