India offers TT ready-made costumes

By DARCEL CHOY
www.newsday.co.tt

As the Carnival season this year is a very short one some “mas men” have found a quick fix by having costumes imported from companies in India, China and other countries.

This was first revealed by bandleader Brian Mac Farlane. He said he received e-mails and calls from representatives from a company in India asking him whether he was interested in importing his Carnival costumes from them.

“The gentleman that spoke to me insisted that I should be interested in his offers of bras and bikini bottoms because other bands locally imported from them and I told him that I do not subscribe to that kind of Mas and I make my costumes from scratch,” he said.

When Sunday Newsday contacted other bandleaders their overall comments were they were aware of it but they are not the ones that do it.

When co-producer of Trini Revellers, Jeff Gillette, was contacted he said he has heard of bandleaders doing that but not his band.

“We still stick to our local providers, the only thing we source overseas are our feathers and plumes and we get that from the States,” he said.

He said that those bands that do get their stuff ready-made from India and China take a chance.

“When you do things like that you would have to get them at least by November especially if the Carnival season to come is a short one. If they do not have their costumes by then they would be in a lot of trouble,” Gillette said.

Speaking for Image Nation whose portrayal this year is La Brea, one of the directors, who did not want to give his name said he is very aware of bands who do. “Last year we heard of a band selling their costumes with the plastic over it because it was ready-made,” he said.

“We do not do that, we think it is more cost effective for us to design and produce our costumes locally,” he added.

He explained that the band wants to keep the money flowing in the local economy. He thinks the bands that do this source cheap labour so when they charge their customers high prices they get maximum profits. “It is business but it is just better to keep it local,” he said.

One bandleader who was not aware of it was Nina McKenzie of Genesis.

“This is the first time I have ever heard of something like that,” she said.

“It is difficult to produce material for your own costumes and purchasing materials is never cheap,” she said.

For her band, McKenzie said they produce all their costumes here. “When it comes to trimmings, not everything is provided here so sometimes we get them from China where they provide us with authentic trimmings,” she said.

She said feathers, stones, beads, fabric and other materials increase in cost every year.

“Every year it increases it puts a strain on any bandleader. That is why we try to source new materials,” she said.

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