This weekend I am playing the cello at an event called Nature’s Symphony, where people connect with their environment through music, storytelling, and food. When I asked about the dress code, I was told 'natural fabrics and earthy colours'.

Natural fabrics I can do – most of my clothing is cotton or merino. However, earthy colours are a different matter. I tend towards bright, maybe more than tend towards. I downright like and prefer bright colours to olive, ochre or umber. Over a life time I have created a style integrated with my personality – the need for a different type of dress felt like an invitation to a costume party.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed costume parties. I don't generally have time or inclination to search for the perfect (or imperfect) costume. I limit the clothes I keep to the size of my wardrobe – no spilling over into the guest room or boxes. This means I don't keep random clothing items just in case for a costume party.

In contrast, our friend Tony has a wardrobe impressively laden with costumes. There was an occasion on which Chris borrowed Tony’s gorilla suit because there wasn’t a spare bed – the gorilla suit doubles as a sleeping bag. Tony's costumes also include a safari suit with pith helmet, a Tongan suit with pictures of palm trees, beaches and cocktails, a hen suit, a horse suit for a couple (Tony went to a party with his girlfriend as the rear end of a horse - wonder why that didn't last?). Tony also has a gold sequinned suit I borrowed for Chris's Dad's 89th birthday party. Too bad the gold sequinned suit isn't natural materials or earthy.