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Get yer Gasparilla goodies

By AMY SCHERZER
Published January 28, 2005

Pirate pizazz! That ol' scalawag Jose Gaspar has invaded closets and living rooms all over town. His stylish skull and bones pops up on more than beads these days. The symbol decorates T-shirts, jewelry, shoes, belts and home accessories.

"It's a Tampa look," said Rande Weissman, owner of the Pink Palm on S Dale Mabry Highway, a cache of pirate style.

Mardi Gras has masks and jesters, and Gasparilla has fearsome pirates, said Maruchi Azorin Blanco, owner of Villa Rosa Distinctive Linens, 3001 S MacDill Ave.

"It's fun and festive, and pirate colors, blood red and black, work for both the Tampa Bay Bucs and the pirates," she said.

As Gasparilla - and the Buccaneers - hook more fans, decorative statues of pirates, conquistadors and ships have sailed out the door, said Blanco, who also stocks wooden jewelry boxes, linens embroidered with pirate mugs, colorful hand-painted serving pieces and custom jewelry.

Fashion designer Linda Quisenberry embellishes T-shirts for moms and tots at her shop at 618 S MacDill Ave. To make a pirate poncho, she stitched two pashmina stoles together.

"It stays on and fits in your purse if it gets hot," she said.

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:34:05]