Venice: our costumes

And then finally: our costumes! I took tons of photos and this is just a quick selection.

photo by Steffenie

Like I said before, I just took an old frock from the closet because I didn't feel like making a new one. Making a new costume involves a lot of time, work and money and I wanted to spend that on other things. I did buy a new mask this time at a local mask shop: it was handmade and hand painted.

photo taken by a passer-by

My friend Veronie however (far left on the picture above) would love to go to the carnival of Venice each year and each year in a new costume. She and Peter came up with their theme for this year: the dandy. They are dandies with a twist of course, the fabrics and pattern of their costume is far from being dandyish.

me in front of our doorbells

I didn't expect to fit in with their crazy costumes, but looking back at the pictures in the apartment we realized that my costume combined quite well actually with the others. The red of the other ladies is overwhelming and my yellow outfit completed the red and the green costumes. And even though my costume is from a totally different design, the first thing people saw was the bright colours.

the other three in front of our apartment building

Of course we went to Caffè Florian on San Marco square,  it is thè place to be and be seen. On the first occasion we were lucky enough to have seats next to the window. Lots of people outside were gathering in front of the windows to have a peak at us and the other costumed inside Florian.

me and my friend Peter in caffè Florian

me and a costumed couple in caffè Florian

on the bridge at the wall of the Arsenale

"Hello, who's calling please?"

Peter and I at the waterfront

posing in a little park

posing on Fondamente degli Schiavoni

On our third costumed day I took my DSLR out and the others posed for me, a photo shoot meant for ourselves. We looked for pretty and funny places for the shoot. The photo above and below are two of many photos I took that day.

covered platform shoes

Peter in front of a delicatessen

Peter is wearing the mask that is called the Moretta or Muta, it is actually a mask meant for women (as seen in the paintings of Pietro Longhi). It is an oval black mask which was highly appreciated by nobel women. Muta means mute: the mask has no laces to be bound but a button placed inside it to be held in the mouth. So women were mute indeed: they couldn't speak until they really wanted to and thus created an aura of mystery. Contradicted to what it might seem, the Moretta gave women a great degree of independence in deciding who they wanted to talk to and to start a relationship with.

posing for others

Walking around in a costume during carnival in Venice usually means lots of posing. We heard lots of outcries like "bellisima" and "originale". Of course that made our hearts beat faster, but after two days of barely being able to put one foot in front of the other, I hung up my costume and put on my normal incognito clothes.
I can recommend this to anyone with a slight depression: if ever you feel low and it happens to be carnival season, put on a fantastic costume and parade around Venice. You'll feel like a star!