Not long after Carnaval 2010 I started looking for inspiration for 2011 and decided I wanted to do hot colors, colors of the sun. I loved the showgirl theme, don't know why I'm drawn toward that.. so off I went, bought tulle for the skirt, a metal backpack frame from Johnny Cool so it wouldn't get destroyed this year by a mean girl (yes, this happened last year, i was devestated and I refused to mention it in my writeup for last year's page because if I don't acknowledge it, it didn't happen, right? but if you looked closely at last year's photos you'd see that the last portion was sans feathered backpack :( ) and a bra from kohls. add feathers, loads of spray adhesive and glitter, glitter ribbon, beads and satin and sequinned fabric and you have yourself a costume. The skirt took many hours of sewing but after that the other hours were spent with good ole' glue. Did I mention I love my gluegun?
Johnny's metal frame that I started with and how it ended up with all the feathers and boas and tons of styrofoam and florist wire and shiny fabric and sequins and beads. It turned out quite huge and I LOVED it! It was quite the attraction!
I only have one (cruddy) picture of the construction of the backpack. you can see the red fan part that was the front of it (right behind my head) in the rear and the fan of feathers being clamped in the foreground. And a picture of the scale of the frame and how large you can make it. (I got two so the second one is in front)
And a picture of the back
Closeups of the mask this year, i wasn't too thrilled with what it looked like when I started but it ended up looking great. I really need to start doing dry runs, though. Aren't false eyelashes fabulous?
My dear friend Annette was excited to come along this year. She had a very fun costume and fantastic accessories. Of course we had to pose before leaving for the event.
I absolutely love our colors together!
And now onto the event photos!
While we were waiting for things to be taken care of at coat check, we got approached by a man with a mic and videographer. most of his questions centered whether we made or purchased our costumes.
Not long after, we started running into other costumed revelers.
Love her necklace!
Really enjoying the spring flower theme.
I finally met Paulette, who had orange feathers and gold beads framing her face last year while her partner Mike had green prosthetics on his face. Love her Red Queen inspired costume!
Had a request from a phantom of the opera-ish costumer.
This nice nice man told me how much he liked my costume. I loved his purple sparkly fabric and neck framing piece. So much bang for the size, don't you think?
Gorgeous!
I just love cute couples attending Carnaval together. Here are some more.
Aren't they adorable?
I very much enjoy seeing themed couples.
And I finally ran into Dana at Carnaval! Dana, the Queen of Inspiration, whose disco ball themed costume from a few years past started it all for me. Thanks for bringing out the drag queen in me, Dana! So much detail, down to her platform shoes! I must get me some fabulous comfortable shoes.
Every year I look for thick heeled gladiator samba boots that I see the fantastic women in the Rio parades wear but I always come up short. I guess awesome platform dancing boots only exist in South America?
Some craziness
This lovely couple told me they had been coming to Carnaval for 12 years and in that time have seen a surge in attendees, more and more people coming in costume and the costumes becoming more risque.
This is Jennifer, who, a few years ago, had the cutest Mary Antoinette inspired costume. Love, love, love the lights under her petticoat skirt!
And I met Patricia this year, whose pictures I have also seen from past Carnavals. Isn't her purple cat ensemble great?
I don't know what's going on here but I hope both these gals got their tetanus shots!
This lovely girl let me in on her costuming secrets. People are so creative!
My sweetie stopped being my camera man and actually joined me for a photo. He sure did make my life easier that night, being the chauffer, coat checker, detail man and general fabulous boyfriend! And with my 5 inch platforms I was almost as tall as him ;)
My dear friend and my honey's brother. She was supersmart and wore some comfy platform wedges under those fuzzy legwarmers!
This nice man was on his way somewhere but graciously stopped to pose for a photo. Thank you, kind sir! The theme for this year's Carnaval was Alice in Wonderland and we sure did have some fantastic Mad Hatters!
I love wigs! Don't you love her bubble gum colored one?
These lovely ladies had some great feather backpacks.
Posing with my friend Annette.
I loved this Satan Santa's eyebrows!
This man did his own and his partner's bodypaint. Isn't it fantastic?
Great native costumes!
More fantastic body paint!
This is Cara, whose Carnaval costume pictures I have seen in the past. Apparently, making a huge strawberry for your head is quite easy.
Jeaneane had a garden theme last year with an oriental lantern as a headdress. It was fantastic! She is a headdress virtuoso!
I have seen pictures of this man with his companion, who was also wearing a peacock costume. how fun!
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I have to admit I am totally in love with this photo. And this year i met Jeff (next to me) and Claire (on the end) who are fantastic costumers! Jeff finds a way to reuse the quail feathers every year. This year's mohawk was last year's chest piece. And Claire's bejeweled face mask is just tremendous along with the jewels on her sleeves! Last year she had gold antlers on her head and a few years ago she had this huge red dragon headdress that was inspired by a dream. Love love love their use of iridescent colors and organic flavor! And love the costume colors and that huge yarn wig on the lady next to Claire.
I don't know how she does it but Kasi manages to outdo herself every year. She's the pink flamingo woman. Last year she had a HUGE Kermit the Frog hat and was head to toe green. the year prior she had a huge goldfish on her head and built her costume around that. I need to know her secrets!
A closer view of Kasi's costume
Loved her snowflake theme.
Another fabulous Mad Hatter!
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You have to rather expect to see it all during Carnaval!
This nice young woman said she always starts off with something bondage-themed and works from there.
Don't you just adore their body paint??
Love her addition of purple.
This silver surfer was a dancing fool!
Peacock feathers are so colorful, you can focus on any color you want!
A tron costume!
I love the joy on their faces!
Loved this couple decked out in Wizard themed costumes.
Totally rockin' the cheetos! Love her horns and her white fuzziness!
And some cheetah print!
I wonder how hot these types of masks get..
Don't you love her headdress?
Very fun colors!
I very much enjoy seeing ensemble costumes. Makes it so much easier to find each other in the crowd! :)
Note the cell phone holder. If I could do that, I totally would!
Marvin the Martian
Can Can Girl! loved her Mardi Gras colors!
And how smart is that? having a shrug! With so many bodies, it does get pretty warm in the event center but step away from the conga lines and you may feel chilled ;)
This lovely lady fawned over my costume. Loved her white theme and her fabulous hat!
This man was taking his horns off when he got snapped. I have been told he then proceeded to collapse into the table behind him. Why I didn't hear the ruckus, i don't know..
We were still seeing some fantastic costumes as we were heading out.
Fabulous!
These men were so joyous and friendly!
Love it!
Aren't they sweet??
A picture of the back of Dana's Queen Bee costume. Love the lights and the umbrella tutu she rigged up!
And the woman in the photo above giving a show :)
Fun wizard costume!
His companion had Rainbow Brite bottoms :)
And a few more revelers in costume!
You've made it to the end! Hope you enjoyed the photos! See you next year!