Costume party -- what to wear? Theme is "White Elephant Exchange"
December 5, 2017 5:21 PM Subscribe
I need really good ideas for what to wear to a Christmas costume party with the silly and expansive theme of "White Elephant Gift Exchange." Help!
So, some friends and I are throwing a Christmas costume party. In a fit of drunken enthusiasm, we decided that if white elephant gift exchanges are fun and silly, dressing like something you might give or get in a white elephant exchange is even better. The invites have already gone out and there's no going back now to some easier theme (NO UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS EVER), so now I need to come up with the VERY BEST random ass costume. Ideas so far: a bottle of Jean Naté body wash; a dashboard hula girl; an all-expenses paid trip to Cancun. These are ok, but none of them have quite the right combination of awesome and ridiculous. Help me, Metafilter—you're my only hope!
So, some friends and I are throwing a Christmas costume party. In a fit of drunken enthusiasm, we decided that if white elephant gift exchanges are fun and silly, dressing like something you might give or get in a white elephant exchange is even better. The invites have already gone out and there's no going back now to some easier theme (NO UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS EVER), so now I need to come up with the VERY BEST random ass costume. Ideas so far: a bottle of Jean Naté body wash; a dashboard hula girl; an all-expenses paid trip to Cancun. These are ok, but none of them have quite the right combination of awesome and ridiculous. Help me, Metafilter—you're my only hope!
Leg lamp from A Christmas Story
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:05 PM on December 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:05 PM on December 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Starbucks gift card or bath and body works products are literally the only things that got given last year at our office Xmas secret Santa.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:46 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by raccoon409 at 6:46 PM on December 5, 2017
A scratch ticket
The number one (the coveted order picking number!!)
posted by floweredfish at 6:48 PM on December 5, 2017
The number one (the coveted order picking number!!)
posted by floweredfish at 6:48 PM on December 5, 2017
Oooo sorry- Im just realizing that the theme is "white elephant" specifically. One year when I worked in another office all the prizes were from "as seen on tv" aka snuggles and shake weights.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:48 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by raccoon409 at 6:48 PM on December 5, 2017
lava lamp
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:54 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:54 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Broken doll house
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:55 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:55 PM on December 5, 2017
Chess set missing 3 pieces
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:56 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:56 PM on December 5, 2017
My favorite thing I have seen given at a while elephant exchange was a 50 year old packet of emergency food rations. It was like a giant bright yellow solid rectangle with a loooooong list of questionable ingredients and a proud proclamation that it contained 3000 calories or something printed on it. Do that as a costume.
posted by joan_holloway at 7:28 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by joan_holloway at 7:28 PM on December 5, 2017
a bottle of hot sauce
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:33 PM on December 5, 2017
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:33 PM on December 5, 2017
vanilla or cinnamon scented candle
fondue set
big mouth billy bass
body wash with glitter in it
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2017
fondue set
big mouth billy bass
body wash with glitter in it
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2017
The best/worst White Elephant gift I ever got was an ashtray (?) composed of a flat leather saddle, complete with stirrups, plus a brass-colored metal tray mounted right where a person would sit if it was a real saddle...but that's a difficult costume.
A Buns of Steel VHS tape, still in its box and plastic wrapping, was the circulating gift of choice for 15+ years at the same office. You'd need tennis shoes, legwarmers, a high-cut leotard, and a sign or sash. And a VCR.
posted by esoterrica at 7:42 PM on December 5, 2017
A Buns of Steel VHS tape, still in its box and plastic wrapping, was the circulating gift of choice for 15+ years at the same office. You'd need tennis shoes, legwarmers, a high-cut leotard, and a sign or sash. And a VCR.
posted by esoterrica at 7:42 PM on December 5, 2017
Any well known vhs tape case from the 80s.
Richard Simmons maybe?
Billy bass +1
The best white elephant present I ever thought up (for a pretty brutal group) was a box of cheap drug store chocolates, with a bite out of each one.
Not sure how to make that into a costume though.
People often try to get clever with the wrapping - maybe you could riff off this somehow?
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:32 PM on December 5, 2017
Richard Simmons maybe?
Billy bass +1
The best white elephant present I ever thought up (for a pretty brutal group) was a box of cheap drug store chocolates, with a bite out of each one.
Not sure how to make that into a costume though.
People often try to get clever with the wrapping - maybe you could riff off this somehow?
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:32 PM on December 5, 2017
A scented candle. You can pick the scent and if you're into puns, there's a built in opportunity there.
A gift card to Amazon or something random and silly, like the Dollar Tree or Chili's.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:35 PM on December 5, 2017
A gift card to Amazon or something random and silly, like the Dollar Tree or Chili's.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:35 PM on December 5, 2017
A god-awful velvet painting.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:05 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:05 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
If it weren't so gosh darn hard, the punster in me would want to see a literal white elephant costume holding an LED stock ticker sign, perhaps with some white elephant gift-themed parody stock symbols. But I have no idea how you'd execute that unless you can find a foam elephant head somewhere affordably, and I really doubt that's a thing..
posted by Alterscape at 5:00 AM on December 6, 2017
posted by Alterscape at 5:00 AM on December 6, 2017
I was once at a white elephant gift exchange where someone who didn't quite understand the concept brought a ream of printer paper. It was, naturally, one of the most popular gifts. Other hits have been a miniature axe, a giant hello kitty doll, and all kinds of childhood board games. Any of these could be a pretty great costume.
("bottle of Jean Naté body wash" is gold, though. I vote for that.)
posted by dizziest at 6:57 AM on December 6, 2017
("bottle of Jean Naté body wash" is gold, though. I vote for that.)
posted by dizziest at 6:57 AM on December 6, 2017
Bulk size bag of off-brand granola or trail mix (it was thing in my family for a while)
VHS copies of modern movies
A Flowbee
posted by RhysPenbras at 7:39 AM on December 6, 2017
VHS copies of modern movies
A Flowbee
posted by RhysPenbras at 7:39 AM on December 6, 2017
Snuggie? Even better if you could do the two person version.
posted by jraz at 2:18 PM on December 6, 2017
posted by jraz at 2:18 PM on December 6, 2017
The chambong was a favorite at my office's white elephant exchange yesterday, if you want figure out how to make a costume of that...
posted by naoko at 4:17 PM on December 6, 2017
posted by naoko at 4:17 PM on December 6, 2017
Response by poster: The party was a hit! I ran out of time and ended up coming as a scented candle, with a pipecleaner flame coming out of my head. Standout costumes included an elf on a shelf, the girl on the whip-it cartridge box, and the evening's winner, a koosh ball. We made flaming drinks (blue blazers), played a drunken game of pass the parcel, and generally made asses of ourselves. Merry Christmas, y'all!
posted by pleasant_confusion at 10:50 AM on December 17, 2017
posted by pleasant_confusion at 10:50 AM on December 17, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dayintoday at 5:28 PM on December 5, 2017 [2 favorites]