It started in 1996 as a crazy idea to ring in the new year , but police nearly shut it down . `` They said , 'We have an idea : Let 's do a shoe drop . ... We made this shoe for you , ' '' recalled Gary `` Sushi '' Marion , the star of a weekly drag queen review in Key West . `` 'You 've got to sit in it for New Year 's Eve , ' and I said 'OK , ' and that is how it started . '' So , on New Year 's Eve , Marion took center stage inside a massive high-heeled red shoe made out of chicken wire , paper mache and plywood , dangling off the roof of the Bourbon Street Pub along Key West 's main street . Just like the spectacular ball in New York 's Times Square , the shoe would be lowered with each final minute of the year until the clock struck midnight . Crowds started to gather , attracting the attention of police , who tried to shut down the event because the pub owner did n't have a permit . `` ( The police ) came upstairs to the balcony and told me to get out of the shoe , '' Marion said . `` The owner called the mayor and the mayor was like , 'Leave Sushi alone , close down the street . ' `` Today , Key West 's annual `` shoe drop '' still stars Marion as Sushi -- in a better-constructed shoe -- and now attracts attention from around the world . Your best moments of 2012 . The Bourbon Street Pub festivities were once the place for the gay community to ring in the new year . Today , the crowd is a mixture of tourists and locals from every walk of life . `` You 'll have older gay men next to a family with kids , next to guys in leather , next to a bunch of rowdy bachelorettes , '' Marion said . `` Everybody 's welcome . '' Each year , Marion makes a special dress for the show , which he wears only once . His outfit is a tightly kept secret until he takes the stage as Sushi on New Year 's Eve . `` They sneak her in the back and it 's a big deal , '' said fellow drag queen Richmond Arcie . `` No one really sees the dress until she 's right in the shoe . '' Marion said he spends months looking through fashion magazines and watching couture fashion shows , getting inspiration from famous designers . `` I try to make it really elaborate , one of a kind , something you have n't seen before , '' he said . He said his dress this year will be fluorescent green , `` like a palm tree exploded -- very tropical . '' After ringing in 2013 , Marion will put the dress in storage along with the 15 others from new years past . `` She gives her all to the dress and to the public that night , '' Arcie said . `` She puts her best face forward and foot forward for this event . '' It takes Marion two hours to transform into Sushi : an hour applying makeup , a half-hour getting into the dress and another half-hour preparing his wig . `` Once you get your face on , your lashes , your lips and your dress , you 're creating somebody different , '' Marion said . The street in front of Bourbon Street Pub is closed to traffic to accommodate the crowds . While they wait for Marion as Sushi , a live musical dance and impersonation show is performed on a stage in front of the bar . `` At 11 o'clock , Sushi arrives , and we lower the shoe and put her in it , then raise her up , '' said pub owner Joey Schroeder . Over the next hour , Marion as Sushi is lowered 20 feet down inside the fire-engine red shoe made of fiberglass and stainless steel . The shoe is a size 8 -- feet , that is -- with a 4-foot-high heel . `` It is very stable and secure , '' Schroeder said . That has n't always been the case . `` It rained the second year , and my foot went through the bottom of it and I was like , 'You guys have to make me a new shoe , ' `` Marion recalled. `` ' ( Otherwise ) I 'm not going to sit in it . ' `` Marion said the months of preparation for the hourlong show , and the potential danger of being dangled in midair , is all worth it because it allows him to represent the gay community and the city of Key West . `` Every year she says , 'This is my last year , ' `` Schroeder said , `` and I say , 'Oh Sushi , you are going to be the old lady in the shoe . ' ``
Key West 's `` drag queen drop '' started in 1996 , starring Gary Marion as `` Sushi '' and his girlfriend. Marion spends months working on the dress he will wear as Sushi .