Creative and Kooky couples costumes

30 08 2008

Greetings once again as I write more on costumes.  It is definitely one of the things we will think about as we head into Autumn and all the events that will demand we be something fun and different.  Of course, I think about costumes everyday so here are some ideas from an expert:

1. Some typical fun ones are salt and pepper, mustard and ketchup, gangster and flapper

2. May I suggest: James Bond and his Martini shaken not stirred (we have a no longer made martini dress)

3. Chess Pieces – King and Queen of course

4. Madonna and Michael…two singers of choice in the 80′s

5. Sonny and Cher or mixed up Sonny and Cher where he is Cher and you are Sonny

6. Gorilla and Banana

7. Gorilla and beautiful damsel (King kong and his love interest?)

8. Arwen and Aragorn

9. Peter and Wendy…fun in reverse

8. Doctor and Nurse

9. Doctor and Patient

10. Psychiatrist and mental patient

11. Pizza and beer

12. Gomez and Morticia

13.  Witch and Warlock

14. Frog and Princess

15. Gecko and Faerie

16. Faerie and Elf (we have Legolas)

17. the Matrix’s own Neo and Trinity

18. Flying Monkey and the Witch from the Wiz of OZ

19. Dorothy and any of her peeps

20. King Henry and Queen Anne (I have matching…fun stuff if you add blood around the neck)

21. Caveman and Woman

22. Spartan and Queen Gorgo from 300

23.  Any matching superheros…or villians…Poison Ivy and Batman anyone?

24. Pirate and lady or Pirate Captain and Pirate Lady

25. Austin Powers and Felicity or Cleo

26. Doggie and Kitty cat

27. Beerman and Beer girl

28. Playboy and Frenchmaid or Playboy bunny

29. Devil and Angel in any mixture

30. Sailor and Mermaid

31. Zorro and Mrs. Zorro

32. Coach and Football player (better if girl is football player)

33. Boxer and promoter (Don King anyone?)

34. Elvis and Priscilla

35. Tarzan and Jane

36. Lucky and his Lucky lady (Vegas style) or Poker Princess

37. Bell Hop and French Maid

38. Officer and a Gentleman and Geisha

39. Samarai and Geisha

40.Cinderella and Prince Charming (insert any princess here)

41. Princess Leah and Han Solo

42. Amidala and Darth

43. Chewbacca and Jar Jar

44. Speed Racer and Trixie

45. Motorcycle Babe and dude

46. Saloon girl and Gunfighter

47. Indian Princess and Explorer

48. Indian Brave and Indian Princess

49. Nacho Libre and Senorita

50. Nun and Priest

51.  Edward Scissorhands and Poison Ivy

52. Willy Wonka and any candy girl (candy corn, sweet shoppe girl etc.)

53.  Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett

54.  Mr. and Mrs. Potato head

55. The tooth fairy and Mr. Molar (a tooth and his beautiful escort)

OK, I could go on but you get my drift…so when it is time to rent, buy or make something…here are some ideas!!!

Have too much fun!

Joyfully submitted,

Nacheska


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Costumes

Ideas for Group Costumes

18 08 2008

Sometimes when you work in a group setting, corporate and have a group of friends or family that want to dress as a theme, I have some ideas from my experience in the industry:

Fruit salad or Fruit of the Loom:  When you are a fruit salad, you can be any fruit such as apples, bananas, grapes (which can be made easily; see below)pineapple, strawberries, oranges…well you get my point.  However, if you choose Fruit of the Loom then you must stick with the criteria of Apple, 2 colors of grapes and Leaf.(which we have in our Shoppe available…) Now if you have a super brave one in your group…then someone can wear the underwear over a leotard or uni-tard to lend a cohesive touch.

Star Wars -There are a huge array of characters in this series of movies/books that many people do not even know….so there are literally 100′s of choices…and not in a galaxy far, far, away….in our store

Patriotic – Here you can do anything patriotic; Colonial, Uncle Sam, Military uniforms, red white and blue

Circus/Carny-Not only can you be a hot dog, but the strong man, tight rope walker, tiger, elephant, barker, bearded lady etc…this one is fun for the imagination

Animals of the Zoo- lions, snakes, zebras, tigers, monkeys…well you get the picture

Forest creatures- this lends not only to the normal bears, snakes, bugs such as spiders, dragonflies, caterpillars but also faeries and elves…

M&M’s – Hey the M&M’s are an American Icon in candy…they are colorful, come in many different sizes and are great fun!  You can hand out the candy as you go along and everyone will love you….chocolate is wonderful!

Superheros- Spiderman, Batman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonderwoman, Storm, Fantastic 4, She-ra, Xena, He-man, Thor, Spiderman, Hulk, Zorro, Mrs. Zorro…well, you get the picture

Medical- anything to do with medical- doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, patients, scientists

Mardi Gras- go grazy with any colorful costume you could wear to New Orleans; purple, gold and green and beads, beads, beads

Christmas-anything to do with Christmas…I had a group go to a party as Christmas…Santa, Reindeer, Snowman, Santa Belle, Elf…this can be fun off season.

Holiday- have one person dress as a character from popular Holidays; Leprechaun, Abe, Uncle Sam, Pumpkin, Santa, turkey…well you get the picture

Colonial – George Washington, Paul Revere, Betsy Ross, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson…be historical and slightly hysterical

Pirate- It is too much fun to be bad…you can shred up some clothes or visit a Shoppe; add a hat and bandana, top with a sword and voila!

TV show themed generic or specific – Through the ages characters had a unique flair…Lucy, Superman, Carol Burnett, Gilligan Island characters, Lost in Space, Star Trek, cartoon characters…there are too many to elaborate…go overboard with glasses and wigs!

Movie themed generic or specific – I have seen people do Gone with the wind…I have seen people do famous movie couples…but generic offers more options….Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, superheros, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely hearts club band, Harry Potter are just a few of the popular options…

Era’s 20′s- Gangster, flapper and speak easy characters are great fun and you can decorate appropriately….making guest knock on your door and give a password…put drinks in the bathtub….etc….

Era 30′s/40′s- This one is extremely difficult due to the war and depression that hit the US hard but there were a lot of colorful characters…Groucho Marx, Mae West, the start of the 3 stooges

Era 50′s- Sock hop, Be bop, too much fun in a poodle skirt or jeans and t-shirt…bowling apparel was popular as well and soda shop apparel

grouppic1

Tropical Paradise – think grass skirts, loud shirts, flowers, pineapple and fun

Era 60′s Hippie- Peace and Long Hair here…you can mini, midi, maxi this if you are a girl and wear colorful garb if you are a guy…remember Viet Nam and be a war vet…or a protester for uniqueness.  Hey the beetles got popular.

Era 70′s- Disco nights, glitter, colorful shirts…flair pants and jewelry…nice short dresser or later the flaired full skirts that led in to the 80′s

Era 80′s- Rock out as your fav’ 80′s star Madonna got her start as well as Joan Jet, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson was still fun… Boy George was unique as well as Guns and Roses and other hard rock bands…remember Kiss?

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral  – Well wow, this would intrigue any scientist….but the possibilities are endless.

Geek  and Toga instead of Greek and Toga – You could mix it up….

All of these would also make great party themes so have fun…Halloween is just around the corner.  Or forget Halloween…just have a costume party for the fun of it!  We need more fun everyday.

Visit Odysseytheatrical.com or Odysseycostumes.com for more ideas…


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Costumes

Ways to find a costume 101

3 08 2008

Gosh, if I don’t know how to tell you to go about this…no one can.  As  the owner of Odyssey Theatrical Costume Shoppe, a brick and mortar store in the busy Dallas/Fort Worth area and the owner of OdysseyCostumes.com and DFWcostume.com internet sites, I know how to get my hands on practically anything I need or tell a customer how to go about this.

To simplify the process figure out:

1. Do I want to rent or buy…renting is great because you get to choose from  a variety of different costumes each time and do not have to store anything else. (green friendly) and usually the costume is more deluxe.  The benefit of buying is that you do not have a return date and can utilize the costume over and over again if it is a quality costume.

2. Do I have time or talent to make the costume? (Or put a vintage style one together) Am I talented enough to pull this off?  There you go…not too many people sew anymore but hot glue is handy…if time is of the essence; head to Odyssey or your local store today.  Do not forget friends either…they may have a few pieces from another event, parents might have saved some fun stuff from that era or an event they went to.

3. What are my options to buy one?…Finding a local shoppe has lots of benefits.  You can see the costume quality, try it on and do business with someone in your area…Don’t know if there is such a Shoppe?  Then the internet will most likely tell you. (or the yellow pages which are fast becoming obsolete)  Beside buying from the internet you can do   research on your character or time period…maybe even pictures of other folks who have had to dress up as your character. (60′s, 70′s, 80′s, Sally Ride, Jessie James, Ricky Bobby, Marilyn Monroe….well, you get the picture)  EBAY has all kinds of goodies in the apparel realm.

4. Sizing – Of course if you are any odd size at all…you might want to try a local store to get a great fit, or get a pattern and have a local seamstress make the costume.  This can be pricey and time consuming and not suggested unless you will get a lot of use out of the costume.

However, if you have no local shoppe or don’t know if you have a local Shop  then the internet still might be the ticket.   You can search for a shoppe in your area very easily. No luck???? then back to internet shopping… When looking for a costume site online you should find one that can tell you immediately or by a simple email if the costume you want is actually in stock (now)…so many of the customers (especially around Halloween) will walk into my store unhappy with their online transactions because the vendor took their credit card transaction then informed them that they would receive said product in several weeks…around Christmas which is really no help when the party is at Halloween.

One of the greatest forms of communication is email and if you inquire via email, get a prompt reply in the affirmative then Cha-ching you score a great costume for a great price.

One more warning about costumes…the cheaper they are, the more likely that the fit will not be exact.  Inexpensive costumes tend to run small.  The more deluxe or quality ones usually fit true…If in doubt, ask the vendor for measurements or better yet…send yours so they can check…win-win!

We costumers want to help you but you can do your homework too…Help us help you by having your size, a vague idea of what you want…(not an 80′s costume but an adult guy rocker costume from the 80′s) then we can start spouting off names of costumes we know we have in that size and realm. 

Sincerely, I cannot tell you the  times I have received calls from Peeps saying, “Can you tell me the costumes you have”….Whoaaaaaaaaa, that would be a one week phone call…and I get that question about 5-10 times a week…so have a good list of questions ready…and information to help us, help you.

A good list of question and info to have ready are:

Do you have costume for male/female, adult/child, how much, hours of store and rental policy….

Just remember most costume Shoppe’s that rent have a “no return” policy due to the nature of the business, so try it on and be certain you are happy with your fun outfit.  Then go out and have too much fun knowing you look fabulous darling!

Feel free to email me nacheska@odysseytheatrical.com with questions regarding renting or buying a costume. I will lend expertise if I can….Remember

Life is short…Have lots of fun! me and jack


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Costumes


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.