Mardi Gras costume

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Children in costumes for carnival in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Design of a Bacchus costume for the Mainz Carnival Society by Philipp Baum , 1886
Mohr von Mörlau 2004
Carnival costume as a stamp motif , 150 years of Mainz Carnival

A fancy dress , depending on the region and carnival costume or carnival costume is a special clothing , possibly supplemented with a mask and / or headgear , hair , wig , makeup ,

the carnival , the carnival or the carnival .

Children or people in carnival strongholds sometimes the mere fact that it is carnival time is enough to decorate or disguise themselves with a carnival costume, e.g. B. to go to the workplace disguised as a clown.

Mardi Gras costumes exist both

  • as an elaborate combination of masks (e.g. carved wooden masks) and traditional costumes, e.g. B. in the Swabian-Alemannic Carnival ,
  • elaborate masks and expensive robes, e.g. B. in the Venetian Carnival ,
  • Mardi Gras uniforms that used to caricature soldierhood, e.g. B. in the Rhenish carnival the uniforms of the dancing mariechen or sparks
  • Fancy costumes that are colorful, flashy and / or sexy, e.g. B. in the Carnival of Rio ,
  • Disguises in variants such as professional disguises, exotic and historical disguises, animal disguises and fantasy figures such as nurse , clown, astronaut , hunter, cowboy , Indian , harem lady , knight , princess , pirate , viking , cat , mouse , fairy . The cladding is done in part, for. B. in professional disguises with original clothing that is simply worn by people who do not do this job (the garbage man goes as a doctor, the doctor goes as a garbage man), sometimes with self-made costumes (e.g. the mother tailors the daughter Princess dress or an Indian costume), sometimes with cheap costumes and accessories that are sold especially during the carnival season.

Originally, many costumes or special items like whips and bells were used to chase away the evil spirits of winter and to welcome spring. This custom was celebrated as early as the 13th century. Even today, this is one of the reasons for the disguise. Primarily, however, the costumes ensure great popularity with children.

Economic factor carnival costume

During the carnival season, carnival costumes reach millions in sales.

Germany

Sales and sales volumes

In Germany, the textile and toy trade with carnival costumes and accessories made a turnover of 290 million euros in the 2008/2009 carnival session. 1.9 million adult costumes and 1.6 million carnival costumes for children were sold.

During the session from November 11, 2011 to Ash Wednesday 2012, around 300 million sales were made in carnival costumes and accessories in Germany. Around two and a half million carnival costumes for adults and around two million children's costumes, a million wigs , over two million hats and around seven million make-up sets were sold.

The industry is still partly characterized by medium-sized companies. Near Cologne z. B. a specialized trading company sold approx. 300,000 carnival costumes on an area of ​​20,000 m² with a selection of 5,000 costumes per year. The upper end of the price range are the handcrafted costumes and custom-made guard uniforms for groups such as the Blue Sparks . B. produces 600 uniforms per session for carnival clubs and dance groups with prices between 2,000 and 4,500 euros.

Carnival specialist group in the German Association of the Toy Industry

In 1981, parts of the relevant economy organized themselves in the Carnival specialist group in the German Association of the Toy Industry . The reason at that time was the first Gulf War , which led to the cancellation of all festivities. The resulting loss of sales was in part threatening the existence of the companies. The specialist group should work together to find new strategies and sales opportunities that enable time independence from the carnival campaign and prevent further cancellations of sessions. In December 2004, due to a large tsunami in the Pacific, a Mardi Gras cancellation was discussed again. The specialist group averted this through many discussions with the media, politics and the churches. At that time, the specialist group argued with the possibility of being able to ask for donations at events where many people come together. In fact, huge sums of money were raised for the tsunami victims at many carnival meetings. In addition, the industry managed to bring its season four weeks forward with the establishment of the Halloween festival from 1994 .

Costume galleries

Brief overview

Costumed spectators and celebrants

  • costumed spectators of the children's carnival procession Hamborn , 2011

  • Butterfly and cowboy at dancing couple

  • Mum in oriental costumes with a child in a bunny suit, Aachen 2009

  • a large number of costumed visitors to the Gonsenheim Carneval Association, 2008

Historical carnival costumes

Brief overview of international carnival costumes

Northern and Central Europe

Southern Europe

South America

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Why do people dress up for Mardi Gras? Retrieved May 9, 2016 .
  2. ^ Costumes Against the Crisis. ( Memento from May 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Report from the Institute of German Economy; Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  3. ↑ Gerlinde Ahrend: Economic factor Carnival, Mardi Gras and Fasnet.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) on Suite101.de; Retrieved February 8, 2013.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / yigg.de
  4. ^ Christine Scharrenbroch: Carnival box office hit. Carnival medals for millions. on faz.de from February 6, 2013; Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ Everything for the party. ( Memento from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on: toy.de , February 8, 2006.