Caribbean Carnival Costumes

Black History Month the school hosted a Fashion Show that encouraged students of African ancestry to share what inspires their style.  There were so many beautiful costumes and decade inspired styles brought to the show.  We decided to represent Trinidad and Tobago this year (our father's side). I made costumes inspired by Trinidad's colorful Carnival women...

All Caribbean carnivals originated from Trinidad and Tobago's first official present day-like event in 1833. Carnival celebrations happen all around the world.  You can think of Carnival like Mardi Gras but possibly bigger.  You can read more about the history of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival here.  I tried to capture the colorfulness, the playfulness, and the textures of the event through the girls' costumes.

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Supplies!!! I bought visors, rhinestones, feathers, tulle, bling on a roll, and LOTS of hot glue.

Headbands without the rhinestones on top. Lots of feathers!

I burned the pads off of my fingertips with all the rhinestone hot gluing... I never said I was super crafty.

Made wristbands with glittery fabric, glitter on a roll and feathers and tulle. Also LOTS of hot glue.

Wristbands done! Shoddy workmanship but no one noticed.

Tulle skirts! I used tulle because I didn't have time to make feather skirts. Maybe one day!

The head dresses turned out really nice. I layered feathers by different colors. Lots of patience.

Thought I was all done, but the top needed some dazzle!

All finished! At this point it was a few hours before the show, but I was really happy with the result!

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Here's a quick video of the entire thing...
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I think my models were very happy with the end result. Honestly that's all that matters. They walked for 30 seconds but this was time well spent. I learned that I could take on a project of this magnitude and that if I put my mind to it, I can actually do cool, crafty things, even though I don't consider myself particularly artsy fartsy.  Would I do it again... ABSOLUTELY!
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Pre-show shenanigans!

Backstage shenanigans!

Post-show shenanigans!