That special outfit looks great, make up on, wigs adjusted, accessories in place, and the competition is fierce. Who’s going to get the nod, hear their name over the PA and stride up the red carpet at the Cavern Bar to receive a coveted Safari Award.

This is what Safari Night is all about. The Safari Judges understand the dedication and commitment shown by the hundreds of Safari punters every year as they vie for the big one. That’s why there is an incredibly rigorous, fair and well thought out judging process in place, to make sure it’s a fair fashion fight!

Now we can reveal for the first time a rare insight into this process. For example, the torn off piece of pizza box that served as this year’s judging notes is pictured below. This pizza box was ripped frantically from the vodka jelly box after the judges had all forgot their notepads; a pen was scrounged from Dave the Popeye Captain, who just laughed and shook his head.

However, there was vigorous debate over many of the nominees. This led to an extended philosophical discussion in the Treasury Beer Garden as to the power of the Red Polka dot outfit vs. the Farrah Fawcett Flick! Being a Farrah memorial year tipped the balance, and the Safari purist faction won the day.

Some people have criticised the judging process, saying there’s nothing but J.U.I. (judging under the influence) at the business end of the night (ie after 8pm). This is just sour grapes!

I can honestly say that the judges still standing at the end of the night have a clear and balanced vision. New camera technology obtained by Safari International (Safari-Cam) has allowed us to record exactly what the Judges saw at any point of the night. The judges eye view below was taken from atop a rickety stool at Dragonfly nightclub during the award speech. Say no more and don’t forget – “We love your smiling faces”!

Cheers
Gus

For the last four years or so the Popeyes have been an integral part of our annual safari suit pub crawl. Unfortunately the water that keeps them afloat was drained recently and they are now aground.

Here’s hoping that the Torrens Lake is transformed back to its former glory, if not for the aesthetics, for our next safari. And here’s hoping that the Popeye business can stay afloat while the boats are not.

Here’s Popeye in happier times.

Ted Lapidus was a well-known designer in the 1960s and 70s who brought the safari suit to haute couture died late last year and while this is a belated acknowledgement of all that he did for the modern safari suit he must be acknowledged nonetheless.

This website may not exist if it weren’t for him. I have no evidence to back this up but I feel it!

Rest in piece Ted.

Ted’s obituary (PDF file).

Gus and I always feel the weight of Safari lift off our shoulders after the final award is given out and received. A year’s worth of op-shopping, work shopping, clothes shopping, and test running culminated in one huge night of glamour, high disappointment but also many proud winners. One particular year we had pre-arranged for the big final prize (a metre square wooden map of Australia covered in shells with four lovely kangaroos captured photographic splendour in the middle) to be hung on the wall at the last venue.

The bar manager had not followed our instructions to the letter and the prize was locked away in a store room to which he did not have the key – slight disaster to say the least. As you can imagine it is hard to hold an audience at the best of times and at midnight in a noisy nightclub when everyone is drunk, it’s near impossible. Luckily a little over an hour later the key was found and we had our prize, (I think the manager wanted the prize for himself) but most people including the lucky winner of the award had moved on to a big party in the hills.

Gus, Dene and I (Winks) grabbed the award and the first cab to the party. On our arrival to the party I noticed a mass of people spilling out onto the lawn of the front yard but didn’t think much of it. It was a big party and a hot night and I was suitably dressed in my checquered safari suit with shorts and walk socks, blonde TV show host wig, gold chains and desert boots. Gus and Dene had Afro’s and big sunnies, Gus had the powder blue on and Dene had a very flowery colourful jumpsuit on. We made our way with haste to the front gate, discussing what we could remember about the evening and how well it had gone. We were weaving our way through the crowd, who were mainly dressed in black, receiving the odd look here and there. I was leading the way but was looking back mostly to keep in conversation with Dene and Gus.

We maintained a pretty steady pace but came to an abrupt halt when I bounced into the bouncer! Now, I’m not normally one to be on some door list or anything – actually I struggle to get into places even when I am – but there we were confronted with a situation. Not only had we snaked it past probably 100 people, (who would normally be on the guest list) to get to the front of the queue, but now we had a big bald bouncer to contend with. Gus just casually leaned forward and said ‘Charlie invited us’ and the perplexed bouncer stood there for a moment or two and then said ‘OK, you’re in’.

The suit came through again!

The party was pumping, Hollywood style. We caught up with Ben, the winner of the Don Dunstan Young Achiever Award, and handed the prize over. Now, the likes of Kylie Minogue and Molly Ringwald were in town shooting a movie and were at this party – I didn’t see them but I reckon they saw us.

THE KEY IS FUN – FUNKEY!
 

He also pointed out a topic on a bulletin board about whether safari suits are considered formal wear for ship cruises. Everyone gets into the spirit of whether to wear the safari suit and what to wear with it. As we know the accessories are an essential part of safari suit outings.

I love the photo Geoff but I would also love a photo of you wearing your brown and your green safari suits.

Go and have a read for yourself.