Costume Review............

When you are in one band for Carnival the disadvantage is that you do not get to see others. From my vantage point I saw several Island People masqueraders as well as a few from Brian Mc Farlane (saw the entire band on Monday doing their phagwa portrayal), Legacy, Pulse 8, Trini Revellers and Genesis.

Of the costumes I saw from Island People Sacred Sand looked beautiful! I really liked that costume at the mas camp and it looked the same on the road. Sahara Jumbie also looked great, the actual costume was of an iridescent material and only the headpiece had the black feathers. Jewel of the Nile, Oasis, Goddess and Nubians failed to live up to the hype for me. Jewel looked cheap; there some girls from that section in Tribe so I inspected the costume up close. My hubby even got some girl’s arm band from Jewel of the Nile and half the stones were missing already! Nubians looked okay, the frontline headpiece was a slightly smaller one than the prototype, now that is another thing I take issues with, and not only with Island People. Why do they advertise one costume and when you eventually get it they cheat you out of feathers or beads making the costume with fewer materials than what were displayed? Anyway, Nubians needed to be a more vibrant red and many masqueraders got rid of the fabric.

Island People


Oasis which was another one of my favourites looked quite “normal” on the road, nothing outstanding, and that headpiece looked like chicken wire! Goddess was one of those costumes that looked better on some people and not all. You simply had to be of the right complexion to pull off the costume, but overall it looked okay. Being the “hot” section I expected much more. As for Sirrocco Winds I finally saw what was reported before and I have to say the fabric used was not what was on the original costume at the launch! The new fabric was more of a hand painted print with shades of orange and brown while the costume displayed at the mas camp was gold/bronze, russet brown, orange and tan; I thought the gold added some much needed sparkle to the costume and without it the fabric looked dead. Raiders of the Desert looked cute, the girls I saw had more of a camouflage print going on than just plain kahki. I also saw Arabian Nights, which looked just like on the website, Cacti which was not so bad in the sunlight, Taureg looking good and Sahara Sunset which to me looked cute, except for the headpiece. The section that I thought looked really good was Le Soleil Brule, one thing about the majority of Sonia’s masqueraders is that they have the body to pull off the costume and the ladies I saw in the bronze costume looked really good.

For 2008 it would be nice if Mc Farlane could use real costumes instead of drawings , reason being that I had a somewhat difficult time identifying the sections except for Kaal (looked great) and Royalty (lovely decorations). Being the theme “India” my expectations were that all of the sections would have used fabrics that were light or silky, yet some of the ones I saw were cotton. The ladies dressed like villagers with the water pot, looked nice though the colours varied from the website and the jewelry they wore did not look very “Indian” to me. I guess I had one picture in my head of how the sections would look, and in reality they looked a bit different. All in all, Mc Farlane looked great from the little I saw and he took the Band of the Year title to kudos to him!

Mc Farlane



Harts as usual looked very pretty. They always use the most vibrant shades for their plumes and beads and the costumes are always well decorated. I saw many of the costumes and Atlantis looked gorgeous as well as Aztlan, Oceana and Shangri-la.

Legacy’s costumes looked really nice, I saw Kiowa which has been a favourite from the beginning with me and a few masqueraders in other sections. Of Trini Revellers I saw D Krewe’s entire section, and they looked really good as well as House of Hapsburg which looked great! I only saw a few girls from the section Mai Tai in Pulse 8, costumes looked ok and I saw one guy in Mojito and I liked how that looked. Genesis costumes, well the ones I saw, looked good. I saw Helen of Troy and Briseis which both looked quite good on the ladies I saw wearing them. The one band I did not see at all was Dream Team, though I saw a few photos of one section on trinisoca.com.

Hopefully I can get to see more bands through photos; I know trinisoca.com is first on the ball with Carnival photos and triniscene.com, carnivalscene.com, islandevents.com as well as other online photo websites were all on hand taking lots of photos!


All photos from www.trinisoca.com

TRIBE pics!

TRIBE pics are now up on Trinisoca.com! Check out the full gallery for more pics, as well as photos from Mc Farlane and Harts!

Does skimpy equal sexy?

I have been looking at Brian Mc Farlane’s costumes for India quite often and I have to say I hope to see the band on the road as I am absolutely in love with several of his sections! Take for instance Royalty or Caribbean Sea; I love the fabric, the colours and the ornate decoration on the former costume. Last year I toyed with the idea of selling my TRIBE costume and playing with Mc Farlane, since I had fallen in love with two of his costumes then as well, but popular opinion swayed the decision otherwise. In fact, many people who knew me and heard me say that I loved Mc Farlane’s costumes wondered why I would even entertain the thought knowing that for years I have been playing in “bikini and beads”. Someone even went so far as to ask me if I though all that cloth was sexy. My response to that was, so a skimpy costume is automatically sexy?

After giving it some thought I realize that many people buy into the idea that the less costume there is the “hotter” the costume will look on the wearer. Maybe it’s the “perfect” models that display the costumes at band launches and websites that sell the idea that if you buy the costume that’s how it will fit you. This sometimes leads to persons choosing costumes that are not suited to their body type simply because the costume is hot. For instance, if you have large breasts a halter top will not give you enough support, Nylon Pool was not an option for me last year for that very same reason.Which leads me to my point, a skimpy costume might have all the elements to be considered sexy but on someone who frankly does not have the body to wear it, it will not look sexy! And, it is not only about that person not looking the part but also about their self confidence.

I have a friend who is a slightly larger than average girl, and every year she chooses a two piece costume then starts worrying about how the costume looks when she eventually tries it on. Without fail, every Carnival Tuesday morning she is upset and sour about how she looks in her costume. And that attitude carries over throughout the day, with her either looking for a bandana to cover her stomach or obsessing over how her butt looks from behind! Lacking that self confidence to wear a skimpy costume is never sexy. I think she would be happier choosing a costume that is either more covered, like Jamette this year or simply accepting that she is not 120 pounds and love herself regardless, I have seen her on the beach many times in a two piece, there she is quite comfortable and looks good. My theory is that the added pressure on Carnival day of being surrounded by other women she perceives as skinner and sexier does in her self confidence

Similarly, if you have the confidence to rock a costume that might be considered having a bit too much clothing you can still look hot! One does not need their behind on display in a thong to look fabulous. The women who play with Mc Farlane, for instance, are not all older, plumper ladies, I have seen quite a few young women wearing a costume with fabric and looking quite sexy!

Ladies of Mc Farlane 2006


Mc Farlane 2005


This year I have noticed a few of the more popular bands offering costumes that went beyond the two piece; TRIBE has a few “covered” costumes this year with the traditional Dame Lorraine, traditional and regular Jamette and Jean and Dinah which offers a long skirt and corsette as one of the options. Trini Revellers has several sections with corsettes and more fabric than beads, notably House of Hapsburg which I adore and Les Aristocrats which are two of my favourites. Even Island People has Raiders of the Desert and Arabian Princess which I like a lot. I think the idea of offering a costume with the option to be more covered should be embraced more, even in the “bikini and beads” bands. There should be options beyond either a whole suit or tankini, for those looking for a sexy costume that is not skimpy. If the bands take the challenge we should start seeing more and more costumes that break the formula of just a decorated bikini and might just open the door to more creativity in costumes.

Island People's Arabian Princess


TRIBE's Jean and Dinah


So to answer my question, the costume does not make the wearer sexy. Sexiness is all about self confidence and that ability to wear even a paper bag and still make it look smoking hot! Wear the costume, don't make it wear you!

India Sold Out Sections.....

Mc Farlane’s website has been updated with prices as well as names of the sections. Of course if you were reading this blog on Monday you already have that information. Online registration is also available and from the looks of it sections are going pretty quickly.

It is interesting to note that the cheaper all female sections Pani Narin and Anna Dahn are already sold out; in addition Bazzar female is sold out as well. They all look arguably the same to me really, like saris in diverse shades of bright sunny colours. The only difference is the hand held accessories, a basket for Anna Dahn and pitchers for Pani Narin. Nevertheless they are all lovely costumes.

Seems like many people were paitently awaiting India and I hope everyone gets the costume of their choice. Men of Mc Farlane, look sharp, the ladies are taking over!

Mc Farlane Mas Camp Visit

Last evening I visited Brian Mc Farlane’s mas camp, en route to check out the lime at Peter Samuel’s mas camp which is one street away. Surprisingly Mc Farlane’s camp was opened and of course I took the opportunity to have a look at the sketches up close.

The entire building, inside and out, is painted pristine white and apart from the framed costume sketches on the wall is rater minimalist in décor. All of the sections are priced and named, with the exception of the two all female costumes as reported before. Upon enquiring I was told these are priced at $4700.00 for Antim Yatra and $7200.00 for Swaagatam.





The latter costume is made entirely of silk, with a back pack and silk paneled skirt over a “can can” to get the full skirted effect. It is also very ornately decorated with “jewelry”.

Further enquiries into the section that allegedly sold out. Anna Dhan, revealed that it is not completely sold out as yet, but being the cheapest section it is almost sold out!



Two other sections which are not on the website these are:





The strange thing is that an employee at the mas camp assured me that all the sections were on the website with names and prices however I have been checking the website regularly and nothing has changed. If anyone is seeing something different, please let me know!

In the meantime here are the rest of sections with names and prices compliments "iggy" all the way in Norway! thanks a bunch!

India Info.

This afternoon is the mas camp lime at Peter Samuel's old mas camp, as I reported before he is involved with Brian Mc Farlane's India this year.In the interim pending my visit to Brian's mas camp and possibly this afternoon's lime I got this review from one of my dedicated blog readers and Mc Farlane masquerader:

THE STORY OF BOYIE:
On the island of Trinidad during the earlier half of the 20th century , there lived a boy named simply 'Boyie'. Boyie had a very fond relationship with his storyteller grandfather who would regale his grandson with many fine and fantastic recollections about how life was lived in beloved 'Mother India'. The scenario between them though atypical and charming between the elderly and their grandchildren possessed a special resonance though. Boyie's grandfather was not merely reminiscing about his youth with his grandson. Rather, Grandfather shared these stories so that Boyie would leave this world with a full sense of the understanding that comes with experiencing a full and long life.

Such a life would be one that Boyie could never have though. He suffered with a terminal illness that would curtail his own life and contain it forever in childhood. Grandfather dreamed that he and his grandson would pass into the afterlife together wherein he could Show Boyie all that he had spoken of and on awakening a pact was made between them both. Unfortunately, grandfather's time would end only too soon and his beloved grandson would be left behind.

The villagers whose lives were also enriched by Grandfather's stories would band together and help the old storyteller keep his promise to his grandson. They would raise the money needed so that Boyie and his Mother could both voyage to India and there the little boy would see at last all the things he had heard about.

By boat Boysie and his mother would cross the Caribbean sea ( section 1) and then venture into the Indian Ocean (section 2). (Section 3) signals their arrival and subsequent welcome to India. (Section 4-8) represent the many villagers, festivals and even the glimpses of royalty that Boyie and his Mother would witness together and this would culminate in a Harvest at the end of it all. This harvesting would not only be a harvesting of crops but also the Harvesting of Boyie's life too.(Section 10) is indicative of the Boyie's suffering, his death and the tears shed by his family now in mourning as well as the villagers who afforded him his Voyage (Sections 11 and 12). With the arrival of a band of women in flames we witness his Cremation (Section 13). The final section which follows is not the final end for Boysie though. He is reincarnated and a new life on earth is given to him. After all the sections have paraded past we will witness Boysie in his new incarnation where he will be portrayed by the King of the band.

I was also informed that one of the delays for opening Mc Farlane's camp was the fact that there is no working phone line at present hampering the public from getting information via telephone as well as not being able to process credit card transactions. In spite of that the mas camp did open on Friday at 6:00PM and within 24hours one section was already sold out!There are two sections not featured on the website, however if you view the gallery of photographs taken at the band launching one of them is photograph number 40; the other "new" section is a yellow and green all female costume which apparently is the one sold out already.

Prices have reportedly increased over 2006 with only two sections costing under $2000.00, a few sections are over $3000.00 (including the first blue section on the website "The Caribbean Sea") with the remainder falling between those two price ranges.Two sections are not priced, only inviting interested persons to "enquire within"; those two un priced sections are the ornate all female costumes number 3 and 13 on the website.

Hope this little recap can satisfy all the Mc Farlane fans overseas eagerly and patiently awaiting the launch of the full website.