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RICK GERSHMANWhether it's for Halloween or Guavaween, people in the Tampa Bay area take dressing up seriously.
TAMPA - Come Halloween and Guavaween, Frankie Lorrenda tends to get topical.
He has been Vice President Dick Cheney, replete with a bean bag heart he'd hold in his hand and offer to trade for an improved model: "I'll throw in a kidney and a no-bid contract."
He's been a hanging chad, adorned with fake noose and a custom T-shirt that read, none too subtly, "My Name is Chad."
He has been "Paris Hilton's personal videographer," teaming with a rail-thin blond girlfriend. They wandered through Guavaween, with Lorrenda chanting "That's it, Paris, earn your $14.95" while armed with a video camera.
In the Tampa Bay area, people take their costumes seriously. Chalk it up to Gasparilla and associated krewe parties, Guavaween and its history of creativity and decadence, and life in a tropical place where people like to look good, whether on the beach or in disguise.
Whatever the reason, it's not hard to find people who spend months planning their Halloween getups, who spend hundreds of dollars to make a big impression, especially in an even bigger crowd.
"When you're in the thick of Guavaween, you need to do something special to stick out," said Lorrenda, of Seminole Heights, who declined to reveal his 2005 costume creation for Saturday's Guavaween party in Ybor City.
However, he said, "It's going to be unbelievable."
As of a week ago, it still was very much a work in progress. Lorrenda allowed for guesses based upon certain elements he had piled up in the back of his Nissan Xterra, parked outside Features Costumes in Palma Ceia Park. The contents included:
- Six bags of cotton balls.
- About 50 square feet of white cotton material.
- A roll of gray duct tape.
- Several long coils of barbed wire. (No, not fake barbed wire. Actual pointy, scary barbed wire.)
- An Imperial German-style pith helmet.
- A pile of plastic sheeting.
- Inflatable orange water wings.
Lorrenda grinned. "Don't have a clue, right?"
No, but that can't all be for the same costume. And, dude, you can't go wandering around Guavaween wearing barbed wire.
"No, it'll be safe. You'll see. I'll send you pictures."
Sure. The cops might need them for evidence.
Features Costumes owner Duane Wendel said sales at his store, which also sells discounted Guavaween tickets, have mirrored many national trends.
Big summer movies tend to influence outfits, so Star Wars and Batman Begins have done well. Zorro has been popular among men and women, likely owing to today's release of The Legend of Zorro, the sequel to 1998's hit The Mask of Zorro.
More women seem to be choosing sexier apparel for Halloween and Guavaween every year, Wendel said. That's also been true at Party City, on N Dale Mabry Highway.
"They're getting more and more sexy every year," said Johnny Rodriguez, a Party City manager. "We had a sexy Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz that keeps selling out. I've ordered it several times."
And how does the sexy Dorothy compare with, say, the Judy Garland version?
"The skirt's a little shorter, more half-thigh length instead of over the knee," Rodriguez said. "And, of course, you see more cleavage."
Wendel's stores saw plenty of business from a local party that required attendees wear something "Oz-related." Some, of course, dressed in the traditional Wizard of Oz genre.
Others took greater liberties, dressing as rocker-turned-reality-TV-star Ozzy Osbourne or his daughter Kelly.
Pushing the envelope further, Wendel said, some attendees dressed as prisoners or wardens, taking their cue from the ultra-violent prison series Oz, which ran for six seasons on HBO.
Star Wars characters from throughout the series' six films have been big at both shops, with Darth Vader a particular favorite among kids. (Sorry, Lando Calrissian. Maybe next year.)
One Party City shopper was disappointed to learn Princess Leia was sold out, so Rodriguez offered a solution: Get the angel costume, roll your hair up into those sticky buns, and, bam, you're Leia. Hermione from the Harry Potter series? No costume, either. But buy the Harry Potter robe, look girlie, and, bam, you're Hermione.
Adopting the sexy plan outside Features last week were sisters Kassie and Allie Wilson, restaurant servers who live in Sun Bay South.
Kassie, 23, was putting together a "fallen angel" outfit, which she explained as "hot angel goes bad, with lots of leg and a little smeared lipstick."
Allie, 25, added: "Like Courtney Love, but hot."
Big sis was contrasting with her "horny devil" outfit. "At Guavaween," she said, "all bets are off."
Back at Party City, Rodriguez said the beer keg costume - which actually boasts a working tap and a reservoir that holds about 12 ounces of beer - sold out on Tuesday. So if Guavaween vendors wonder why beer sales are down, they should just look for the guys in the crowd pumping their kegs.
Men have tended toward comical costumes this year, Wendel said, while sales of horror-related and otherwise gruesome costumes are down. However, Dracula and Phantom of the Opera outfits sell well every year.
Even if a costume isn't graphic or bloody, it can still betray a dark sense of humor. For example, Wendel said, when a boy made news for being stung to death by killer bees a few years ago, a few bee-covered costumes showed up at Guavaween.
And nothing's better than slyly commenting on the most current local event, Hurricane Wilma. A few women have been spotted hooking up Wilma Flintstone costumes.
But the standbys rule. Elvis never goes out of style, Wendel said, and he doesn't mean Costello.
"One of the things that amazes me is that year in year out, the most popular costume is Elvis," he said. "Not a week goes by that we don't rent an Elvis costume. The outfit and the hair and the glasses, you put that on and you're automatically Elvis, no matter what else you look like."
Among live celebrities, Johnny Depp has been popular this year, in a range of incarnations. Pirate themes are always a hit in Tampa but are especially hot this year, with Depp's Jack Sparrow character from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl all the rage. Add in a run on duds from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, and it's all Depp, all the time.
No matter the look, the point of Halloween and Guavaween is to let a little fantasy and fun into people's lives, Wendel said.
"Halloween gives them a chance to be what they're not, to broaden their horizons and have fun being someone else," he said. "People seem to always have a good time being in costume."
Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 226-3431.