It is that time of year again when caution is thrown to the wind and full on exhibitionism comes to the forefront – its carnival season. Centuries ago what to wear during this festival was governed by traditional norms and in some ways this is still the case. However, more recently what to wear to a carnival is determined by the most ridiculous or audacious costume you can find. Here is a fun countdown of 5 of the best costume ideas for the carnival season 2010.
5. The Pig
A lot of countries have moved their costumes away from traditional pagan and religious roots and embraced current events when setting a theme. In France this year the theme is King of Planet Earth. This of course can be interpreted in a number of fun and wacky ways but the Spanish who base their costumes on perverting current events are sure to jump onto the swine flu bandwagon and use the Pig. Expect a lot of little oinkers this carnival season in Spain and beyond.
As we move further and further away from the pagan and religious backgrounds of carnival it has become more a celebration of life than tradition. People love to kick back and relax during the carnival season as they shed the serious suits and clothes of their everyday lives and embrace the comical. Expect to see a wide variety of people dressed as anything from the classic clown to talking hotdogs, mobile twister boards and walking whoopee cushions.
3. The Halloween inspired costume
For many European countries carnival is celebrated just like Halloween. There are treats, tricks and thousands dressed in ghoulish and scary costumes. The countries that are most prolific in these celebrations are Poland, Denmark, Hungary and Malta. Expect to see thousands of scary costumes around carnival season in these countries. What’s better than Halloween? Celebrating it twice in a year…
Carnival has always had a penchant for the outrageous after all it is a celebration of fantasy to mark shedding everyday life before lent. The problem is that what was outrageous last millennium, namely masks, robes and clowns just doesn’t cut it anymore. Now what is outrageous depends on your threshold, from fat suits and huge boobs, to ridiculous Bruno costumes, superheroes and walking talking gingerbread men. Outrageous costumes are sure to give your festival the perfect touch of escapism that it needs.
Ok, so you couldn’t find a more traditional carnival costume than the Venetian mask, but it is always going to be a winner because it is integral to the carnival season. The mask originally was a way to ward off the devil, but paradoxically it is also one of the devils calling cards - a heady melding of good and evil. The mask allows its wearer not to assume a new identity as is commonly misinterpreted but rather to embrace their true selves – for this and its ability to promote anarchy (masks have been banned in countries across Europe for this very fact) the most common accessory at any carnival takes the top spot.
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