You may have noticed that up until now I have refrained from commenting on any of the costume photos sent in by blog readers, however in this instance I cannot NOT comment as they affect my friends who have some obvious costume complaints and are not satisfied with the final product. As these are my friends I am compelled to say something especially given that they are also not happy with the bullshit served to them with a smile!
First up, Wings of Isis frontline:
Prototype
Finished Product
While I cannot argue that the finished headpiece does not look nicely decorated it is glaringly obvious that the 25 or so 18 inch Ostrich plumes from the prototype are missing on the headpiece my friend collected.
The reason my friend was given for the stripped down headpiece was that the plumes were removed after the headpiece was tested for "weight".This change in design was done without informing the masqueraders in the section and adding insult to injury the masquerader was NOT given a cape (which comes with costume) because they had to do "extra" work on her special corset (which she had made on her own and delivered to be decorated).
Prototype
Corset with the "extra" work that
eliminated the need for a cape
Are you kidding me Spice? So, removing the plumes was not enough to JUSTIFY giving this woman a cape? For the life of me I cannot see what was done "extra" on the corset seeing that the monokini is FULLY decorated and the corset is not. That bullshit excuse would be akin to TRIBE telling me no leg pieces because I have a bigger bra than an A cup and it took more gems to decorate!
My other friend is extremely unhappy with her Caspian Sea backpack :
Prototype
Finished Product
click for large view of closeup
As you can see the feathers on the backpack my friend was given are NOT the colour on the prototype; the periwinkle blue feathers have been replaced and not only that, the feathers they have been replaced with are DIRTY (see closeup image)! And while Spice's excuse to her was that the feathers represent the colour of the sea and the prototype on the website has been "touched up" I have photos taken at Spice's Media Launch with the said same prototype and the colours do NOT look touched up to me:
So this leaves my friend in Wings of Isis looking for a cape to PURCHASE or MAKE two days before Carnival Tuesday after spending close to $1000.00US on a costume that is missing feathers! And, my friend in Caspian Sea left with the choice of either spending MORE money in addition to the $933.00US she has spent on the costume, to fix it to her liking OR not playing mas at all!
Now tell me, do you think, in any realm of the imagination that this is fair to the masqueraders? Bandleaders, first rule of business the customer is ALWAYS right and instead of the excuses these two ladies could have been given some sort of recompense and alternatives to leaving costume collection unhappy, after all they PAY FOR DAT!
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