Modern Witch/Ninja Mannequin Massacre: Halloween 2009

CARNAGE!

The frenzygals decided to "act out" a little bit to celebrate our first Halloween in business. We had a lot of fun creating this display. It is deceptively simple—we spent weeks planning and acquiring the necessary props for this display.
Surprisingly little of it was actually made by us, though. In fact, the total amount of hand-made object for these windows was limited to:
Maureen knitted those wicked-awesome, thigh-high legwarmers!
Kris made the spellbook from an old dictionary and some random ephemera/stamps/ink.
We put eyeballs in the monkey pod stalks at the front of the display.
We shredded the pink dress and the Undertaker Tshirt, and we used red tulle to make the "blood sprays".
Maureen sewed the muslin backdrop, and Kris used "spray blood" to finish the massacre window.
The ninja costume is a black turtleneck, black pants, black socks, black gloves, a standard black eye mask, and a black pillowcase. EASY!

Details matter at frenzy: the Witch is controlling the Ninja by using the Ninja Mind Control spell on the open page in the spellbook. We looked up ingredients from Zombie powder used by Haitian witch doctors to add some authenticity. Our wicked lady also has acquired the Brain, Heart, and Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz display. Her books include an astronomy text, for use with her telescope, and field guides to demons and other spirits. Of course, being a Modern Witch, we eschewed a traditional cauldron in favor of a crockpot.

One last shoutout: the great spiderweb in the side window was made for us by Judy McCardel of Underfoot Weavers in Danville, Ohio!

Frenzy Does Hardcore-Pretty

Ordinarily, when Frenzy customers come looking for formal dresses, we ask questions about the event to help the ladies select an appropriate frock. Last weekend, we were inundated with lovely young ladies who were looking for dresses. When we asked what type of event they were attending, we got an unexpected answer: A Rugby Match. And not only were these ladies attending a rugby match in formal wear, they were PLAYING in the match in formal wear. Apparently, every year the Kenyon College Women's Rugby club plays a "formal" match.

Needless to say, we totally approved of the idea and scrounged around to find dresses that had been damaged during the course of the year that we could supply to them at a lower cost. We managed to find about 10 dresses that suited their needs.

Of course, we HAD to go see how our lovely dresses held up to the rigors of rugby. Those women ROCKED! Serious punishment was meted out, all in lacey, sparkly packages! Ladies of the Kenyon Women's Rugby Team, you're our KICK-ASS Chicks of the Week!

Precious Metals/Glam Rock

One of the hottest fashion trends forecast for the fall and winter is Rock Chic. In other words, the rest of the world has finally caught on that rockers have a super sweet aesthetic of their own, and the fashionistas of the world want to capitalize by faking a hard, studs-and-spikes, devil-may-care, punk edge that is legitimately owned by those who really understand and enjoy the bands and fans who live the rock-and-roll, heavy metal lyrics that inspired this "trend." (OK, enough editorializing. I suppose it is nice that all of the true "metalheads" are finally getting to call everyone else "posers.")

Anyway, we decided to create a "Precious Metals" window display (to exploit the trend, I admit!) that focused on both metallic accents (also a hot trend) and a rock-and-roll theme. We paired silver stilettos with metal-band Tees, and wrapped it all up with some music-themed decor to create this fun display.

Most of the clothing items in this display were straight off the rack. You'll notice the reemergence of Maureen's silver "Tin Woodswoman" skirt. Also, Kris made the bright orange/pink necklace worn by the 80s chick in the left window. But the crowning achievement of this display is Maureen's handmade knit punk mohawk hat.