Ah, Valentine’s Day. The one day of the year where you’re either made to feel guilty of being single (with or without cats) or you’re pressured to spend needless amounts of cash on a present that will likely end up in a cupboard gathering dust somewhere.
Well, you can avoid all that loneliness and pressure by costuming up and going out to do something fun instead. Here are some places where you can don and display your sexy fancy dress or couple’s costume with as much or little shame as you like …
Lady and the Tramp Dog-Friendly Valentine’s Day Screening
Tuesday 14th February 2017
The Book Club, 100 - 106 Leonard St., Shoreditch EC2A 4RH
The perfect place to put on your favourite Disney or dog costume, and you can bring your pooch along with you. In fact, those who bring their dogs get in for £6 per person, whilst those those without the privilege of caring for a canine have to pay the princely sum of £8! (Which is still cheaper than most cinemas in London.)
Anti-Valentine’s Day Pool and Ping-Pong Party
Tuesday 14th February 2017
Proud East, 2-10 Hertford Road, Haggerston N1 5ET
What’s this? Pool and ping-pong all night? The chance to win prizes? A wall on which you can write your Valentine’s Day message? And all for the sun of £6? Sounds wonderful, whether you hate Valentine’s Day or not.
The Valentine’s Masked Ball of the Full Moon
Saturday 10th February 2017
Coronet, 28 New Kent Road, SE1 6TJ
This is one place where you and your friends can put on your sexy Valentine’s Day costumes and dance the night away without abandon. A serious masked ball theme will be present throughout, as well as cabaret and circus acts. A great place to try out your experimental Valentine fancy dress outfits, too! Expect magic, mystery and more!
“Lust” Valentine’s Day Cabaret Show
Tuesday 14th February 2017
Proud Camden, Camden Market, Chalk Farm Road NW1 8AH
Even though it’s likely to have sold out by now, we had to write something up on our neighbours. Plus, we’re sure those of you who are going to this legendary club will need some ideas for your Valentine’s fancy dress.
Well, the theme is “Love or Lust”, and there’s a cabaret as well as three-course meal. Think Cupid, Romeo & Juliet, cabaret costumes, the seven deadly sins, Greek gods (particularly Zeus, the philanderer!), Chaucerian tales (Nicholas and Alison in The Miller’s Tale), Henry Crawford (Austen’s Mansfield Park) and whatever else you can think of!
Naughty Valentines: Four Femmes on the Thames
Friday 10th February 2017
Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club, 140 Newington Butts, Kennington SE11 4RN
The Four Femmes are: Femme Filthy, Femme Free-Spirit, Femme Fanciful and Femme Frivolous. Together, they play with the Hommes (easy now!), offering you their take on love, life and London through comedy and song.
The ladies cover songs from the 40s onwards, including Motown classics, some blues & jazz, contemporary classics and the latest chart-topping hits. This being a French-style brasserie and jazz club, you can expect the pianist/musical director to take a turn for the swingiest, jazziest and bluesiest. Plus, you might get the chance to hear their classic song, “Taken Up the Shard.”
Should any of the above fail to materialise, you can always do a home-brewed Valentine’s Day special costume party and/or film-and-popcorn fest. Just don’t get too soppy!
