Butterfly
Tonight was the much anticipated for many band launch, Carnival Nationz. Their In Full Bloom: Fruits & Flowers presentation came on stage at 1:45.
Bright fuchsia & green look good together in Boganvilla. There’s well-placed flower appliqués on the front & back of the waistband covering the bikini bottom. What I like about this costume is the full headpiece, especially the frontline one - good job!
Butterfly – ok, an insect, not a fruit or flower, you say - well, butterfly’s hang out on flowers.
Butterfly – ok, an insect, not a fruit or flower, you say - well, butterfly’s hang out on flowers.
Those wings looked awkward for the models to wear, and were removed for the final walk back out on stage. I immediately liked the fuzzy fuchsia Dragon Fruit, I think it did the best job of representing the fruit. The jewelled top & waistband just stands out. The headpiece is different, with long feathers protruding out in the back. As far as the cage bra goes, the design is beautiful, but knowing the issue with rude riff raff who storm bands, I would certainly want my own security if I was sporting one.
Dragon Fruit
I like the mix of bright orange and greeny gold in Aphrodisiacs, especially in the high jewelled and feathered headpiece. That bracelet-ring combo? Me likey!I also instantly appreciated the design of Morning Glory. The soft blue feathers on the bra, & the waistband neatly and perfectly covers the bikini – well done! The small yet cute headpiece just works on this understated, yet adorable costume.
Secret Garden’s frontline backpack & headpiece are the standout features for sure. More big flower appliqués on the bikini top & waistband.
The Secret Garden 
Lychee
Morning Glory
I’ve always liked brown & blue together, and Scabiosa has such a sparkly jewelled bra, waistband & headpiece. A real bra, yes, thanks for that! Loves it! Many gyrls appreciate that!
Light pink Lychee does look like a pinker version of the sweet fruit, and those teardrop jewels, how pretty. Now what happens when the frontline turns around to reveal tail feathers is that the fruit suddenly became a bird.
Light pink Lychee does look like a pinker version of the sweet fruit, and those teardrop jewels, how pretty. Now what happens when the frontline turns around to reveal tail feathers is that the fruit suddenly became a bird.
Aruja
Boganvilla
Scabiosa
With that collar, Summers Majesty does portray a bright Sunflower. The large sunflower charms hanging from the waistband are a nice touch.
Water Lily’s iridescent headpiece and greeny purple collar do have a lily floating on the water feel. Yup, flower appliqués on the bikini top & waistband.
Wild Roses features a very Vegasy showgirl headpiece and huge rose appliqués on the bra & waistband.
The models in the other white costume were scarily made up to depict Poison Ivy. The shock of bright orange in the headpiece scream danger: poison!
We’ve seen the monokini style before, and Aruja is the super skimpy option. No shortage of flower appliqués. I like the fluffy headpiece.
AphrodisiacsWild Roses
Water Lily
Sunflower
I know many waistbands were designed asymmetrically with beads or flowers on the side, and that is a visually pleasing design, not sticking with the usual. I personally prefer, when playing mas, to have more frontal coverage in a bikini. Purely practical consideration.
Now did anyone else notice an alarming trend? Waistbands are shrinking!! 
Is yeast! Must be the recession. 
Has the cost of materials really gone up that much? 
This lack of assets coverage makes me glad I've been doing P90X!
Has the cost of materials really gone up that much? This lack of assets coverage makes me glad I've been doing P90X!
I was pleased to see that the body paint was tastefully done, just a few well-placed flowers not taking away from the costumes, but rather adding to them in a subtle way.
CNz is getting a jump on very early registration, it begins in 4 days, on Wednesday!!!
40 comments:
Thank you sooo much for uploading the picture soo early and being the first one. I was not able to attend the launch and i could sleep without seeing the pictures. I will be attending on wednesday,because i played last year! yahhhhhhh nationz. and thanks again
Hmmm, I am not sure how I feel about this presentation. I think I will have to review photos some more....
I have to admit tho, my first thought was "caged bras at Caribana??? Nooo!!!!!!" LOL
i played with CNz 2yrs ago.... i have to admit it some are nice. Thanks for uploading the pics early, torontolime.com would have took FOREVER!!!!!
thanks Kara! I want to see up close pics (front and back), hopefully they will update their site asap.
You're welcome, it's a hard job, but someone's got 2 do it! ;-) lol!I hear ya HQ... I'll be commenting later, this is a post in progress. Tru, I have many back shots, bc by the time my shutter got the shot, the models turned around, grrrr... I'll upload 'em.
yippee :)
Pictures are up on carnivalnationz.com
most of them look fugly...what happened CNz??! Caged bras...really???
These costumes are gorgeous.....so hard to pick a favourite!
I agree. I cant pick a favourite! I need to hurry with my pick because wednesday is almost here :)
thx for uploading the pics.
for now i like wild roses but i find cn rhell getting SKIMPY dis yr. *goes for a 2nd look*
what does a butterfly have to do with fruits & blooms?
stick with your theme CN--and did it seem that there were more "blooms" den fruit?
And wha happend to fruit ppl enjoy eating?? like strawberries and ting.. ohh gosshhh!!!
while I have never played with CNZ, Kudos to them for their launch.. by the way anonymous I can see where they were going with the butterflies maybe they were trying to bring in the whole nature theme... did you see their opening video hmm I guess not... it is called creativity and seeing out of the box.. also if you want them to stick to everyday fruit yuh might as well as Tribal knights to make bird costumes or pigeon and geese and chicken... yuh catch meh drift??? Give CNZ a break ... ohh gosshhh man!!! Encourage and support all mas creations from all the camps... it eh as easy as it may look....
To be honest, I love Nationz to death but this is their worst year costume-wise. These costumes look half finished and are not as innovative as they usually are. It kills me but since Secret Garden is already sold out (grrr) I won't be playing with them this year.
I'm not about to settle for something I don't like when they can do better.
Secret Garden is sold out?????????
Now i am vex.
Designer Denise sure models her creations wonderfully... sold out, wow :-O Tr|n|gYa|, what're you thinking, only 2 days to decide!!!
Can I just ask a wee favour, I really appreciate all the comments, but with all the Anonymous comments, howzabout pick a name, any name :-)Bless.
Karabana, I too attended the Carnival Nationz band launch, I will leave my comment until I see the costume in person, touch them and really examine them on Wednesday, then I will make my comments and final desision. Too me some of the costumes look like a bra from a costume from a band in Trinidad, and the belt from another costume in Trinidad from this year and from years past.
I must say I do like the models makeup were excellent, no airbrush on the legs and stomach, to make that takes away the beauty from the costume.
Dont forget, there
s AllSpice bandlaunch coming up people. I heard from a little birdie, that the costumes are beautifulll
Until then.
Peace.
I thought the costume's from CNZ were beautiful, but I tend to agree with some this is not their best year. I find that they are all just bras & panites with decoration (mind you pretty colours) I will always give these designers a thumbs up because it must be hard to do what they do. I am not one myself, but here is an idea after creating your theme try diffent cuts of material types, textures, to accuentate the bra and the panty..Perfect example of what Denise did to the Arealist costume for CNZ 2007. But that is just my 2cents. I will be with CNZ anyway...For real is secret garden sold out??? What the hell early registration is not till wed. Can someone please confirm.
Yes secret garden is sold out. It was sold out the same night of the launch apparently. You had to approach Denise to "register" that same night, and so all 25 spots in that section have been spoken for.
As a "loyalty" masquerader (I've been playing with Nationz since "Dis is Paradise", I AM NOT IMPRESSED.
If you'd like further information, call Denise and ask, but that is enough for a band-wide boycott for me. Clearly they have very little regard for fairness or equitable practices in their registration procedures.
what costumes do you guys think is going to get sold out next?
Not really impressed. Too many literal translations with the big flower appliques on the bra and waistband.
However I will admit a few of the costumes are nice. But I feel like I couldn't play in this band because most of the costumes are ALARMINGLY skimpy. I would have to pay to get extra beads or something. lol.
By the way "Dragon fruit" looks like a pink version of last years "Shipwrecked"
WOW....Secret Garden sold out..I think "Boganvillia" is gonna be next to sell out. That one is my fav so I will be doing that one *Front Line*. It has structure and style and that headpiece is not your typical one so it stands out plus the colours are really pretty which is made me like it more than the secret garden which is just white feathers all over the place.
OMG...That is ridiculous that is the one I wanted too. *LEXXX* thanks for the info. I am as well a "loyalty" masquerader have been with them from day one and have always done frontline if that's not loyalty I dont know what is..lol..lol. You are right that is enough to boycott the band there is nothing worst than being in a costume you dont want and see other people in the one that you wanted not doing it any justice. I wish I knew that I would have approached her. I am not even gonna bother calling Denise and bothering her I am sure she is busy I will just wait for Jamal's band launch and see what his look like. I am not going in any other band that is further down than 6. So much for being fair right!!
Do anyone know which section is Hayden's and D' Bandit?
hayden's number is on the carnival nationz website carnivalnationz.com
I also want to know which section is D'bandit's
Hayden's section is the one with the caged bra and D'bandit's sections are Boganvilla and Morning Glory.
Also just in reference to those who wanted to register in Denise's section don't blame the band leaders for Denise's choice. It was her decision to do a 25 only frontline section also her choice to register people before the official CNz registration date.
ok Aisha point noted.
Further to that suggestion, however is this: if the band leaders are not to be the ones shouldering the blame, who is? Obviously Denise, but do the band leaders not represent CNz? it sounds to me like passing the buck.
Denise's choice reflects very poorly on the rest of the band and sends a very clear message to not only her masqueraders, but to all CNz masqueraders, loyalty and prospective: if as a masquerader you encounter any kind of problem with CNz, you have no recourse. We are not overly concerned with meeting your expectations and retaining you as a customer, so thanks very much and have a great day.
It sucks so much because she always has amazing designs and she normally does such a good job of taking care of her masqueraders. Secret Garden would have been an amazing section to play in.
I never heard back from anyone regarding whether Secret Garden is in fact sold out.
Interesting.
it is sold out. i went to the ore-registration yesterday
Lexx, you need to get a grip...maybe you should have a conversation with Denise as to why she isn't bringing out a full section like the rest of the Band there are reasons. Start trying to see beyond your clearly ignorant nose and get informed. Clearly you need to be educated on all matters as you want to leave a comment on everything CNZ does or does not do good. What Denise does is her choice and it shows how much the Band the respects her by supporting her in her choice this year.In my opionion CNZ does care about their loyalty masqueraders otherwise their wouldn't be loyalty days and you would have to deal with the masses and you may not have gotten into Denise's section in previous years...
Haaaa....thanks so much Anonymous for your help. I had no idea all I was seeing was my ignorant nose! I wonder how you could see that my nose was ignorant, considering you don't know me, or my nose...
But no matter. Grip gotten, thanks to you and your opinion on what I know and don't know, and what I should and should not be doing. Next time you post you should just put your name so that people can refer to you correctly. Either way, I will just be calling you "Mom" since you seem to like telling me what I should be doing. Too bad for you I was a rebellious child...
Really and truly though, I do not care what you think about what I've said. Have you any idea about whether or not I have taken up my concerns with CNz directly? Do you know who I correspond with, when I do it and what information I use to form my opinions and influence my actions? Do you know that I am uneducated with respect to what it takes to make mas or running a successful mas camp? I ask because the tone of your post implies that you believe I am only on here bitching to Kara's readers and I know nothing about the issues of which I speak. You do not know me or what I have or haven't done, so I'd advise you not to try to tell people what to do on people's blogs, message boards, or anywhere else on the internet. It's just too big of a place for you to be caught looking stupid.
But then, I guess that's where the "Anonymous" part comes in...
Hahaha Kara, The costumes that I expected to be sold out first came to pass :)
Update to the sold out costumes:
Secret Garden, Boganvilla FL and Dragon Fruit FL.
I think with regard to pre-registration, both parties has rights. Denise most definitely has a right to pre-register some of her loyalists, and masqueraders need to understand that.
However, this should not to the extent where the ENTIRE section is sold out before the general loyalist public has a chance to register.
As to assigning culpability, Denise is not an entity by herself- she is still carrying the CNz brand, and as such her decisions are a direct reflection on what is accepted from Carnival Nationz, irrespective of the fact that she chose to do a frontline only section or not. It is something that will need to come up in a post-op meeting after Caribana weekend, and I hope the section and band leaders take note of what is being said.
The masquerader has every right to boycott her and the band if they feel that equal opportunity was infringed upon. It sets a dangerous precedence for the Registration process. It's the best way to go, because you are sending a CLEAR message that this practice is unacceptable, and that the leaders needed to effect some sort of change to restrict that type of behaviour. In the same token, masqueraders need to understand that the concept of pre-registration CANNOT be stopped altogether.
Also Kara, there is a feature on your blog options that would have ALL bloggers to have a screenname instead of people making anonymous comments. If all comments are to be constructive, then people should have NO qualms choosing an identity.
Maybe you should enforce that feature.
The costumes look so much better at the mas camp. It was so hard to make a decision. Well i will be playing in aruja, eventhough i want dragon fruit.
I know about the option to not allow any Anonymous comments Tr|n|gYa|, I never felt the need to use it here before. I'll have to consider it for the near future if the anonymous comments get out of hand.
Wow .. alot of your comments are truly powerful and i can understand many of your frustrations as to the whole Secret Garden Section being sold out before registration. I would absolutely LOVE to see a full section of Secret Gardeners chippin' down d'road however after seeing the Costume up close n personal i totally understand why it is only a Limited Frontline Section. If and When you take a look at the costume you will see that the Flowers have been totally HAND Crafted petal by petal and just the thought of Reproducing this Costume for 160 or so beautiful ladies from a Mas' Makes perspective would be a nightmare and would take WAAAAAAAAAY Longer than 2 Months to complete ... No to mention the Hand crafted jewelery that accompanies the flowers on the belt and Bra. Horrors i tell you. This is absolutely a work of art. After speaking to Denise and suggesting to her about possibly producing a Generic version of her costume she actually considered it since i was not the first to ask her .. she clearly stated that this year was very busy for her with other responsibilites in her personal life and simply doesnt have the time to be up building mas all hours of the day and night ...
I aint mad at her at all and neither should any of you cause its not easy. Dont be Mad at her or the Band. Her costumes over the past 4 years been the first to sell out EVERY year in the Biggest band in the City and that is a testament to her creativity, effort, and hard work. If she needs a lil break from the stresses of Mas building, budgeting, ordering materials, customer service ... so be it let her be .. She'll be back in full effect when she ready ..
Every band has a wicked costume so far ... Revellers Pink is Boss ... Tribal nights has a couple nice ones ... there is enough beautiful mas in d'city to enjoy ... :)
I partly agree with Esquire that it can be hard to produce mas and have obligations in your personal life. That is difficult.
I also agree that priority to certain people in certain sections is a section leader's right.
However, I believe that if someone chooses to make mas, especially for a large band, they are making a choice to give it their all; and if they can't give it their all due to unforeseen circumstances, they shouldn't do it "half-*ssed", in a sense. If an artist of any genre decided that they were only going to make a certain number of their product due to other personal obligations, the general public will be upset, with every right to be. It doesn't mean they don't love or support the band; if anything, it shows their love and support at being disappointed that the relationship is not reciprocated by the band and/or section leader itself.
I too was in love with Secret Garden. What upset me most was the word of mouth way people had to find out it was sold out instead of the band informing us. I don't think there should have been an exclusive section but the band had a right to inform masqueraders of it from the launch or even before that.
I was at the launch and while Secret garden was never my first choice - it was for many of my friends. Denise has every right to decide if she wants to only do a frontline but I dont think she should have shown it.I know she wanted to show off her creation (btw i've played in two of her sections and her designs are sick) but it was very misleading.
I stuck with my first choice Lychee and I hope everyone here finds a costume they love. DONT SETTLE
Lychee :)
Played with CN last year... also that was my last year with them. Love the concept... hope everyone playin wit dem WAX UP! Secret Garden is beautiful.I hope they do alterations this year because those costumes need to be fitted perfectly... theres not much to it.
It is amazing to see how much hype Secret Garden is getting and how much controversy this section has created. I've been reading the comments and it's crazy to see how upset some people are because the costume is either sold out or they are annoyed at the way it was handled in terms of pre-registration.
All I can say is please don't believe word of mouth or little birdies because when it's all said and done, only half of the truth comes out. I am not a masquerader but I do lend a helping hand to Denise when she is busy making these beautiful costumes. Denise has every right to display her costume at the band launch regardless of the limited spaces. If she didn’t model it, we wouldn’t be having this discussion and there would be a million complaints as to why she didn’t show it. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Here are some facts for you to think about before passing judgement or bashing Denise. Denise has always wanted to make an exclusive frontline section (25 people or less) instead of making 160 costumes because it’s never been attempted before in CN. As you can appreciate, she likes to be different. Yes, there was a limited amount of costumes available and she gave first come first serve spots to her friends and those that assist her with making her vision a reality. She also left spots open to the PUBLIC. I don't see anything wrong with that. If you were the section lead, would you not want to play with people you know? There were spots given to strangers because they approached her at the band launch and some got in the section because they were the FIRST ones in the line at pre-registration. She even agreed to make 10 more costumes because she could afford the materials and not because of complaints as previously stated from a little birdie.
If you understood the blood, sweat and tears that this girl puts into making these costumes, you would probably alter your opinions of Denise and show her nothing but respect. The details on the Secret Garden bra and underwear are hand crafted and take hours to make. The feathers alone are costly because they are imported from another country. What you don't realize, is that she eats the cost of most of the materials because she just loves to make mas! This is not Trinidad where they have months to make costumes. She has less than two months to create these costumes and trust me when I say it comes with a lot of headaches.
She has to get volunteers to help her and most of us work full-time jobs and have kids. Not to mention, you have to have attention to detail because it’s her reputation on the line. We are busting our tails after work into all hours of the night (sometime until 3am) Monday to Sunday trying to create her vision from scratch. Like I said, it must be to her standards or else it has to be done over again. She is a perfectionist and this is why people want to be in her section every year. Which do you prefer, Quality or Quantity? It’s not about the money for her. You know that you will get quality work and you can re-use the costume later on if you want (LOL!)
Bottom line is that Denise is one of the most creative section leaders out there. She takes pride in what she does and you have to remember she has a full-time job, a family and other obligations that people need to consider. She is all about getting your monies worth and more. She doesn’t complain and she is dedicated to her work. Denise was not planning to make a costume this year but she had a change of heart. These hurtful comments about her can easily make a person think twice about creating a costume next year. Who really needs the stress? Instead of people embracing her creativity, hard work and commitment to making a gorgeous costume and having a good time, it’s become an issue. Those of you, who are unhappy with Denise’s decision to reserve spots or CN handling of pre-registration, please shop around in other mas camps. If you can get the same quality costume, with less aggravation and better treatment, why wouldn’t you explore other options? There are no guarantees or obligations when it comes to mas. The same politics happen in T&T with Tribe, Poison, Evolutions, etc. Everyone be happy and enjoy yourself playing mas cause it could be your last!
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