I thought it would be fun to discuss this, separate from the "no kids" topic.
What are the benefits of a costume-mandatory party? Do you have this kind of party? How do you let people know? How do you enforce it - if you do? Have you had people decline to come b/c of the policy? Etc.
I'll start.
I've been to several costume-mandatory parties, although I haven't hosted one. I think it depends on the type of party and the people you invite. Our last party was a bad movie night, and most of the people weren't real Halloween geeks, so costumes didn't make sense.
Re: the costume mandatory party -- I went for the 3 years that I knew the people (they split up after the 3rd one). This was a strictly invitation-only party. All invites went out via email, and the rules were pretty clear. If you showed up not in costume, the hostess would dress you. Those parties were a blast. People rarely showed up out of costume more than once; not because the hostess would dress them (she did), but because they started to understand how much fun they could have if they participated fully. Also, you just didn't want that hostess mad at you.
The hostess of these parties had a
massive costume closet, with Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian garb, but people that showed up not in costume weren't likely to get a
great costume. Someone that counted on that once got decked out in hospital scrubs. The other rule was that if you came in Renaissance garb (we knew each other from the Ren faire), it couldn't be your regular garb. Usually, people went away from that time period, but I knew people that would get new garb but not wear it for the summer season b/c they were saving it for Halloween.
I'm guessing it helps to have a reputation of being serious about your rules, and for not taking any crap.
