D Krewe , revamped "Butterfly"...

D Krewe has changed the look of their section "Butterfly"

Before:


After:

The new version is, dare I say, much cuter than the old one without the literal translation of butterflies on your head as well as that other backpack where you would have needed a good three feet away from another masquerader!Liking the upgrade and wish other bands would rework some of the not so cute sections as well!

Sold Out Section Update

Pulse 8
Caliente

Ronnie& Caro
Soca Monarch - Female

Harts
Sind

Elements
Lady Luck - Frontline

Destra in D.C.

click to enlarge

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Destra at the COTT Awards

Destra looks ready for Carnival as she performed at the COTT Awards held last week. I am loving her fringe, feathered, fluffy monokini!! Monday wear?










PHOTO SOURCE:
www.triniscene.com

Spoilt Rotten Kids Forbidden City

Spoiled Rotten Kids has launched their 2009 Kiddies Carnival presentation "The Forbidden City" and you can view their photos of costumes available at their website. Here is a sample from the 6 sections available:

Archers



Ladies in Waiting


Fan Dancers


I love how the kiddies bands are mirroring the adult bands with the theme and doing it MUCH better as well!

Vintage Wednesday

1959, George Bailey takes the crown again, sabotage in the controversial Jaycees Carnival Queen Show and more spectators on the streets than in the stands.


You can read the three articles online by clicking on the book below:

If you would like a copy of this week's article to download please email me at trinicarnivaldiary@yahoo.com

The Age Old Question… Sneakers or Boots?

Vintage Tuesday will be moved to Wednesday as I am having serious issues with BLINK (high speed internet provider) and am forced to revert to the excruciatingly slow dial-up! Today 's topic is somewhat of a "vintage" though, inspired by a question from a masquerader on whether or not to wear boots or sneakers. My response below:

The Carnival devotees are somewhat split on which choice of footwear is more comfortable over which one looks better with your costume. For me, the choice is boots since I believe that you can have both the fabulous complement of boots and be comfortable at the same time. The key factor in choosing the right boot is finding one that fits well. Here are some tips on selection your mas boots:

1. Boots that have rounded toes (not pointy or square) where you have enough wiggle room.

2. Flat or low wedge heel. This is especially important for the ladies who do not wear heels every day. Some of you Carnival divas can pull of high heel and 3 inch platform boots, many of us cannot!

3. Flexible sole, rubber preferably. You do not want a stiff, un-bendable sole as you will be jumping and dancing in these boots and need something that moves with you. Also hard soles tend to be hard on the foot.

4. Cushioned insole. Even though you will be adding gel insoles for additional comfort, make sure the sole of the boot has some cushioning as thin insoles means you will be able to feel every pebble on the road.

5. Soft, lined boots. There are many boots that feel stiff to the touch while others are soft (yet sturdy) and have a soft inner lining. You do not want fur lined or insulated boots however. The faux suede boots tend to be soft and comfortable around your leg when zippered.

6. Get boots one size bigger and wear gel insoles. This is the single most important tip! The gel insoles make your feet feel as if they are floating on air.

7. Break in your boots before Carnival; try them on, wear them around the house making sure your feet are used to the feeling of boots and that they mold to your feet.

8. If having boots custom made, measure your bigger foot and leave room for insoles. Also make sure that the sole has adequate thickness.

9. For additional protection and comfort some masqueraders wrap their toes with cotton and bandages, wear extra socks, use moleskin from Dr Scholls

If you absolutely cannot wear boots or have no intention of forsaking your tried, true and tested sneakers the best way to have Fab footwear is to decorate the sneakers to match your costume, especially if you are playing frontline. Gold or silver sneakers, which you can find in those colours without having to spray them, will look nice and simple with most costumes. For a customized sneaker Afro Chic does an excellent job, but you have to book early as her deadline is next month.

So, the bottom line is finding footwear that you are comfortable in, be it boots or sneakers, and most importantly putting in the effort to have it complement your costume. Imagine wearing plain white or black sneakers with a costume such as Bird of Paradise frontline or Rays of Light after spending so much money on looking Fab from the ankles up!! It does not hurt to be Fab from head to toe.

All footwear are customized creations of Fab! Footwear Boots (and sneakers) by Afro Chic. You can view her website HERE.

Island People Mas.. the story unfolds

According to the IP Mas newsletter that I just received, the story unfolds on the website , confirmation from the mas camp is that this is NOT how the sections will be revealed on the road as was presumed before.. sorry!

The story begins with LOVE, followed by MIDNIGHT BLOOM, AFRODISIAC and OCEAN WHISPERS.

Hi IP Mas Community,

In our introduction to Heaven on Earth- Its what you make it we hinted that... as the chapters unfold the story will be told. So for those of you who have not had a chance to visit the website often enough, here is your personal glimpse. We begin with Love.

Love
Love….is the symbolic piece in ‘Heaven on Earth’.

Love gives us that feeling that words sometimes can’t describe
It’s a kiss of heaven
A special gift
It’s the only feeling expressed by every creature
It’s everything…
We all need it… and should express love
Our planet needs your love.

You can never say it enough…call, email, text someone the words…“I love you”

“We love you”……

Midnight Bloom

In the most miserable or dark moments of life there is always something
beautiful and enlightening to be captured...

In the same way the 'Midnight Bloom' flower blossoms in the still, mysterious,
unpredictable coldness of night. A rare and magnificent sight, when
witnessed many have said, "This is truly a creation of God"...it only blooms
once. You only live once...live to the fullest...live your life in full bloom no
matter what the circumstance and tell the story...for one day you will look
back and say "I did it! I am a Midnight Bloom".

Afrodisiac

Mmm..afrodisiac you know that strong gut feeling…
that when it hits you the only thing you can do is react.
It’s that strong sense of independence
that awakens within you the freedom - to do as you please….
toned down with just the right amount of caution
out of an acute sense of self-awareness
and all in the bliss of a spontaneous moment…
A feeling of ultimate joy and enlightenment to....
’play yourself’…’like yourself’, ‘be strong for yourself’…because
a commitment when executed.. brings about a feeling of complete satisfaction.

Ocean Whispers

I am walking along the shore…
the water making contact with my feet every time the wave breaks with its rhythmic back and forth dance…
the breathless horizon kisses the beautiful sky…the birds of the sea chirp their notes in nature’s symphony in a wonderful melody...
an essence of peace…as I lay my head and close my eyes it all comes rushing back to me…
the ocean whispering sweet ‘everythings’ as I drift off to a tranquil sleep
….to dream of…my heaven on earth

Monday Question Time

It's another week, another round of questions!Please leave your queries for our band leader via comment or send me an email with your question at trinicarnivaldiary@yahoo.com.

Instant Make Up..

This year I introduced you all to Coloronpro Instant Eye Makeup which I, and several other bloggers, used for Carnival. The eyeshadow sheets were easy to use, the shade I got was "noche" and it worked well on Monday! I especially liked the fancy ones like the Zebra and Leopard which looked great with Island People's costumes. Browsing the Coloronpro website I see some new shades that look great!

You are probably thinking what is the big deal over Instant Makeup when you have lots of eyeshadow stashed away in your makeup bag. Well, Instant Makeup easy to apply and gives you one complete eye makeup look with just one application; if you have no idea how to apply makeup it is a cool tool.

For instance, I gave my friend (pictured below) the other shade I got, Pink Lemonade, for her to use on Tuesday since she was not adept at applying eye makeup and with additional face jewels it looked pretty good for someone who did not use a professional makeup artist or had any experience at applying makeup:

Coloronpro Makeup still going after lunch (and crossing both downtown and the Savannah stage)

Now, in addition to Coloronpro AVON has introduced the same Instant Eye makeup concept with their "In a Wink" eye shadow sheets. The shades do not look as enticing as Coloronpro, but the price is much cheaper, though we split a box of Coloronpro among us ordering customized shades.

So if you are at a lost when it comes to makeup and do not want the hassle of hiring a makeup artist, Instant Eye Makeup is an option worth exploring!

Monday Wear for the Birds?

2008 was the year of the boots, with many masqueraders returning to the footwear of choice that our parents wore years and years ago. The boots looked FABULOUS and really complemented the costume, from elaborately decorated to simple matching boots, I was pretty happy to see masqueraders putting forth the effort to accessorize their costume appropriately.

2009 we will be banishing the wife beater for Monday wear! That is for those who will not be wearing their costume or costume bra top at least. The goal is to retire the wife beater in all forms including airbrushed, sequined or in matching colour no matter how cute it is or how easy an option for Monday.

The time has come to glam up your Monday wear with creative and innovative ideas. It can be as simple as decorating a bra with gems, crystals or sequin braid paired with boy shorts , as easy as wearing a monokini or as elaborate as creating your own "costume" for Monday.

Personally I am tired of having all the glamour for only one day, I want to be fabulous on both days without having to wear my gorgeous costume on Monday as well. Boy shorts and wife beaters are simply not going to cut it especially since I also have my Monday boots begging for a costume in some form.No more wife beaters and shorts for Monday wear! We masqueraders can be much more creative and innovative than that!


Here are some ideas:

Crystal Bra:




Monokini






Feathered Body Art for the daring:

Sequin Tops

Other options can include scarves (jeweled and coin), coin belts and bras or even feather wings! The idea is to go forth and be creative.. Monday wear does not have to be your "boring" boy shorts and a wife beater for 2009.

SOURCE:
Rhinestone Bra - Frederick's of Hollywood
Mononkini - Ami Club Wear
Body Art - Enrapturing Re Visions

Teddy - Sherry's Lingere (cheapest price)

Braids by Passion

3 more months until Carnival and by now you have got your ticket to Trinidad, accommodation is booked, costume is going to be paid off next month, you have the makeup artist on lock down now what to do with your hair? Well, if you are looking for braids (the ubiquitous hairstyle of Carnival) Braids by Passion is offering this service and you can take a look at her work on her website HERE.

My favourites for Carnival are the Micro Braids (wet and wavy) and the Senegalese Twist (pictured below):

Braids by Passion


Braids in Action!


The best part is that Passion can do your hair in the comfort of your home; to make a booking or get more information contact Passion at 722 2118 or visit the website!

Carnival Accomodation...

Procrastinators still looking for Carnival Accommodation can check out the website Best of Trinidad and Tobago.

I am seeing some places Fully Booked for Carnival, but there are others that seem to be available . When I called the number listed on the website a voice message stated that there are indeed properties still available for Carnival. If interested click on the email link to the bottom of the page and send them an email with as much information as you can regarding the rentals.

Here is a map showing the areas in Port of Spain and environs where rentals are located; the areas of St Anns and Belmont are not shown and I do not believe the map to be to scale, however you can get an idea of where certain places are located in terms of proximity to the Savannah and Port of Spain.

click on photo to enlarge

Keep in mind that several fetes take place in and around Port of Spain/St Clair (Eyes Wide Shut at the Oval), Chaguaramas (Bacchanal Wednesday at Bowen Marine and Insomnia at Mobs2) and Diego Martin (The Vale Breakfast Party). Also the parade route for the most part starts in Woodbrook, heads into Port of Spain, around the Savannah and back to Woodbrook.

The Next Best Thing??

I have gotten several emails over the past few weeks all asking the same thing:

Hello,
Next yr will be my first opportunity to play mas, ive been lookin at the band websites for the bands listed on ur blog, i see a couple of costumes i live so far from pulse 8, genesis and evolution. are these bands good?(sic)

Hi
I will be attending Carnival 2009 for the first time with another female. We started our planning late so therefore most of the good costumes are sold out. Is there a good website to find costumes that people are re-sale? Also is there a way to go to Island People to find out if people haven't paid for their costumes? What advice do you have for me on getting into a good safe band at this point? Your response would be greatly appreciated.


Hi Saucy,
I am really interested in experiencing Trinidad carnival in 2009 and would love to play mas also. I have been following your blog so as to have an idea of what the best mas troupes are but there are sooo many. I am really really confused. It seems that Tribe and Island People, who I have heard so much about, have been sold out for weeks if not months. So I guess my question is for Bikini mas what is the next best thing???

My answer to everyone is basically the same; I do not recommend bands for any masqueraders to play in, I cannot personally vouch for any band except the ones that I have played in and I advise that to make a choice between the bands that are not sold out potential masqueraders should:

1.Decide on a costume they really like. There are still many bands with sections still open and there are some nice costumes in each band for the most part, and I can choose at least one section in every band that I would most likely play in if I were playing with that band.

2.Take into consideration the demographics of the band to get a sense of if that is where you fit in; age, size of the band, social network etc. For established bands it is as easy and looking at past photos of the band on the road for Carnival. However with new bands it might be more difficult to get a sense of what "crowd" they attract as they do not have a history. In that respect you can look at the persons who are on their committee, most times these people have experience with either social networks, parties or had sections in bands previously. If you do get a chance, go to the mas camp and see who else is looking around at the band.. that would give you a sense of who your other masqueraders might be.

3.When you have selected a band try and get reviews from past masqueraders. Friends and family might also be able to give recommendations and you can also read the reviews posted on this blog from masqueraders who have played with various bands; there are reviews of Pulse 8, Harts, Island People and D Krewe in the archives. I also recommend joining the band's Facebook group (if they have one) you can usually get some candid commentary on masquerader's experiences there as well. Word of mouth is the best recommendation you can get in my book.

A lot of talk about Carnival bands in Trinidad center around TRIBE and Island People, testament to their popularity is that both bands are now sold out. If you are hell bent on getting into these bands the options are staking out Carnival Junction, Trini Jungle Juice Classifieds and Trinidad Carnival Diary Forum for costumes being resold, albeit at a usually inflated price. You can also put your name on a waiting list at the mas camp or through individual designers like Sonia Mack for example and finally wait until Carnival Saturday/Sunday when costumes that are not paid off/collected post registration are sold. Chances are lots of other people will be also doing the same thing and the costumes do not sell at a discount for the popular bands!!!

These are a list of the bands that still have sections open:

Harts
Genesis
Evolution
Elements
Dream Team
Dkrewe
Brian Mc Farlane
Image Nation
Kaotic
Legacy
Pulse 8
Ronnie & Caro
Spice
Trevor Wallace
Trini Revellers
Wee International

Question and Answer With the Band Leader

How should bands go about raising money? I'm a bandleader in the states and it has been a challenge to receive corporate funding as carnival is not deemed as important or an effective marketing tool for corporations. We have parties and we've also also had fundraisers to raise money.

This will be a difficult question to answer. Really without corporate sponsorship and parties there is precious little that can be done to raise funds.

Hiring a couple of professional photographers to take pictures on the road and selling them after is one way .After carnival some bands print and sell magazines, ( which of course you could try and sell advertising in.) But you know it's pretty hard to think of much else right now.You see I am from a well established band over here and we've had the same sponsors with us for many years, as well as new sponsors that come and go every year. And throwing carnival fetes is second nature to us.

It's hard to say what will work for you in the United States, as I am not familiar with your market. We make costumes all the time for bands, nightclubs and casinos, but we make it here and ship it to the U.S. But as a person familiar with marketing what I can suggest is maybe getting advice, or hire a marketing company to assist you. Again depending on the cost this may not be an option. It goes without saying to extend the size of your band is always the way to go. To do that, I would try to reach the people in the U.S. (or anywhere come to think about it) who love to party the most. Young adults like college students, also there are lots of West Indians studying in the U.S.. Sell the whole idea maybe as a Mardi Gras party or Cancun spring break atmosphere,and offer special reduce rates for those with college ID, and put together a committee of their peers that can reach out to them in return for whatever (money, free costume ?). It is not going to be easy but building the membership of your band will eventually bring the advertisers and of course increased revenue from both costume sales and fetes. Hope this was some help.

Who chooses the road march? Is it left solely up to the dj's or do the band leaders have some sort of say?

Yes we can have a say, especially if we want a certain song that may relate to the theme we have produced, but in general we leave it to the individual dj or band to decide.

How do bandleaders or for that matter the designers, feel about masqueraders making drastic changes to their costumes??

In general we don't like it and we tolerate it within reason, but when it is over done it effects the overall presentation, and sticks out like a sore thumb. Even bandannas and rags that people love to wave if they are not matching the color of the costume can spoil the effect. So these things are not liked at all, but some band leaders are mare tolerant than others.I always keep in the back of my mind that my masqueraders have paid a lot of money for this costume so very rarely I do anything about it. Unless of course the changes are absolutely ridiculous.

How does one go about designing and promoting for various Mas Bands and/or sections? Is it a profitable venture?

Great designs, quality productions, dependability, and affordability apply here as in any business. Getting into the mas making fraternity is not easy. It often requires a recommendation from someone respected by the fraternity, and even then if we give work to a rookie, we do it very carefully giving only the simpler productions with limited amounts, this business is to competitive to take such risks. Once you've proven your self and this may take a couple years you will be surprised at the amount of work you can get. We are always looking for new people who are capable, but we are also careful on recruiting them.

Hope I answered your questions I look forward to hearing from you next week.
B.L.

Vintage Tuesdays

In 1958 Band Wars were exactly that, a war, with spectators, masqueraders and even the police getting injured when bands clashed.

To read today's Vintage Tuesday click on the book below:

Or download the articles HERE.

Mystery Solved

On Saturday I asked the question why did the section "Eden's Lust" disappear from Evolution's website? Well, the answer is that the designer of the section, Jamilla Jeffery, has parted ways with Evolution on her own accord and the section will not be appearing in Evolution for 2009 or any other band as a matter of fact.

Jamilla Jeffery will be designing a brand new section for another band (yet to be revealed ) so we shall see one of her creations on the road for Carnival 2009. Ms Jeffery has designed the popular section "Songbird"- Island People 2006, "Pierrot Grenade"- TRIBE 2007 and "Sun Goddess" - TRIBE 2008.

Seems like lots of shifting and moving among bands this season as we have had designers/section leaders leaving Kaotic, Elements and now Evolution!

Monday Question Time

It's that time again, bring on your questi0ns for our band leader. Leave a comment or send me an email with your question at trinicarnivaldiary@yahoo.com. And, I already got a question via email for this week:

How should bands go about raising money? I'm a bandleader in the states and it has been a challenge to receive corporate funding as carnival is not deemed as important or an effective marketing tool for corporations. We have parties and we've also also had fundraisers to raise money.

Party for a Cause

Disguise, a party to raise funds for a Kiddies carnival band targeted to the underprivileged children in the numerous homes around Trinidad. Anyone that loves carnival and thinks that these kids should have the opportunity to take part in the greatest show on earth should get themselves a ticket and support this cause.

EVENT- DISGUISE ( Release Your Inhibitions)
TYPE- COSTUME PARTY
DATE- 08TH NOVEMBER 2008
TIME - 10 PM TILL
VENUE- WEST PALM HOTEL POOL TERRACE

ALL INCLUSIVE PREMIUM BAR

FABULOUS PRIZES TO BE WON

COST-$ 250.00

TICKETS AND INFO CONTACT
ANTHONY- 708-2877
RICHARD- 708-0266
LEAH- 682-9515
DONNA- 493-1087
MARLON- 682-9269

ALL PROCEEDS GOES TOWARDS UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDRE

From 16 to 15................Missing Evolution Section

Can anyone shed light on why THIS section "Eden's Lust" by Jamilla Jeffrey is now missing from Evolution's website?