Bogan Party

Last night, we went to Bruce and Kristy's "Bogan" party. What fun! Two week's ago I didn't even know what a Bogan was. Now, after the party, I feel I understand this important aspect of "downunderism" (a mysterious world of mullets and long-kneck beer bottles in brown paper bags) very well.

Everyone took the topic to heart and outdid themselves in the costume department. Ally even had her hair professionally blow dried into an ultra curly poofery.

Well, if the photos don't explain it, here is some more information on Boganism!

BOGAN is a term used in Australia to describe a particular section of the working class demographic.

Traits of the bogan can be summarised by the following points:

A pronounced lack of dress sense in social situations. Typical bogan attire consists of a flannelette shirt, King Gee stubbie shorts (either blue/khaki), torn or soiled jeans from the 1980's or earlier, and double-plug standard issue white thong sandals with black rubber. A female bogan will usually wear a matching ensemble usually consisting of second-hand fashions or products purchased from the discount retail chains Best and Less or Big W.

Distinct hair. A bogan will often allow his/her hair to grow into an attractive style named the "mullet" as popularised in the 1980's. Similar styles apply for females, however the female bogan frequently colours her hair auburn.

Distinct vocabulary. A common bogan trait includes shortening words. Locations such as the Wyong Leagues Club become the "leaguesy", the Crown Casino becomes the "leaguesy" and females/males such as Sharon/Barry become "Shaz" and "Baz".

A particular choice in motor vehicle. The bogan usually drives one of two makes of vehicle. Typically this is either a Holden or a Ford . Common bogan variants manufactured by each of these companies include the Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon.

Employment status. The common bogan is either a) not employed or b) a tradesman/labourer.

A poorly-maintained house. In most cases the bogan is located some way inland from a coastal fringe or major waterway. In the case of Sydney, this has lead to the term "westie" being coined in order to distinguish the boganistic population of the inland western suburbs from the more affluent residents of the east.

The bogan house usually consists of a number of elements:

• The bedroom (for rootun).
• The balcony (for smokun/shootun).
• The livun room (for watchun telly/smokun/gettun pissed).
• The kitchen (for storun beer).
• The combined bathroom/laundry (for washun shit) .
• The shed (for rootun/smokun/shootun/gettun pissed/storun beer/workun on the commo).