It’s a crash course in carnival costumes.
A master garment-maker is teaching the tricks of his trade to budding designers who want to craft their own West Indian American Day Parade outfits at a free workshop that he said march organizers asked him to host in an attempt to revive an art form on the decline.
“I regularly teach wire-bending classes, and they know the work that I do and what I’m capable of, so when they asked me to host this class, I agreed because it is a skill that is dying,” said Kenneth Antoine, the founder of mas band Antoine International and a 30-year veteran of the costume-design business.
The Carnival Costume Construction and Master Wire Bending Workshop, which kicked-off on Nov. 4 and will take place on Saturdays through Dec. 16, is open to adults 18 and over and offers lessons in using wire to create curves and shapes that can then be covered in fabric. Students can join the classes at any point throughout the six-week tutorial, which Antoine said will give them a fundamental knowledge of basic garment creation.
“Whatever students learn in class, they will be able to go home and reproduce,” he said. “All of the skills are necessary to design and construct the costumes.”
Understanding how to use wires is key to making carnival-wear, according to Antoine, who said the flexible, thin metal provides support for the more elaborate creations marchers sport while traversing Eastern Parkway on Labor Day.
“The wire is the bone of the costume,” the veteran designer said. “If you’re thinking about adding flowers to create birds, you can’t expect to walk in it if you have no bones in the body.”
And learning the craft can also save parade participants money, he said, especially those in charge of putting together ensembles for an entire group.
“If I’m a section leader and I have to do 40 costumes for my section, I have to get 40 backpacks and each might cost $25,” Antoine said. “Then I need tiaras that might cost $15, and together everything can get very expensive.”
But saving some dough is just a bonus of attending the workshop, the real purpose of which is honing an ability that can be passed on, he said.
“Learning this is cost effective to a point, but having the knowledge is important because it is a skill that you can show to someone else,” Antoine said.
Learn for yourself at the Carnival Costume Construction and Master Wire Bending Workshop [245 E. 34th St. between Church and Snyder avenues in East Flatbush, (718) 467–1797, www.wiadca.org]. Saturdays, Nov. 4–Dec. 16, 11 am–1 pm. Free with registration.
