Hallo Texas!

Traditional Johnny

My job is sending us all to the great and powerful Austin, TX during Halloween this year. I've never been there when a festival isn't going on, so I'm excited that we're going to take over Airbnb style and create our own madness!

So the challenge is coming up with a jESiO-worthy costume that will fit in a carry-on suitcase. I'm pretty close to deciding on Johnny Depp. The problem is, there are so many Johnny's that I've got to edit down my choices.

Traditional Johnny (above) is just me, a cool scarf and some trinkets and amulets and tattoos and shaded glasses. While this is easy, it's also not too far from my normal style and I'd likely just be labeled a generic "bohemian." Maybe if I drew a pencil stache? I mean, Airbnb is obsessed with mustaches anyway so it fits.

Cry-Baby Johnny: John Waters related costumes are always a good idea. This one would be easy. Hair gel, white t-shirt and ripped jeans. Leather jacket. Eye tattoo. It's a good costume but runs risk of being labeled generic Rockabilly Dude or James Dean--though hopefully the eye tattoo would make it stand out a bit more. 

Edward Scissorhands Johnny: God, I love this one so. But black hair dye and a rental house on the company dime probably don't mesh. Same with, well, scissor hands. And compiling and transporting a better Steampunk outfit than any Comic-Con kid circa 2010 could do sounds challenging.  Maybe I'll save this one for another event and convince a girlfriend to go as Winona Ryder's character...

Donnie Brasco Johnny: This one is super-easy with the wardrobe. I've got the jacket and plenty of gaudy fake gold 70s jewelry to amplify. But without Al Pacino or a scruffy Jersey accent, I am doubtful I can pull this one off properly. 

Fear and Loathing Johnny: This is a high contender. It's an iconic character that require a Hawaiian shirt, Gilligan hat, aviators and a cigarette holder (which can easily be recycled from my Breakfast at Tiffany's Hepburn costume). Only downside: the costume really becomes Hunter S. Thompson and not Johnny Depp.

Chocolate Factory Johnny: This would be fun sheerly for the fashion aspect. The hat-finding experience and jacket-embellishing process would both be a lot of fun for me. I'd likely need a wig, though....and I may end up just looking like a non-specific Dandy. Maybe if I added to it with a lot of candy (which is a great thing to have on hand on Halloween), it'd be more obvious?

Alice in Wonderland Johnny: Obviously the big awesome of this Johnny costume is I'd get to carry around a freaking RABBIT! I'd also get to have crazy make-up. The same problem as Scissorhands shows up here, though...I'm on a plane and in a rental so I have limited space. Maybe this one should be shelved for a later group costume where we can do Queen of Hearts and Alice etc.