Key West body paint might be the largest single phenomenon that makes Fantasy Fest one of the largest events of the year. Body paint is often the costume of choice for a lot of people attending Fantasy Fest. It's a great way to go naked without really exposing everything you have. Key West body paint is an art form, and indeed body paint artists come to town for this major event. Local tatoo artists get in on the body paint action as well, applying their craft to more than just one medium. The styles and skills range from pretty good to truly amazing. I saw some body paint costumes that I thought were actual cloth costumes at first glance.
If body painting is done by an expert artist, the paint will look like really tight clothing. Even denim. I saw a woman wearing a western theme body paint costume, with red tied shirt on top and cutoff denim shorts on the bottom. You could tell the shirt was paint but the shorts looked real. Lots of women chose to have lingerie painted on. How to get a perfect fit...use body paint!
Sometimes Key West body paint becomes a show when artists apply their craft in a storefront window. Some nights during Fantasty Fest, for example, you can stroll past Fast Buck Freddie's, a gift store famous for its large display windows and ever-changing displays created by local artists. It's kind of like the windows at Macy's in New York at Christmastime. Anyway, during Fantasy Fest, they get a Key West body paint artist to paint willing and daring customers right in the display window. It's a tight squeeze, but the customer sits on a stool with her back to the street and the body paint artist applies the "costume". It's a spectacle and of course there's always a small crowd watching.
