Carbon Costume

You might think Waldo would be easy to spot in a crowd, what with his red and white striped attire. Unfortunately, he likes to hang around things like barber poles and candy canes, accompanied by people like Wenda, Woof, and Odlaw who dress similarly.

In the Street Fighter series, Guile is a US Air Force major who sets out to avenge his wingman’s death. He does this by bare-knuckle brawling M. Bison. An F-14 Tomcat would get the job done much faster, but where’s the fun in that?

In the Rocky series, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is the The Master of Disaster, The King of Sting, The Prince of Punch, and the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. He throws Rocky Balboa a bone by giving him a shot at the title. Little does he know that they’d become nemeses, and later best buds.

In Top Gun, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is one of the top fighter pilots in the Navy. His moves catch the eye of his wingmen and work their magic when enemies are locked onto his tail and ready to shoot their missiles into him. Volleyball and suntan lotion are not included.

Mr. Peanut, born Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe, has been the dapper face of the Planters snack food company since 1916. He always dresses to the nines, at least on his head, hands, and feet.

The Utz Girl is the face of a snacking empire stretching from Hanover, Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Maryland. You might consider accessorizing with the crab chips, but go with the original potato chips for the classic look. And most important of all, remember that Utz are better than nuts.

Originally called “Candied Popcorn and Peanuts”, Cracker Jack was sold at the first Chicago’s World Fair. Not only is it well known for coming with a prize, but it will be forever linked with baseball as sung in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.

Try as he might to make a new name for himself, Robert Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, will always be remembered for such classics as “Ice Ice Baby” and “Ninja Rap.” While the rapper now dresses like a member of Limp Biscuit, it’s his hi-top haircut and harem pants of the ’80s that make his costume fun to imitate.

Hip-hop pioneer, Flavor Flav has stayed true to his style despite adding reality television star and restaurateur to his resume. Combining lots of “bling” with a giant clock necklace, copying Flavor’s style probably won’t score you a model like Brigitte Nielsen but it will have people asking you for the time.

Beck has come a long way since writing songs like “Loser” and “Devil’s Haircut” but oddly enough his fashion sense is still pretty much the same. Pick up a leather jacket and dress pants at the thrift store and you can pass as ’90s or present day Beck. The boombox is optional.