Miami Carnival - A Fete In the Streets!!!

So it's that time again folks. I'm heading back to the sunny city of Miami to dance in the streets, draped in jewels and feathers for CARNIVAL! Carnival is some of the funnest times had all year. Nothing quite compares to partying in the streets with good people, good music, good vibes, and lots of libations. Last year was my first year attending Miami, and I knew then that I would definitely be back. Now Miami Carnival is bigger, longer, and has a lot more masqueraders than Atlanta. There also isn't an abundance of T-Shirt sections. That means you either wear a costume or nothing. Last year some folks bought costumes as part of a band, and the rest of us just attended the festivities inside the fairgrounds. This year the costumes were quite pricey. So rather than purchase, folks opted to storm the bands. Which basically means, bring your own costume and jump along side the trucks with everyone else. So same fun without the price tag. Some of the other ladies were wearing costumes from Toronto, of which I did not play Mas. That means I needed to make it work. I have quite a few old costumes that I could've worn, but in typical Tanaira fashion decided to take the plunge and make one. Now I have made a lot of things, but a full carnival costume has never made the list. 

My first instinct was to try and match the other costumes so I looked like part of the group. However after looking at them I felt that was going to be difficult. Instead I went with trying to compliment them. I decided to base my design and color scheme off of a collar that I made a couple of years ago. 

The ultimate goal was to make a beautiful costume, but not spend a ton of money. That meant making my best attempt to use things I already had or could get for the cheap. Being that I have never made a costume before I was at a complete loss on design. I started with lots of research and looking at costumes online to get some ideas of what I wanted it to look like. There were so many amazing pieces. I finally collected my thoughts and drew out a sketch.

 I headed to the craft mother-ship to see what I could find. Even though I had an idea in my head, I was clearly still undecided and ended up buying a ton of stuff. Personally I think I was over thinking it, but hey that's me.

I started with the bra since that was going to be the focal point. My color base is going to be black. I actually already had a bra in my drawer that I was willing to part with for the cause. For the bottoms I am going to wear one of my black bikini bottom. So right there already starting off for the FREE! *cha-ching*

For the bra I stuck to my drawing. I added the middle piece of gold trim and a blue stone. I got the blue rhinestone from an old costume, and gold trim I already had in my stash. For the cups I started with other gold trim. I got this from the furniture upholstery section at Hobby Lobby. It was originally silver, so I spray painted it gold. I glued it down to the top and bottom, then proceeded to fill in the rest.

It was looking like my drawing, but I was feeling a little eh. I didn't like where the trim stopped. So decided to keep going. I added more.

Now we're talking! I definitely liked it at this point. For some extra va va voom, I added smaller blue and yellow rhinestones in between the spaces. 

I repeated the process on the other bosom.

Oooh Wee! Check out the fancy on those tatas. I was kind of excited and very impressed by this point. Can you tell? Next I worked on the belt. I started with black foam as the base, and then covered it with gold faux leather.

 Then covered that with 2 types of black sequin trim. One about an inch wide, and the other a smaller one strand.

Then I added a center bedazzled piece. I used a combination of jewels from other costumes, stuff I purchased, and stuff I already had.

I liked it but thought it still needed something else to take it up a notch. So I went and bought some bling on a roll and added it to the negative space. Then I added the same gold trim I added to the cups to the bottom.

With the 2 main pieces done, all I had left were the last remaining accessories. I used left over leather, sequin trim, and bling on a roll to create 2 armbands. Since my collar was so big, I wanted to go more simple on the arms.

For legs I knew I was wearing boots. So, I just did something to wrap around them. Honestly I'm never a fan of big legs pieces. I can never seem to keep them on. Mine always spend the day either falling down, or one being fully determined to fall off completely. I started with more left over material and glitter ribbon from my craft stash. 

I created the base

Then added feathers to the top.

 Last but not least was the head piece. I'll admit I'm kind of in between about head pieces. While I think large, feathered, statement headpieces are beautiful, I don't like to wear them. They can be heavy and hard to keep on your head once the jumping starts. I lean towards smaller more tiara like pieces. So I got some wire, and found a pendant, then added some beads.

With that I was done, and with a week to spare. 

So before I continue let's talk about the obvious elephant in the room. I was ready to go and super excited. I'm going to Miami, ready to fete my LIFE away. Then this damn hurricane decides to happen. Matthew is a hater and just wouldn't let us be great. I couldn't believe he decided to come moving through right before such a big weekend. I mean when they close Disney, you know it's serious. So many positive vibes and prayers to all of those who were effected from the US to the Caribbean.

I was determined and was not going to let a hurricane ruin my fun. Despite a cancelled flight and lots of worrying, I made it. I had to be flexible with my plans, but I made it. Here is the final product when all was said and done

Here's a few more pictures of the fun day we had.

Oh and props to my friend Dawn on not only her first Carnival experience, but she too made her own costume. 

Carnival was amazing and "de road" was even better. The entire weekend was a ton of fun. From all of the land parties, to the boat ride that didn't leave the dock, to carnival itself, ending with much needed relaxing beach time that left me with a very sexy back sunburn. I feted and whined my life away. I'm already having withdrawal, and can't wait for the fun to begin next year. 

Until then...Its on to the next project.