WORN-OUT BRAS, toilet paper tubes, soda cans, plastic bags, bathroom fixtures and old airplane parts -- in the right hands these items become clothing.

Trash2Fashion Runway shows: 11 a.m. today and tomorrow, and 1:45 p.m. Saturday Place: Discover Recycling Fair, Blaisdell Arena (fair hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday) Admission: Free Call: 692-5410 or visit www.opala.org for detailed schedule of events Also: Fashions will be displayed on mannequins throughout the fair.

Or perhaps the better term is "wearable art," to be showcased at the Trash2Fashion runway show at this weekend's Discover Recycling Fair.

Organizer Ira Ono, for example, will appear on the runway as the "Can Man."

"People will hear me, before they see me," he said. "The sound is fascinating."

Ono's costume is made of more than 100 cans and bottles, and comes complete with headdress. "It takes two people to get me into the costume," he said.

The "Can Man" will also incorporate song and dance into his runway walk. "It's a scream ... so silly and outrageous."

The show challenges artists to create fashion using everyday objects, competing for the Dr. Phil Funky Junky Fashion Award, the Bennette Evangelista Trashedelic Glamour Award, the Mike Bilby Office Odds & Electronic Ends Award and a People's Choice Award.

"These are garments you'd see in a museum," Ono said. "Artists don't have money, but we have an imagination."

The aim of the overall Recycling Fair is to encourage people to think twice before throwing things away. More than 4,000 schoolchildren will visit the fair today and Friday. Organizers hope they go home and drag their parents back on Saturday.

"Art is a way of helping people visualize the transformation of waste products to something fabulous," said Suzanne Jones, city recycling coordinator. "They are adding an element of fun to garbage."

MARGO GOODWILL went whimsical for her "Made in the Shade" Egyptian-style creation. "Hopefully, this is going to inspire others, it's definitely given me joy," she said.

Her outfit comprises an old tablecloth, rope, pantyhose and lampshades. "The lampshades speak for themselves," she said. "The wearing of lampshades on the head has been a party joke for perhaps as long as there have been lampshades and parties."

Goodwill turned her lampshade into a headdress, much like one worn by an Egyptian king or queen. Her antique tablecloth, which served as a bedroom curtain for many years, was transformed into an elegant Roman-style toga.

Art allows us to "discover fashion in trash," she said. "We have the advantage of making the ordinary, extraordinary."

J Forrest-Ocean Bennett took her inspiration from Burning Man, an artist's event in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. "It's a leave-no-trace-behind event and very much about recycling -- it took art to a different level," Bennett explained.

"We are judged so much for the way we dress. Clothing is nothing more than a tool to express on the outside what I am on the inside," she said.

"At Burning Man, you could wear anything or nothing -- some people painted their bodies."

She admits to having trouble finding clothes to suit her personality. "I haven't found clothes I like since 1972. I like the weirdest clothes."

For her runway creation, Bennett plans to pull items from her 4- to 5-foot trash pile of building materials. "Mother Earth loves it when we take care of the things she has given us," she added. "I hope people are inspired to take a new look at trash and not throw everything away."

LINDA UMSTEAD decided on a cowboy theme, "Brokedown Wardrobe" -- a parody on the film "Brokeback Mountain." She started with a couple of old cowboy shirts her husband was planning to throw out.

"I made spurs out of old tin cans and a bolo tie by braiding some bags." She also made a "denim" vest out of blue plastic supermarket bags, a lasso from braided dry cleaners bags and chaps from packing material and multilayered paper. "I stuck some junk mail in the shredder so it was partially fringed," she said.

A couple of beat-up hats were picked up from the flea market.

Umstead learned much about the durability of materials in the process. "Some material was very fragile, even though you would expect it to be stronger. I cut through the Coke cans like they were paper -- they were so thin," she said.

On the other hand, dry-cleaner bags were surprisingly strong. "I wouldn't hesitate to hang out the window with one."