What is she wearing??

[Sharsarannon]

What's the weirdest outfit or thing you've seen someone wear into a store?

Let's keep this thread from diverting into the Grossest outfit or the Skankiest outfit.
I don't mean disgusting, I mean Just Plain Weird.

Those ensembles you see people in and go, " What. The Heck."
Abhor them, admire them, pity them, but our customers have got a tendency to show up in the darndest things.
What's your story?

[JustADude]

I don't really consider much to be actually "weird", but there's two that are a tossup for coolest and most unusual:

1) A load of Rennies showing up in full Celtic(-ish) regalia, including the Woad(-equivalent). The looks from the "normal" folk when they saw a cafe-area full of people right out of the 5th Century sipping mochas and Chai and laughing with each other were priceless.

and

2) A guy in an Uber-realistic werewolf costume who was on his way to a not-on-date Halloween party. It made my coworker at the time running screaming into the back room before remembered he still had the head on and pulled it off to order.

[Sharsarannon]

I don't really consider much to be actually "weird", but there's two that are a tossup for coolest and most unusual:

1) A load of Rennies showing up in full Celtic(-ish) regalia, including the Woad(-equivalent). The looks from the "normal" folk when they saw a cafe-area full of people right out of the 5th Century sipping mochas and Chai and laughing with each other were priceless.

and

2) A guy in an Uber-realistic werewolf costume who was on his way to a not-on-date Halloween party. It made my coworker at the time running screaming into the back room before remembered he still had the head on and pulled it off to order.

Priceless.
Mind you, about that first one- So guilty myself. This is what is known as "freaking the mundanes" in rennie and reenactment circles. We do this a lot, not on purpose, but sometimes on your way someplace you have to stop and eat, or get gas, or rush into a store and grab some food for the picnic or feast..
I have walked into a Rubio's Mexican Grill and gotten long stares only to realize minutes later that I was still dressed like a 16th century german swordsman (or swordswoman, if the usual term applied equally confuses you).

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I've done that so often I forget what I'm wearing while I'm doing it. It takes me a few seconds to realize why I'm being stared at. I have absolutley 0 self-consciousness anymore when I do it. See my avatar? We stopped for lunch in a Hardees on the way to this event. In a tiny little town. Yes, I got stared at some.

I had three customers at Kinkos that regularly dressed crazy. One was a tiny little man who looked just like a shaved chiuhuahua. He wore a crochetted ladie's cap, old-lady style ear-"bobs" with big, glitzy fake pearls and stones, a cocktail ring, a ladies scarf, pearls, and carried a big, clear plastic purse with huge flowers on it. With regular jeans and t-shirt. Yes, he was crazy. But pleasant enough.

One was a young woman who wore a wool hat, wool gloves, a sweatshirt, and long pants year round. This is South Carolina. I don't know how she didn't die from the heat. She had, among other things, a germ and contageon phobia. Nice lady, though.

And one was a 6 foot tall, built like a refridgerator, considerably overweight black woman who claimed to be a Reverend of a church and a "Doctor of Cosmetology." Yeah. Came in wearing a short gold lame little girl dress with a dropped hemline and a box pleated skirt. Big bow at dropped waist. Matching gold lame hat with big bow and gold flower on it. Gold mary janes with gold rhinestones all over them. Hair in Shirley Temple curls. Travelled with a small entourage of equally crazy people who spent all their time kissing her ass and acting like tools. She was a complete and total psychobitch.

[AnaKhouri]

I have walked into restaurants and the like while still wearing my anime cosplay. It's always fun.

We used to have these two customers come in a lot, young people who were Goths. I don't mean emo-punk-Hot Topic-Avenged Sevenfold Goths. I mean SERIOUS Goths. The man invariably wore Crow makeup, they both had long trench coats, and the girl had a crown of thorns tattooed on her forehead (it always looked the same so I am pretty sure it was a tattoo). They were always polite and I liked when they came in to see the looks on other customers' faces!

Once I saw a girl in Gothic Lolita getup, complete with bonnet. She was cute.

We also have a fairly regular customer, an Asian lady who is not all that old, who wears 50's style dresses, a hat and gloves.

[XCashier]

I haven't got the guts to "freak out the mundanes" unless I'm with several other similarly-dressed people. Or it's Halloween (and on Halloween, you've got to expect some costumed folks in your store; I'm disappointed if I don't see any!).

I do remember a customer at the pet food store dressed as Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. It was nowhere near Halloween, but the costume was very pretty and I complimented her on it.

I've seen some very bad transvestites come through my lines. I mean, guys who make Corporal Klinger look like Marilyn Monroe! A few hints for trannies:

1. Shave. Makeup does not cover a five o'clock shadow.
2. If you have a moustache, don't wear a dress. If you want to wear a dress, shave the stache.
3. And your legs.

[Shangri-laschild]

I hung out with the artsey/goth kids in high school which made for interesting outfits. My one friend was thrilled when my dad gave her his three piece gold corderoy suit. With us it's more screw with the students then freak out the mundies since most of the stares were gotten on campus. Plus having a best friend back then who's idea of amusing herself in the morning was to close her eyes and reach into the closet and grab a top and some pants (or a skirt if she got that first) and wear it no matter what kind of got me to a point where that stuff amuses me more than anything. *shrug* If you want to have fun with what you're wearing then go for it!

[wagegoth]

A regular around here is a little old lady who likes to dress as a cowgirl or a fairy princess.

Wondercon makes for some interesting sightings in the little shops around Moscone Center. You'll have Federation officers waiting in line with anime cosplayers and Marvel and DC superheroes for drinks and snacks (cheaper than inside at the concessions).

The easiest sighting is to go into San Francisco. Go to the Castro or the Haight or just down on Market pretty much anytime will lead to some interesting sightings. Lots of goths, bike messengers, the Silver Man (although I never saw him in a store), I did see the lovely twin sisters who always dressed exactly alike in very fifties style with hats and gloves (they passed away many years ago, San Francisco institution) shopping in the old downtown Emporium store (I think it was there, long time ago), drag queens, etc.

[BarbieGirl]

Around here I haven't seen too many oddly dressed people. Although at my many jobs at the mall when it started to get warm out we would get a lot of badly dressed trannies. Shoes that were noticeably to big, bra's way too tight. If they had only gotten clothes that fit they could have pulled it off pretty well.

[Silvercat]

My renfaire guild always goes out for pizza at the end of faire. We're usually still (mostly) in garb (it's always after tearing down the site at least some of us gave up and put on jeans, especially if it's been a hot miserable weekend)

I've gone to the post office in a hippari (japanese peasant shirt) and obi. Got some nice comments on it.

Last time I went to sushi we went to a used bookstore afterwards. I was in kimono. No odd reactions that I noticed, but I was kinda focussed on books.

[1756GR2]

Tall, slim much older woman who always wears pegged black pants, zebra print hat with matching stilettos, bag and wide belt. Not always the same accessory pieces, but always accessorized in glittery zebra.

One fellow who gave me quite the start. Came flying out of the bathroom when we were still just outside the Walmart potties. Up in my face, obviously chemically altered state, wearing orange-red devil contact lenses. He was bad enough on his own, but I wasn't anywhere near expecting those lenses.

While I love the "real" Gothic folk with all my heart, the lanky very dark fellow who came in carrying a sheaf of parchment-like forms and asked me to sign a contract to give him my soul just creeped me out at the same time I was laughing at it.

And I go a lot of places in my 18th century clothing. Pumping gas, dining, grocery store picking up food to cook for our group. Neighbors are used to my white linens lying on the grass to bleach. It's second nature to me, going on 23 years in the hobby. I'm another one of us who could be written about in this thread.

[Primer]

Tall, slim much older woman who always wears pegged black pants, zebra print hat with matching stilettos, bag and wide belt. Not always the same accessory pieces, but always accessorized in glittery zebra.

Peg Bundy??

[RetailWorkhorse]

I guess I should be a "SPOTTED!!" in this thread. Took a bit, but I remembered that last year for Talk Like A Pirate Day I dressed up as a pirate. Had lost my eyepatch at the time but I made up for it by keeping my (then dyed black) hair in front of my eye. I had the sash and I carried around one of our little plastic swords.

All this happened at work.

My coworker, M, dresses up anytime she gets the chance.

[Difdi]

A friend of mine often plays a victim during disaster/terrorism drills in the area. To aid in this, he owns a very complete stage makeup kit, and is trained to use it.

The looks on people's faces are, according to him, utterly priceless, when he walks into a place to buy a drink after the drill. Imagine a man covered head to toe in dripping gore, bomb fragments and debris embedded in his skin, looking like he just got up and walked out of an autopsy.

[Midnight12]

I suppose it would have been weird to the guests at the hotel or those who didn't know. Basically over 1500 people in anime or sci-fi costume at the Adam's mark hotel...and I mean in full out character costume, some actual animals with body paint and all AND PROPS that look like actual weapons. (Yes, many people stopped and asked)