Houston & The Four Seasons

Houston situated in Harris County Texas is the fourth largest city in the USA, home to 2.3 million people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds and has a growing immigrant community.  Its economy has a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, oilfield equipment and healthcare.  The Port of Houston is the second largest in the States in terms of total cargo handled and of course who could forget it is the home of the Johnson Space Centre, who remembers the immortal words 'Houston...We have a problem'

But probably for most people living outside Houston thats as much as they know, the first foundations were only built in 1836 and to be honest it lacks an identity, no real history to hang its hat on which of course is replicated across many cities in the US and why Americans love all our Kings and Queens and stuff. To be fair it has a Museum District which attracts seven million visitors a year, a strong performing arts scene and decent friendly folk, but to be honest it is rather a business destination than a tourist hotspot and that is why we are here of course

The Four Seasons is a 5* luxury hotel situated in the downtown business and financial district 'resonating with the cosmopolitan elegance and refined Southern charm that characterise Houston' its web site claims. Very eloquent but to the average bod on the street it means the rooms are spacious, the mattresses are almost two feet thick,  the power shower is hot and works at Warp Factor 8, the bathroom includes lots of high end smelly freebies and for those of you so inclined (and don't say you don't) the towels are worth nicking as they are still soft and fluffy after three washes. It was nice and we were grateful of the offer to stay there at heavily discounted rates because we were attending the convention, although it had to be said add an extra and they soon clawed it back... $6 for a coffee !!!!

Another indication of the hotel's opulence were the very polite blokes wearing smart brown uniforms ever present whenever a door needed opening, whether you wanted it opened or not, and irritatingly tipping seemed to be the protocol for this simple service, as opposed to it being a selfless act of common courtesy. For Tom and Andy the latter created something of a challenge as both partake in the pariah of bad habits, smoking, and nipping out for a quick puff became expensive or left them with a sense of unease because having not crossed the Concierge's palm with silver he would smile insincerely and say "Its always a pleasure sir"

To that end it became a game of cat and mouse as the two intrepid smokers came up with a number of strategies to avoid being repeatedly stung. Tiptoeing stealthily up to the glass doors whilst the Concierge was otherwise engaged, or using two separate doors simultaneously seemed good ideas but as soon as  they got their mitts on the handle it would trigger a sixth sense and quick as a flash he would be there, or if he felt there was the slightest possibility he might not make it he would whistle and if like magic another smart brown suit would appear and perform the duty with that same insincerity!! "Its always a pleasure sir"

 Its a bloody art we can tell you and having discounted abseiling on the grounds that they had insufficient sheets to cover the fifteen floors Tom, ever resourceful, found a Fire Escape which seemed to be the perfect solution...that was until the Fire Alarm went off!! 

Anyhow the Halloween & Fancy Dress Expo was two days away so Big Frank and the Alterego team took time out to explore the neighbourhood and sample some of the many excellent culinary delights on offer, Halloween and Costumes would consume most of our time on this trip so it was nice to chill something the team gets little chance to do together

      

Over the Pond

Heathrow Airport early doors on the 20th January checking in for our British Airways scheduled flight to Houston...... together with a few sherpas to help us carry the cases, the consequence of Sarah packing Andy's and Big Frank's bags.

Its a double edged sword really when a woman packs your case, almost certainly nothing will be forgotten but at the same time it will be packing overkill, every sinew of space crammed full of clothing   based on the misguided premise that we will be getting changed six times a day...sound familiar guys?? Of course most of these garments will return home unworn as neatly pressed as when we left, ready to be returned to the wardrobe awaiting the next pointless trip to somewhere in the world.

Every contingency and what if is covered, 'well what if there isn't a bath or what if there is a power cut and you can never have enough life jackets!!' Our burgeoning holdalls mis shapen by a range of gadgets, electrical devices and nibbles, sufficient to ensure our survival in the event of a nuclear war (and in some comfort we can tell you), certainly gave the X Ray machine operator something to chuckle about, after he was happy we weren't hatching some elaborate sinister plan of course.

Andy - Gone with the Fairies

Almost inevitably however this meant we had to pay excess baggage fees, which normally we would not have minded but the Boeing 747 was two thirds empty, a herd of elephants could have boarded and not compromised the planes ability to take of, so being penalised for being two kilos over our limit was somewhat irritating. Im sure the nice lady at check in would have known the passenger manifest and to be honest there was never going to be a last minute rush for this flight.

But every cloud has a silver lining, we were able to have four seats each, stretch out and get some good sleep and the Captain to be fair did let us take his picture in the cockpit with Big Frank when we got to Houston.  A quick cab ride and we were soon ensconced in the rather plush Four Seasons Hotel (special show rates we hasten to add) ideally situated for the Convention Centre the home of the Halloween & Expo Show 2011

Ready Steady Go

Embarking on a trip of this nature, mixing business with pleasure encompassing four continents, wildly differing cultures, on planes trains ships and automobiles together with a range of weather conditions sufficient to confuse the usually reliable Michael Fish (yeh right), offers up a number of challenges in terms of 'getting ready' 

Clothing, flights, visas, accommodation and a hundred other things you know you have to do plus almost as many you never thought of all have to be sorted prior to departure and you can guarantee one or more of the ‘very’ important items is missing as the day draws ever closer (driving licence for me this time so a nice eight hour round trip to Swansea for my sins). It is amazing that something we book so far in advance, something so important almost catches us by surprise, creeping up on us and shouting ‘Boo you are going round the world tomorrow’. "Me, no, never, oh of course, oh shit".

It’s the same in the Fancy Dress industry and very akin to some of our customers buying habits:

“I need a Evil Jester Halloween costume for tonight, can you get it to me”

Where do you live sir ? (99% of these calls are from panicky single young men)

“Outer Hebrides”

“Hmmm probably not then”

“Do you know anybody that can”

“Merlin ???”

We at Alterego Fancy Dress do appreciate that you guys leave things pretty late and we do pull some amazing cats out of the bag but please give us a chance and do remember for future reference that Halloween falls on the 31st October every year......and has done since God knows when!!. Only joking it keeps us on our toes

Anyway I digress, all the Alterego Team Andy Sarah Tom & Lindsay and  Big Frank, were making the first part of this week long trip to the Halloween Party and Expo Show in Houston Texas USA, an opportunity to review and buy all the new costumes for 2011, renew acquaintances, foster new relationships in the Industry and of course have a laugh away from the office. For Andy and Big Frank it was the first part of a more challenging trip which would not see them home again until the beginning of May. 

Promises Promises

Judging by the volume of traffic passing through the Alterego Fancy Dress website over the last three months it is fair to assume there will have been many visitors who have clicked on 'Big Franks' link expecting to read interesting and stimulating content that would at the very least justify the energy expended hitting the return key.

However having whet the appetite with an opening gambit promising a 'Blog' with a difference we have quite frankly failed to deliver, indeed we have done sod all. Halloween and Christmas blew us away in terms of sales, shipping and re stocking, 16 hour days became the norm and local fast food outlets benefitted from our inability to so much as butter a couple of slices of bread and shove something in between. As a priority it was well  down the pecking order and indeed fatigue quenched any inspiration to be creative.

Well now that things have quietened down firstly we would like to thank all our customers for helping to make these two seasons so successful for Alterego, the business is growing as a result and we look forward to bringing new, exciting and innovative costumes to the market place throughout 2011 sufficient to meet all your expectations.

Anyway enough excuses and general back patting, more importantly Big Frank is now about to embark on one of those adventures we promised and in January he will fly to the USA & South America and then sail to Antarctica and South Africa before returning home to the UK for a well earned rest. His experiences will be documented on here and will no doubt throw up interest, humour and perhaps a strong dose of reality as he moves around the continents.

We all break promises from time to time but forgive us our trespasses, keep the faith and keep up to date with Frank for a bit of fun.

Alterego Fancy Dress

Big Frank is the public persona of Alterego Fancy Dress but behind the scenes four industrious partners have, since 2006, put together a successful business selling Fancy Dress Costumes and all the rasamatazz that goes with it through their Website www.alterego-fancydress.co.uk  Based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire Lindsay, Tom, Andy & Sarah have been supplying costumes outfits, shoes boots and accessories to individuals, groups and corporate customers across the UK and Europe, growing year on year as a result of their strong customer focus, pricing and by sourcing quality costumes across the globe. 

And we think that will do more or less. Every business will tell you how good they are so there is little point scribing chapters of self praise, which the reader can't possibly provenance from the comfort of his or her's armchair. It is also mind numbingly boring and as we are hoping to inject humour and genuinely interesting topics into this Blog, we really don't want you falling at the first hurdle.

But to summarise, we sell a huge range of  ladies and mens costumes, specialising in 'Back to the 80s'  'Roarin 20's', Disco & Pimp and particularly Plus Sizes XXL - XXXL . And if there's a problem, it has a fault, wrong size, wrong colour or maybe the customer just changes his or her mind we have a 'Hassle Free Returns Policy' designed to give the customer reassurance, ... and to top it off mega quick delivery. Give us a whirl, you won't be disappointed !!!!!

 

Big Frank - An Informal Introduction

The inspiration behind Big Franks creation is non too clear, but one would suggest that his monstrous good looks, rugged features and general presence bear the hallmarks of a certain Dr Henry Frankenstein,  although it is assumed that the costume makers have not mirrored the mad scientists methods by cobbling together body parts of the dead and sparked him into life by running a few thousand volts through his bonce!!
However his green pallor, tatty dinner suit, microphone and churlish grin tends to contradict the images we have of Mary Shelly's lumbering somewhat sad ogre. Indeed the designers clearly had a more friendly green giant in mind and Franks attire and microphone clearly more closely align him to Mr Sinatra, 'Old Blue Eyes' himself.
Whatever, Big Frank is an awesome costume, a Fancy Dress or Halloween outfit with a softer almost comical touch. And for all of you who boom out 'New York New York' or 'I Did it My Way' at the karioke, just imagine the response if you were wearing this 'get up'. Never mind how good your rendition is they will be loving it and will send the clapometer into orbit.
Our Big Frank will be well looked after but we are selling clones for £59.99. The outfit includes a black tattered sleeved jacket with matching cut off trousers, inflatable shoulders, green socks, green moulded hands and a superb Large Head mask. Click on Franks image below to view him on our website.

So thats enough for the time being as regards our Frank, but keep an eye on the Blog as over the next eighteen months or so there will be many surprises as he turns up in some of the remotest parts of the world to give us an insight into how the other half live. He will of course keep you updated as to events, new costumes, discounts and offers and provide a keyhole into the Fancy Dress Industry