One of my favourite places to stop and look at on my daily walks is the Partido fancy dress shop on Western road (Partido: party-do, marvellous!). I must have taken a score of photographs of this one outlet over the past few months and if you scroll down through older entries you’ll find the shop crops up several times.

Whoever is responsible for the window displays clearly takes pride in their job, and the results are both detailed and imaginative, representing something of a pilgrim’s progress for the shop mannequins. There are two young adult models: one male, one female, and a third in the likeness of a girl around ten years of age. Over the past year they have journeyed together in changing festive attire through all of the major holidays that punctuate the British calendar: Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night, Christmas, New Year, Valentines Day and Easter. They have also been decked out in regalia appropriate to other, more all-year round rituals, including birthday party dress, stag and hen night costumes; and on occasions, for no actual ritual, but where their outfits are nevertheless coordinated, on these occasions often themed on a romantic nature.

While, usually, all three models are present in the windows, and sometimes clustered together as a family, at other times the male will be separated off to the other side of the door (as around Mother’s day earlier this year) and, when the theme is of a more adult subject, the girl will be absent as she is clearly under age.

Sometimes one particular display suggests others. A few weeks ago both adult mannequins were dressed as tropical beach goers but, while the male (in the next window, not shown) remains in this pose, and with attendant paraphernalia, the female has now become a mermaid, as a variation on this fantasy.

Will they get engaged and marry? I can see endless further possibilities for displays based on situations like meeting the in laws, their first row, the unexpected arrival, the affair… I must introduce myself to the proprietors sometime and offer these suggestions, I’m sure they’d appreciate my interest. The shop girls quite often stare at me while I’m taking my pictures and are clearly curious about what I’m doing outside their shop.