I was so happy to be invited to the launch of The Lost Tribe, what Tribe is calling a Revolution of Mas. To mark Tribe Carnival’s 12th year, they have ventured into a third facet of the brand, this one meant to capture the audience that has been for so long begging Carnival at large to bring back true costuming.
Pretty Mas designed by Sean Dhanraj
I know how tough it must have been to have this idea materialised. Party mas bands are famously known for skimpy bikinis, glittering glued-on beading and massive layering of feathers, so to pitch something even remotely resembling Ole Mas… well let’s just say “Ole” doesn’t have a place in their business plan.
I knew The Lost Tribe was going to be as pretty as they come, and they definitely fulfilled that expectation. The biggest question was, what are they going to use to replace the feathers? I thought fabric was a given, but I did not expect it to be such a crutch. This is where I was let down a bit. All of the costumes could easily be worn on a Scorch boat cruise. They so much look like swimsuits and cover-ups, as they all basically consist of a monokini with a sheer bit of fabric cascading down the sides. They’re a fancy Monday Wear if you will. Perhaps the marriage of fashion and Carnival needed less fashion and more costume. The true stunners were the head-pieces and the face-framing elements. The dying of the fabric is also very beautiful, and I would expect, quite costly and time consuming. Everything else was disappointing for me.
Dimanche by JP Richardson
Read the full story, and more, on the NoMoreFashionVictims blog.