QUICK AND EASY HOLIDAY COSTUMES

Eisner starts with versatile basics--tunic, cape, sandwich board, pleated skirt--and proceeds, month by month, with costumes combining variations on these with everyday shirts, socks, etc., from the masqueraders' own closets. All can be ""made in a flash"" without patterns or sewing--thanks to tape, glue, and staples (these last make the pleats in the skirt). Among Eisner's holiday figures are the Statue of Liberty, queen of hearts, and a leprechaun; kids can also impersonate such objects as a dreydl, a maypole, or an Easter egg. Costumes are simple and to the point, if largely redundant; the worst rely overly on carried signs and sandwich-board slogans to establish identity.