When you're a kid, as far as holidays go, in the order of importance (and excitement) there's Christmas, then Halloween. The older you get and as you become an adult, Christmas is still great but it changes significantly because you no longer receive a pile of gifts (or two weeks off, for that matter). But Halloween, strangely enough, is that magical holiday that actually becomes more fun once you become an adult. Sure, trick-or-treating is gone, but it's been replaced with parties serving cocktails. And many adults actually take dressing up in costumes very seriously—guys tend to be creative, while ladies tend to be, well, sexy (check out photos from the weekend's Grave Diggers Ball, for example).
Halloween is tomorrow and some of you will be dressing up for the occasion at work (if you have a fun boss) and, most importantly, at play when you hit the parties tomorrow night (check out the list of parties I compiled on my Dusk Till Dawn blog).
There are some people who wear costumes or uniforms year-round, however, because of their professions. I talked to three Charlotteans about their costume-like work lives.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver
Uniform: Driver suit, made of fire-retardant material, along with racing helmet.
“Some drivers carry some superstitious stuff in their cars. I just have the bare minimum—all that other stuff adds weight. I have a big water bottle in there and that’s about all I need. Wearing this suit makes you want to put shorts on because it gets really hot. It’s usually about 30 degrees hotter inside the car than the outside temperature. You sweat so much that you don’t need to go to the bathroom during the race.”
Executive Chef at Cantina 1511 (Dilworth location)
Uniform: Black chef pants and coat.
“I oversee the operations at an authentic Mexican restaurant, as far as ordering, receiving, food quality, food standards, and health standards. I’m a self-taught chef with over 22 years' experience. In the kitchen on a typical busy Friday or Saturday night there’s a lot of communication—not like what you see on these [reality TV] shows as far as yelling and screaming and stuff like that. It’s more of a controlled chaos, as we like to call it.”
Drag Queen, Dancer, Performer
Costume: Dresses like a woman, complete with body pads, a body shaper, six layers of tights, stage makeup, wig, and high heels.
“It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get dressed—I’m used to it because I’ve been doing it for awhile. I also glue my eyebrows down with a glue stick and cover them up with makeup so you can’t see them. Then I draw them on. I wear seven inch heels—nothing less—because I’m only 5’4”. They’re actually not bad, but sometimes after wearing them for 14 hours it kind of hurts.”
Halloween is tomorrow and some of you will be dressing up for the occasion at work (if you have a fun boss) and, most importantly, at play when you hit the parties tomorrow night (check out the list of parties I compiled on my Dusk Till Dawn blog).
There are some people who wear costumes or uniforms year-round, however, because of their professions. I talked to three Charlotteans about their costume-like work lives.
Photo credit: Autostock/joeylogano.com
Joey LoganoNASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver
Uniform: Driver suit, made of fire-retardant material, along with racing helmet.
“Some drivers carry some superstitious stuff in their cars. I just have the bare minimum—all that other stuff adds weight. I have a big water bottle in there and that’s about all I need. Wearing this suit makes you want to put shorts on because it gets really hot. It’s usually about 30 degrees hotter inside the car than the outside temperature. You sweat so much that you don’t need to go to the bathroom during the race.”
Photo credit: facebook.com/cantina1511
Phil CarterExecutive Chef at Cantina 1511 (Dilworth location)
Uniform: Black chef pants and coat.
“I oversee the operations at an authentic Mexican restaurant, as far as ordering, receiving, food quality, food standards, and health standards. I’m a self-taught chef with over 22 years' experience. In the kitchen on a typical busy Friday or Saturday night there’s a lot of communication—not like what you see on these [reality TV] shows as far as yelling and screaming and stuff like that. It’s more of a controlled chaos, as we like to call it.”
Photo credit: facebook.com/angelalopeznc
Angela Lopez (Real name: Carlos Capps)Drag Queen, Dancer, Performer
Costume: Dresses like a woman, complete with body pads, a body shaper, six layers of tights, stage makeup, wig, and high heels.
“It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get dressed—I’m used to it because I’ve been doing it for awhile. I also glue my eyebrows down with a glue stick and cover them up with makeup so you can’t see them. Then I draw them on. I wear seven inch heels—nothing less—because I’m only 5’4”. They’re actually not bad, but sometimes after wearing them for 14 hours it kind of hurts.”
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