Genesis Frontline Costumes

Now I really tried to hold my tongue when Genesis launched and I first saw the costumes, but I need to say something now. There is cause for concern when reading this Trinidad Guardian article that Nina Mac Kenzie might be a tad disillusioned since, being the designer, she is responsible for these costume "creations":

A woman’s work is never done, especially if you’re Nina McKenzie in the run-up to Carnival. The shy wife of Genesis bandleader Ian McKenzie took up the enormous task of designing costumes for ten sections, or “characters,” as she refers to them, for the band’s C2K8 presentation Tales. ............

“Choosing the characters I wanted to work with was easy. Coming up with costumes suitable for these characters was trying but interesting because I love working with my hands.” Unfortunately for Nina’s family, though, she usually gets brainstorms in the wee hours of the morning when her husband and her daughter are in dreamland. “I get my best ideas at two or three in the morning and I just have to get up and get it on paper because I’ll forget by the time I wake up. Sometimes Ian gets annoyed and would say, ‘My god, Nina, can’t you do that at another time?’ But I can’t. That’s just me.”............

Costume Designing 101
According to Nina, the first rule in designing a costume is knowing exactly what you want to portray before you try to figure out what it should look like. “Right after Carnival this year we decided what theme we wanted to go with for Carnival 2008. Then, although I have nothing against bikinis and beads, I used them sparingly. Instead of beads I used bells and shells. I also decided to stay away from the traditional appliqués and created my own.”

Her husband, Nina boasted, has an eye for the right fabric, which she uses to her advantage. And, despite the fact that designing is her forte, she often seeks his advice. “I am just a regular person with ideas and I always second-guess myself, no matter what. I make it a habit to always get Ian’s thoughts on all my costumes, especially the male costumes. His ideas help and I get good support from him. He is like my backbone.

While Nina's costumes have always been "unique", "different", "interesting" and this year they were actually not half bad, I am thinking a more holistic approach to costume design bringing other designers on board might perhaps benefit Genesis greatly. It is like asking an artist to judge his own work, of course he is not going to "see" what others see since he has in his mind a concept that has been brought to life. Of course Nina gets an A for effort as I can say these costumes are not akin to anything else I have seen thus far for Carnival 2008.

So now that all the frontline and special sections are up on Genesis website, I find it quite alarming that Snow Witch V.I.P. has a SIZE RESTRICTION!! Forget the price tag of $3100.00TT for a fur lined unitard for a second, what you really need to know is that this costume comes in only Small and Medium and a bra size of up to 36C. And here I was thinking Genesis needed as much people to register for the band as possible.

Snow Witch V.I.P

As for the Fairy Section Leader, methinks someone was sniffing some fairy dust as the price tag on this one is $8500.00 and they have the nerve to inform us that "ONLY 2 COSTUMES LEFT REGISTER NOW!". This costume is priced the same as TRIBE's Goddess of the Chase Individual and even more than Island People's Silver Fox Individual. After all the talk about those two bands having exorbitant, inflated costume prices it is a wonder the critics have yet to pounce on this little rainbow coloured "gem":

Fairy Section Leader

The Mermaid Section leader I reserve further comment on but would say I am quite surprised at the price of $3500.00. Based on this pricing strategy it seems as if Genesis has quite a loyal throng of supporters, since honestly these prices are not competitive at all. In a Carnival year with so many new bands with cheaper prices and more aesthetically pleasing costume designs, I wish Genesis all the luck!

Mermaid Section Leader


SOURCE: Trinidad Guardian Archives October 17th 2007

Genesis Website is Up!!

Finally, the website is up which means I can put a name to the 7 sections that were shown at the launch and from the labels such as "Fairies" and "Witches & Centaurs" Genesis is also doing a whimsical myths and magic theme with their 2008 portrayal "Tales"! On a side note it is interesting how several bands this year are doing similar themes and even have costumes with the same section names.

I digress, let me get back to the costumes... Genesis, Genesis, Genesis.... I do not even know where to begin! Firstly they totally desecrated one of my favourite theatre productions of all time, Phantom of the Opera, by making the male costume ludicrous!!

Phantom of the Opera

It is SO easy to replicate the distinctive Phantom mask that this garish green goblin gas mask is just infantile! This gets the worst male costume of Carnival 2008 for me !In fact many of the male costumes look like campy Halloween costume that one can purchase online. The only male section that looks halfway decent is the Centaur VIP section (Lord alone knows what the VIP entails) where it looks as if the male costume will be airbrushed!

The female costumes are certainly remarkable; I will give them that the majority are quite unique and one cannot say that they look like anything else out there, Genesis is in a league of their own. The "White Witch" looks as if she regurgitated Island People's Polar Bear, yet it is one of the better female costumes! Some of the frontlines are missing from the website, such as Mermaid, Snow Witch and Fairies, hopefully they are getting a makeover in the interim. My favourite female costume of the lot is Pocahontas, but with prices of between $2495.00 and $3500.00 for female costumes the pricing is not competitive. Sorry to be blunt but there are other bands with superior costumes, in terms of design and construction, for less money! In a year with so many new bands offering masqueraders costume choices galore this is the time to up the ante folks, not drop the ball!

White Witch


Pocahontas

Genesis Costumes!

The first photos of Genesis launch of their 2008 Carnival presentation "Tales" which unfortunately coincided with the launch of Pulse 8 on Sunday, can be seen at Islandevents.com.

From those photos the Halloween costume award goes to the Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow replica and the most unusual costume is the one legged, fur trimmed silver body suit, I am still trying to figure out what it is really! Check out the photos to see the rest.

Tales

Genesis will be back for Carnival 2008 with their presentation "Tales"; this should be very interesting!!