MASQUERADE : Adults Can Get Into the Act With Gowns for the Belles of the Balls and Tuxedos for the Mysterious Men Who escort Them

Playing dress up becomes a grown-up game with the arrival of the holiday season’s glittering masquerade balls. From Halloween to early spring, social calendars are filled with costume balls that call for guests to don fantasy gowns or elegant tuxedos--along with beguiling masks to conceal the wearers’ identities.

These “paper faces on parade,” as Andrew Lloyd Webber describes masquerade guests in “The Phantom of the Opera,” will be decked out in the season’s fabulous evening wear.

For women that means dramatic gowns with full skirts and sparkling narrow bodices or simple and slim long dresses, many in fall’s hottest color: flaming red. Adding to the spectacle, they’ll be toting elaborate masks adorned with faux gems, ostrich feathers and lace.

Men wanting to play the phantom can sport tuxedos--preferably a vintage style for a bit of theater--and face masks.

Tom Copeland of Anaheim creates men’s face masks, hand-painted and studded with fake gems, that can heighten the drama of an ordinary black tux.

“At first men don’t want to wear a mask,” Copeland says. “Then they put it on and decide ‘this is way cool.’ The masks are sculpted to fit the face. They make even Joe Average look handsome.”

Women can choose Copeland’s cat-eye masks outlined with lace or sleek face masks decorated with jewels and feathers that are elegant enough to complement lavish gowns. Copeland’s masks are available for $15-$35 at Gasoline Alley in Orange.

Essential to the masquerade are those dramatic evening dresses that can fulfill the fantasy of make-believe duchesses, mesdames and queens.

“Ball gowns are much more regal this season,” says Rita Fuentes, owner of Beaujon Paris in Tustin and South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

Lush fabrics such as silks, taffetas and velvets give the gowns their rich character. Some shimmer with liquid bugle beads; others have full embroidered skirts and hand-beaded tops. One gown at Beaujon Paris has multicolored flowers embroidered on a puffy silk skirt and a matching floral beaded zip-up top ($1,250).

Halter tops are a fresh look in evening wear, Fuentes says. One sophisticated example: Beaujon Paris’s narrow black velvet dress with a halter top studded with multicolored crystals ($1,995).

“Halters make the figure look unbelievable,” Fuentes says.

While gowns still sparkle with plenty of beading, evening wear has toned down from the Vanna White-inspired glitz of seasons past.

“Hand-beading is more subdued. It’s just a little glitz,” says Cheryl Chew, owner of Allusions--A Concept in Brea Mall.

Her customers are choosing gowns with a touch of beading, often sprinkled around the bodice or the hem of a long silk skirt.

A theatrical alternative to the traditional ball gown is a short evening dress with matching long over-skirt, or a gown with a graduated hemline that starts at the knee and falls to the floor in back. An example of the two-tiered style: Allusions’ short strapless dress of black sequined lace over flesh-colored organza that has a long wrap-around skirt of black organza ($236).

“We’re seeing more full skirts of taffeta and silk,” says Pat Perkowski, owner of Maison Amie Formals in San Clemente. Typical of the look is Maison Amie’s ball gown of gold lame with a full skirt and gold sequined strapless top by Mike Benet ($520).

“It’s the Loretta Young look. It’s a little more flattering to the body” than a slinky sheath, Perkowski says.

Those wanting to indulge completely in fantasy can rent period costumes that will make them feel like characters in “Amadeus” or “Dangerous Liaisons.” The Costume Trunk in Laguna Niguel carries elaborate costumes in styles ranging from Middle Ages Gothic to 1970s tacky.

Men can forgo a traditional tuxedo for an 18th-Century Amadeus-style tux with tails or pre-World War I Edwardian tuxedos that have short coats and striped trousers, the kind actor Christopher Reeve wore in the movie “Somewhere in Time.” In the spirit of “Great Balls O’ Fire,” there’s a ‘50s-style tux lined in leopard fabric.

“Some guys wear it inside out,” says Kara McLeod, makeup artist for the Costume Trunk.

Would-be wives of Henry VIII can wear a copy of a Jane Seymour gown of gold brocade with a square neckline and hooped skirt, available with a gold-and-black velvet headpiece. For “My Fair Lady” fans, there’s a black and white striped ascot gown with a picture hat much like the outfit sported by Audrey Hepburn.

Tuxedos rent for about $50, elaborate gowns for about $60 to $80. In addition, there are assorted props and accessories for sale and rent, including foot-high Madame Pompadour wigs, Carmen Miranda hats, theatrical makeup and ornate feather and sequined masks.

Adds McLeod: “We also sell vampire blood.”