I live, sleep, and breathe for Mardi Gras. Nowhere in the world can you have so much fun with so many other people for no other reason than celebrating life and love for New Orleans. The traditions of carnival time run deep here, from king cakes, parades, Mardi Gras Indians, carnival balls, walking groups and the list goes on. If you don’t understand Mardi Gras or just straight up don’t like it then we probably can’t be friends anymore and yes I’m being serious. Fat Tuesday is basically my Christmas and Halloween is my Thanksgiving.
I often plan my husband and I’s costumes months in advance and this year was no exception. He was Poseidon and I was a nondescript sea goddess thingamajig. I never really set out with a theme in mind, instead I let the theme choose itself from pieces that I find throughout the course of the year. When I see a good piece of fabric or a choice accessory in July I’m going to buy it. I have a serious obsession and have costumes backlogged that haven’t seen the light of day yet.
His beaded and sequined shirt and cape were actually a woman’s matching blouse and skirt. In order for the top to look more king of the sea, less drag queen I took out the shoulder pads and lopped off the sleeves. Then I ripped the seam out of the taffeta skirt and voila! instant cape. He purchased the white pants and I hemmed them and added the gold netting on the bottom.
Yes that is my camera nestled atop my bosom. When you don’t have pockets you have to improvise sometimes. I decided my sequined dance costume was a little boring so I added the shells to tie in the sea theme. Yes, I really did just call a sequined body suit boring.
My cape was a thrifted scarf that I added that same gold netting to. Hubby bought sea shells and tied them in using fishing wire. I procured the crown probably about a year ago and have been waiting for a chance to wear it ever since.
Hubby was a hunchback? Nope, that’s just a backpack underneath the cape that we stuffed with the essentials. Toilet paper (the bars and porta-potties always run out), camera, phones, liquid courage, and I think a pb&j made it in there as well.
Lugging around an actual trident would have been difficult, especially when you factor in biking downtown. This Trident Splash was much more portable. You always need two hands free for the Marigny since you never know when an impromptu dance party will break out in the middle of the street.
A silly moment- I serendipitously found this picture of a guy with a Burmese Python, who I’m assuming is a wrestler. Since the photo had a safety pin attached it was practically asking me to wear it so I did just that.
Phew! And that my friends was Mardi Gras 2011.
To see all the photos taken that day, including street shots and images of friends go to my Flickr account.
So how was your Mardi Gras?
Twitter: slowsouthstyle Facebook: Slow Southern Style
New Orleans, LA, USA