Carnival is here! Carnival is here!! Carnival is HERE!!! Trinidad Carnival 2017 is here and I am Ready for the Road!!!
In case you missed it from my exuberant introduction, and my many (sometimes irrelevant) mentions of it in the recent past, Carnival is without a doubt my most favorite time of the year! I love everything about it – the soca music, the fetes, the steel pan music, and the overall good vibes that blanket the country for the weeks/days leading up to the big parade. But above all else, I love the costume…the gorgeous, delicate, bedazzled, kaleidoscopic masterpiece I get to dance through the streets in on Carnival Tuesday.
Every July/August I spend countless hours scrutinizing the offerings of TRIBE Carnival, the band I play with. I study it all, from the color combinations to the bra design; from the amount of plumage to the details in the gem work; from the belt sizes to the amount of accessories. Then, I consult with my Carnival Crew (featured in header photo), as well as my Costume Consigliere (my mother of all people). And, after many days (sometimes weeks) of analysis, a decision is made.
Truth be told, I make the process more tedious than it needs to be. However, when you put in all that legwork in the beginning, you avoid disappointment on costume collection day. And this year (very much like last year) that was exactly the case – no disappointment. Just unadulterated elation!
I am in complete love with my selection – the stunning, show-stopping, bejeweled, pink and orange Winterberry, designed by Gail Cabral!
After months of impatient waiting, I finally have my precious baby in hand and I couldn’t happier about it if it had been my wedding dress! I’ve tried it on way too many times and maybe need to lock it away, but extreme measures aside, I’m so excited to share this quick peek of it with you!
The Headpiece
The Necklace
The Bra
The Costume
Bonus: The Goodie Bag!
Apart from our costumes we get this tres chic beach bag with beach towel and of course, the adorable mason jar cups that will hold all those free drinks we get on Monday and Tuesday!
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I am so excited to hit the road next week and I can’t wait to share my Trinidad Carnival adventures on the blog for the very first time. Stay tuned for all the epic-ness to come!
OMG, your costume looks amazing and I love the colors. I bet you will have a blast and look fantastic while doing it at the Trinidad Carnival!
We love the bright colors. We have been to nearby islands, but never for Carnival. It is certainly on our bucket list. Love your pictures.
How cool to be apart of Carnival – this would be amazing. Your costume is amazing – wish I could pull off something like that 🙂
These colours! This is beautiful, so many details and the feathers, I really like it. Carnival here in Europe is obviously a bit different and I am not the biggest fan of this, but when I see the Latin and South American Carnival – that is how it should be! With this costume you will shine for sure 🙂
Wow its so colourful! I’ll be there in July hopefully. So exciting.
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! I love these costumes omg! The colors and the stones on it are beautiful. I heard Trinidad is beautiful…
This costume is incredible! I especially love the head dress, all the pink and orange feathers are such a winning colour combo. Can’t wait to read more!
Lovely costume and I always been part of a carnival as an audience. It would really be exciting to be part of it and experience all the background scene , excitement and planning. Looking forward to all the epic posts that you will be posting and wish you all the fun and good time being part of the carnival. 🙂
Wow you have put a lot of work into this but the result is beautiful! Would love to see photos and read the stories of the carnival
I’ve never been to a carnival like this before but they look fantastic and your costume also looks beautiful. Look forward to seeing more pictures from the carnival! 🙂
It looks like you are very well prepared for a carnival to come. I loved your headpiece necklace and costume all together. Have a great time!
How does one get involved?! I want to participate in a Carnival this year, but I have no clue how to go about being more than just s spectator. HELP!
Hi Nea, apologies for the delayed response but I got caught up with Carnival 🙂 I’ll be doing a post on how you can play mas in the near future but until then, I can tell you the process starts with registering for a band (getting a costume) which usually takes place in the summer time (July – Sept). Once you have your costume it’s a matter of booking your flight, finding accommodation and getting yourself some tickets to some fetes (parties 🙂
Seems to be the highlight of the year. Very nice costume.