New Years Eve 2010 - Celebrate in Style!

2010 is approaching, and we all want to celebrate in style for the marking of the start of a new decade.

New Year's Eve in New York City poses seemingly endless possibilities - Where to go? What to do? There are so many games in town, it's hard to choose... or even to know what's out there to choose from.

Luckily, New Year's Eve Central can offer you a clue into your New Years nightlife options in NYC. Premium parties, open bars, lounges, clubs, and a variety of celebrations can all be found in the New Year's Even Central directory. And from the looks of it, there will be parties almost everywhere to ring in 2010!

When the Elves Come Marching In

We talked quite a bit about Santa in the last blog entry, particularly because of the upcoming SantaCon. But what about the little guys who keep Mr. Kringle up and running?

Let's talk about elves, baby. In particular, let's talk about elf costumes and some great options for dressing the part of one of Santa's helpers.

For starters, there is the classic Red and Green Velvet Elf Costume, which makes a splendid stand-alone costume or a base for holiday elven attire. Slip on the velvet one-piece red and green tunic, wrap the golden cord belt around your waist, on with the included hat and shoes, and off you go! There are golden belts and pom poms attached to the garment as well.

Not in the market for velvet elvishness? There's also the simpler, matte style Red and Green Elf Tunic to serve as your base garment or stand-alone. This tunic comes with a hat, cord belt, and shoes, all in red and green alternating colors. There are no bells on this one, but there are certainly pom poms! Bells can be added on to the belt, hat, or shoes with a bit of do-it-yourself needle and thread work.

For elvish wear of a solid color, there's the Green Peter Pan Costume, which comes with a tunic, hat, and tights, all in green. And of course, since elves like cord belts (so it seems?!), there's a white cord belt included as well. This tunic has dagged edges on the hem and sleeves, as well as a folded collar and a lace-up neck.

An even simpler green elf can be created with the Simple Green Elf Costume. Really to the point: green pull-over tunic without sleeves, a black sash, and green hat.

Already got an elf costume base? Looking to accessorize, perhaps?

Though not technically an accessory, the green adult long-sleeved bodysuit adds form fitted style to an elf ensemble. Also in the form fitting vein, there are Red and Green parti-colored tights and children's seamless green tights.

More formally an accessory: Green plush elf shoes. And then there are green elf suspenders and red fuzzy Santa hats, for outfitting the mini helpers in the style of their boss man, Mr. Kringle. And for your bag of goodies, use a velvet Santa Sack. Red and gold, with a shoulder strap - perfect for hauling gifts for the big guy.

And these are only a few ideas for holiday elf attire. Go classic... or even go wild. Assemble a basic elf costume, and then add some punk rock accessories for a "hardcore" look, or a mardi gras mask for an even greater festive look, or maybe even some hippy accessories to send a Peace on Earth message all around!

SantaCon is coming to town. What to wear?!

SantaCon is coming to town, and sooner than you think! For this wild street-roving spectacle of Santas, what's a well-dressed Chris Kringle to wear?

The key to Santa style is, as with all splendid attire, the basics plus the right accessories. Basic Santa suits come in a variety of materials. For example, there are flannel Santa suits, plush Santa suits, velour Santas suits, and even velvet suits. All of these give you your basic color scheme and shape: red jacket and pants trimmed in white fur (most often faux fur), red hat trimmed in the white fur, and a nice wide belt. Some suits come with Santa boot tops as well, which is a plus.

For those of you Santas on a budget, consider the economical complete Santa suit made of felt. It makes a great low priced Santa suit option.

But where do you go from here? Accessorize!

What first? The beard! There's always the classic white Santa beard, which often comes with an accompanying white wig. But if you are looking for a Santa beard that only slightly defies the expected, there are Uncle Sam beards for a slightly pointier look and Super Deluxe Santa beards for a really full-coverage type mega beard effect. Then there economy Santa beards, often called the "Xtra Long Beard and Moustache," which give the basic Santa beard look.

To deviate a bit from the "classic" Santa beard, there are beards in colors other than white, of course! A slightly younger looking Santa might go for a Character Beard in light brown or grey, or even a blond full coverage beard. And a more WILD Santa would be well suited to have a spiky Caveman beard and wig! Furthermore, there are Abe Lincoln beards to consider, thick and curly black beards, and even pirate goatees and moustache sets, for a really non-traditional look.

Once you've got your Santa facial hair under control, you can look to other important accessories.

Gloves make a great addition. White polyester gloves provide one simple option, as do white nylon snap close gloves. There are also the classic black leather-looking gloves with cuffs. And for funkier Santas - whom we see especially during SantaCon! - there are black studded leather-looking gloves, Glow in the Dark Skeleton hand gloves, and even gloves that look like black hairy monster hands!

For reading those lists of wishes, Santa glasses come in handy. Ben Franklin glasses make great Santa glasses, with their golden square frames. Character glasses with round frames offer another basic option for Santa Claus attire. For the cool-kat Claus, there are funky sun glasses in any variety of shapes and sizes.

Other splendid accessories include boot tops, as mentioned above, for those Santas who don't have tall riding boots of their own. The belt is another biggy to consider, and not just because most Santas have considerably waist-lines! How big will your buckle be? And what color? Will it be a belt with the classic gold buckle? Or maybe a belt with the buckle in black? Or maybe you'll forgo the belt and jacket and go with Santa suspenders instead?

And the hat! You can't forget the classic Santa head covering red fur trimmed hat. There are basic Santa hats, for Santas on a budget, and there are fuzzy Santa hats in the same red and white color scheme. From there, there are Santa hats in colors other than red, ranging from blue to green, to camouflage even.

Once you've got your basic suit and accessories taken care of, you can take your Santa Claus even further, if you like. Biker Santas, plumber Santas, pirate Santas, and even gorilla Santas are all entirely possible to help make your SantaCon crawl into an even greater spectacle. The sky's the limit, so get on your sleigh and get out there to see what kind of Chris Kringle costume you can put together for this year's festivities!

Moustache Party? All the Rage!

Whether you call it a moustache or a mustache or perhaps even a mini beard, one thing is for sure - the Moustache Party is a theme event that's slowly taking the party scene by storm!

It seems that many people have more fun at parties where everyone has a "party moustache" (or "party mustache," depending on how you prefer to spell it!). But...

What if you can't just grow a moustache in time for the party?!

Well, Character Moustaches provide one possible, realistic solution. These types of fake facial hair stick on to your upper lip with spirit gum or double sided tap (such as Topstick or Toupee Tape). These are made with real human hair and come in Black, Blonde, Dark Grey, Light Brown, Light Grey, Medium Brown. The Rubie's Character Moustaches are probably one of the most realistic looking costume moustaches you will find.

Then there's the European style Moustache, the Handlebar Moustache, the Mandarin Moustache, the Winchester Moustache, and the Zapata Moustache, all from the Rubie's line.

But, what if you have MULTIPLE moustache parties coming up? What if you need a different moustached look for each of the thrilling facial hair festivities? There's always the very versatile 6-Way Moustache that clips to your nose. It's specifically billed as a "party moustache," in fact, and you can "shape it any way you like."

And if your moustache party happens to require that you go that extra yard, there are always fake sideburns to stick on with spirit gum or double stick tape, and fake goatees to give you that extra-dashing look.

We've been seeing moustache party-goers increasing in numbers. Why, just this morning, someone came into New York Costumes to purchase 200 moustaches! It's wild.

So, are you getting your moustache party groove on?

Inside the Halloween shopping RUSH!

We were trying to document the Halloween shopping rush a bit from the store, and we did get a good bit of footage on Friday, Oct 30.









But your humble narrator was drafted to help out as a cashier during CRUNCH time on Saturday, Oct 31. So, unfortunately, we have no video footage from the absolute madness of shoppers trying to meet all of their Halloween needs before the eve itself.

We were so jam packed with last minute costume shoppers, that we had to hold a line outside the store, letting people in only in small bursts. And our store covers a lot of square footage! That being said, the line ran all the way to the back end of it.

While I was doing my time on the cash register on the 31st, I worked furiously alongside 5 other cashiers. It was the kind of onslaught that really gets you going. It was like a well-oiled machine, actually. I would have loved to have gotten a photo of the line of us working during the height of the rush. I did, however, get a shot of the line outside, as you can see at left there.

It was a mad, mad rush, and yet tons of fun to surf!

Masquerade Costumes NYC

311 W 43rd Street

New York City