At Carnival every costume works!
When everything around us tells us who we should be and how we should "dress", even a simple, slightly unusual and original Carnival dress can distinguish us from the 'choir'.
Lots of fun, a little DIY juggle, observation and research, use of every possible and imaginable resource and of course ... the idea.
The inspiration
“How do you find an original idea to create a new costume? And how do you make it? "
First of all, let's start from the idea. Jack, my son, is my # 1 inspiration. Just set him free and he doesn't put limits on his crazy ideas. He was only three years old when I asked him how he wanted to dress up for Carnival. And instead of giving me an obvious answer, based on his experiences and the usual "side dish" (a supero, a knight, a ninja, a policeman ...) he told me that he wanted to dress up as the little tin man. He had seen (and danced) with me several times the Wizard of Oz, the 1947 original with Judy Garland. I thought "why not?" And so I tried! Since that time, every costume is a discovery, always different and fun. This year it was the washing machine's turn. Naturally equipped with some special programs to really fight any kind of dirt!
The making
First of all, paper and pencil to sketch down the first ideas. A very rough initial draft. And maybe a few notes on the materials to be used in the individual parts. Then the "hunt" begins. Yes, because the real challenge is to find resources around me. Certainly several visits to the Chinese shop solved more than a dilemma for me. But also housewares, hardware stores, sometimes a very common supermarket. But the first real search starts inside the house: a package with some leftover straws, an old pillow to steal the stuffing from, a bag of dry twigs stolen from the woods during a walk. Like all curious people, I collect many objects that I sense contain a new life within.
Assembly the bizarre
"A true creative process: one moment is flat calm, the next moment is enlightenment!"
Like any job I do, whatever it is, I don't have a steady pace, like those who jog, for example, have. (It is no coincidence that I am not a sportswoman!). Maybe I'm making ragù, or I'm washing the bathroom, or I'm away from home on an errand. Maybe at the discount shop to do grocery shopping ... something catches my eye, an object, probably useless both for the purposes of my work and for some other reason. Yet it sets off a chain reaction in my brain. An unusual connection, but one that I understand immediately and create a mental note. At that point I have to go home (or leave the bathroom half dirty!) and fly to the piece!
