Copyright theage
Q: Last year, I threw a fabulous 40th: think curated styling, live music and a very specific cake. This weekend, I attended a friend’s 40th and found … MY party, shamelessly plagiarised. Same venue, same set-up, same bloody cake. Then I had to watch her soak up compliments from unsuspecting guests for something she’d blatantly copied. Should I call her out? A: All parties are plagiarised in some way or another. I mean, I’ve stolen recipes from friends’ parties, music playlists from friends’ parties, friends from friends’ parties. And surely you must have pilfered a few ideas for your 40th. The venue, for instance: you may have been to a party there before and thought it had a fun vibe, a cool aesthetic and a nice, clean bathroom floor that you admired up close while processing several Jägerbombs that wouldn’t stop exploding. Your curated styling: you may have been inspired by an online article called “Top 50 Party Trends for 2025 (#3 Will Surprise You!)” and #3 didn’t surprise you, but all the other 49 trends did. Your “very specific cake” would have come from somewhere: maybe you saw it at another party or in a magazine or on a TV baking show where it was made from 2 per cent cake, 16 per cent fondant and 82 per cent toothpicks.
