I am not sure if my previous message went through or not. I needed to reset my email preferences from vacation. So here is the message again.
YEA!!! Boy I needed that winter break! I had a blast at Mardi Gras. I got off the plane and rushed to downtown Mobile, Alabama and caught my first parade. I had one hour to get downtown to catch the parade. Before I left I bought a more professional camera. I sat on the curve to photograph the parades. The krewes (people on the floats) saw the camera and started throwing a LOT of beads at me. I really was not interested in the beads...all I wanted were three stuffed animals for my grandbabies. I looked down and my feet were covered with beads. I traded with a teenager all the beads for the stuffed toys. I have hundreds of beads already from years of going to parades. A big mistake with the camera...because the krewes know that people with big cameras are press, they bombard you. I got hit in the face three times with handfuls of beads. One time I got cut on the eyebrow by flying beads. My airplane flight was delayed by 1 1/2 days because of the snow cancelations on the East Coast. So I missed the Joe Cain's Merry Widows events. I was so disappointed. I guess I will catch it another year. I got on one of the first flights out and had to travel to an airport 100 miles away. I photographed the parades in Mobile and New Orleans. I spent Mardi Gras Day in the Garden District of New Orleans and photographed the parades. I also photographed the southern mansions in the District. They were decorated beautifully for Mardi Gras. Everyone was having parties on their porches and/or gardens. I did get some of the parade audience in costumes...they don't dress up as much as they used too. LOL! I had a big mansion for a full view in my camera's view finder. I noticed something hot pink on the porch. I approached closer for a different view of the mansion. The pink thing was a 50-something man in nothing but a pink tutu!!!! While I was photographing, he walked out to the parade route and back to the porch. Of course I HAD to photograph him. These are temp photos...large in size: Mansion: http://www.costumegallery.com/temp/MG/n1344med.jpg Tutu: http://www.costumegallery.com/temp/MG/n1345med.jpg I photographed the Krewe/Mystics coronation robes and costumes at the Mobile Mardi Gras Museum. The robes are so individually unique. Each robe reflects the wearer's personality. One robe had a grand piano appliquéd on it...while another featured a bayou. I am prepping these photos to go online right now. When I videotaped this museum's collection in 1999 there were a lot of pre-1980 robes. Today they only have on display 4 costumes that pre-date 1985. I am going to talk with the museum's director next week after they recoup from Mardi Gras visitors. I want to know what happened to the other costumes. I pray that they did not go under water during Hurricane Katrina. I asked my brother who lives in the area and he is not sure if the flood water came up that far into the city. On a sweet and sour note...we searched and searched for the Biloxi Mardi Gras Museum. The internet website stated that it was open...but the webpage had not been updated since Hurricane Katrina. The museum is located on the Beach in Biloxi where a lot of damage was. Most of the buildings near it were destroyed. We finally went over to Biloxi and put the location on GPS and found the building. It was built in 1840 and is being gutted and restored. No date was available as to when it will reopen. I do recall reading that all the damaged costume collection was removed. A group was attempting to restore the costumes. But I haven't heard an update. I know the building next to the museum 1st floor was completely under water during the hurricane. I photographed the museum collection in 1999. I have changed my style of photography and wanted to re-shoot the costumes. My alternate plan was to go to the Hard Rock Casino and photograph their collection. What a thrill!!! I photographed Madonna's Material Girl costume and a black corset bustier. The leather bustier was the only costume in the casino that survived Katrina. I also shot two Elton John costumes, one the pants from the film "Tommy" and another costume designed by Bob Mackie. The most unusual thing photographed was a quilt made of actual panties and bras that were thrown on stage to Frank Zappa. The panties were filled to shape of a woman's rump. Back to playing with costume photos. Penny Ladnier Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 14 websites of fashion, textiles, costume history _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
