Unlike the majority of people who stroll through life dressed as pirates, Greg Watson doesn't have a fetish for all things Argh! Instead, Watson gussied up as a pirate for his girlfriend's grandmother's birthday party—and liked the look so much he wore it to work at Quicksilver Boardriders Club.

BLACK T-SHIRT, $1 at Goodwill (1765 Sixth Ave S).

Armed with a Goodwill T-shirt and a dream, Watson set about crafting his pirate costume on the morning of the party. After handcrafting a skull stencil, Watson applied the stencil to the shirt with acrylic paint in a pump-spray bottle. "This is what I got," says he.

SHORTS, $32, WRISTBAND, $5, TUBE SOCKS, $3 at Hot Topic (1601 5th Ave., 624-7471).

Prior to Quicksilver, Watson worked at Old Navy, where employees were treated to themed-dress days. Watson's favorite: crazy-shorts-and-striped-socks day, for which Watson bought these shorts and socks.

COSTUME BEADS, $3, and PLAY SWORD, $5 at the Dollar Store (2220 NW Market St, 297-1202).

Both items bought for Watson's girlfriend's grandma's birthday party.

BANDANNA, $1.89 at Rite Aid (319 Pike St, 223-0512).

"I bought this for my last birthday party, when I dressed all in white and red," says Watson. According to Gay Semiotics, Hal Fischer's 1977 study of visual coding among homosexual men, red handkerchiefs are "used as signifiers for behavior that is often regarded as deviant or abnormal."

SNEAKERS by DC Shoes, $75 at Quicksilver Board Riders Club (409 Pike St, 625-6959).

Watson got an employee discount on his stylish shoes.

SILVER RING, $45 at jewelry shop north of Baghdad, Iraq.

"I was there from Mach 2003 to March 2004," says Watson. "It was intense." While the U.S. military reported 605 casualties during the time Watson spent in Iraq, he enjoyed a nonfatal year working for a construction contractor.