For once, I was organised.
Dragon Day at school you say? No problem.
The viking costume was ordered – next day delivery with a few days to spare on Amazon Prime.
Except it didn’t arrive on the day it was supposed to. Or the next, or next.
Panic ensued. I’m not the home-made mask type, on account of having little time and even less talent.
Then, mid palpitation, it hit me. Yvonne’s Fancy Dress on the Seagate.
I dialled the number and Connor answered, asking how he could help.
“I’m in a bit of pickle,” I confessed.
“I don’t suppose you have anything dragon-y I could collect today?”
And this is what he said: “Well, we’ve got costumes called dinosaurs on the label but they have wings and so are really more dragon-like, if you ask me.
“Then there’s knight costumes. How old is your son? David, do we have that in an age nine? Great. Yep, we’ve got that. Also, there’s a good viking knight outfit and let’s see, a sword and shield too.
“Come in any time – ask for me or David – or any of the staff and we’ll get you sorted.”
You don’t get that on Amazon, do you? I felt like kissing him down the line.
Dundee fancy dress institution leaves online rivals standing
In store, I met David, the owner and son of the wonderful character that is Yvonne, who runs the other shop, the jewellery division.
Off he went, shoogling various dino-but-really-dragon costumes out of their packaging so I could see them; rummaging for a shield and then asking me to “wait a minute, I’ve got a brilliant viking hat – very Game of Thrones.”
I’ve said it often here and I know you agree – supporting our local shops is so important.
The high street has been decimated in places. But with businesses like David’s around, there are still brilliant operators out there.
He’s running the show brilliantly, his large shop bursting with costumes, face paints and accessories and yet with an organised system that works.
Around Halloween, he’s so busy he has to hire security staff from midday and after school, there’s a queue down the street.
He only had to say Halloween for my eyes to light up, picking up extras for the kids’ outfits.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Zombie Freddie Mercury lost his moustache in his Weetabix at 7.30am but he made it, along with zombie Jackson and The Joker 🤘 🎃 🤘 pic.twitter.com/Yl9W94n8w9
— Martel Maxwell (@MartelMaxwell) October 31, 2022
Well, every Zombie Freddie Mercury needs a moustache and microphone and everything I asked for was in stock.
I’d already ordered the Michael Jackson get-up from his Thriller video and a suit for The Joker online – and kicked myself for not getting everything at Yvonne’s in the first place.
But all the face paints and coloured hairsprays you find online?
They’re right there – and at better prices.
Warm welcome for our guisers
On the subject of Halloween, did you go guising? I do love a dress up.
I forbade the boys from calling it “trick or treat”, demanding (which makes me sound like I have a lot more authority than I actually have) a return to Scots language.
Because Halloween (cue moans of “you’ve told us this ten million times”..from my sons..and possibly you, dear reader) originated in Scotland.
My kids can’t get over the fact they get to knock on people’s doors and get sweets, just for telling a joke – then eat lots of them when they get home.
We found the most charming of guising neighbourhoods in between Longforgan and Castle Huntly.
Some houses have the most beautifully carved pumpkins shining in their gardens, while others have ghosts hanging from the trees, or lights aglow with orange.
These people, often with the cutest of dogs coming to the door to lick little visitors, are friendly and warm. They made our night.
Earlier that day, on the morning of October 31, it was dress up day at school and by 7.45am Zombie Frieddie Mercury’s moustache was floating in his Weetabix.
You live and learn. And that morning’s lesson was: don’t attach the essentials until they’re in the car.
But the bigger lesson is that next time there’s call for a dress up in our house, I’m cutting out the online giants and heading straight to a a high street store with a giant heart.
Conversation