I had the pleasure of looking at ALL the bands parade on Flow On Demand last night (local Cable network), the first time I have been able to do so post Carnival. Flow has a brilliant idea right there because you pay for a 24hr rental, nominal fee of less than $5.00TT and you can pause, fast forward and rewind the video to your heart's content, I am not ashamed to tell you I looked at myself several times by rewinding and playing again! I was also able to spot several of my friends in other sections and bands as well.
There is a 1 hour compilation video that shows clips from all if not most of the bands and then they have divided the parade unedited with commentary into several parts. You do not need to purchase each part, just check the description and it tells you which bands are featured if you only want to see your band. The thing that stood out the most for me is that in every single band that crossed the Savannah stage, from medium to large to mini band all the masqueraders were pictured having a great time and enjoying second of it! Regardless of which band or costume they were in, and there were many different bands that were on show, everyone had a smile on their face and a look of pure enjoyment. It was great to see the diversity as people tend to think the big bands monopolize Carnival.
From looking at the Parade of Bands several things stood out to me and even though I swore I was not going to do a costume wishlist for Carnival 2012 I have to beg the costume designers to pay attention to the following:
* Cover the back side - The costume belt for female masqueraders has been shrinking in size over the years, remember when you had BEADS on your belt falling several inches on both the front and back? What is up with now skimping on the front of the belt with just a few embellishments and then having the back of the belt be basically a waist band? Add some beads, fabric, fringe.. anything that gives the back of the waistband some coverage instead of having women walking around with acreage of just their underwear on show!
* Nix the muted and dark colours - Carnival is colour and the costumes that stood out the most for me were the ones that were bright and had interesting colour combinations. Muted neutral tones, dark colours and all metallic did not pop at all. I would love to see really bright colours for 2012, no dark purple or dark red for instance. Canary yellow, fuchsia pink, lime green and electric blue.... make it stand out !
* Photoshoots in natural lighting - One thing I noticed with certain bands is that costumes I absolutely loved at the band launch and mas camp fell flat, dull and boring on the road. It is one thing to view a costume in the night under stage lights or at the mas camp with artificial lighting and another in the hot blazing sun. It would be awesome if a band could launch during the day so we can see the true colours of the costume but since this is not going to happen in the foreseeable future the next best thing would be to take photos of the costume in sunlight ( like D Krewe did) for the website for a truer representation.
* More corset designs please - One of my top overall costumes on the road this year is Pisces from the band YUMA. Main reason being is that everyone who wore the corset option for Frontline looked AWESOME! I did not see one masquerader in the Pisces costume that did not wear it well. I think more Frontline options should be offered with corsets that are designed as part of the costume (and not just an alternative to the standard bra) as Pisces is a great example of how a well decorated corset can be done.
* If you are doing Bling plastic please - I am afraid that "bling" is now here to stay, no longer will costumes in the pretty bands be devoid of crystals and rhinestones in the future, it has now become a standard. And while I am the first person to love me some Swarovski I absolutely hate the fact that these stones in metal casing can shred your tights to bits as well as injure you by leaving cuts ! Costume designers can either choose to keep the rhinestones away from belts or look for rhinestones in a plastic setting
* My personal wish - I have worn the mega headpiece, no headpiece, backpacks and a tail so I have been thinking about what costume I have not done as yet and I am dreaming of wings! It can be fabric or feathered (latter being my own preference of course) but I want some ridiculously fabulous wings for Carnival 2012! And I have also been considering shoulder pieces as an alternative to a full on backpack, which can restrict freedom on the road. Secretly hoping for a fabulous pink or red costume as well.
