by Chanell Gautreaux

Created on: March 13, 2011   Last Updated: March 14, 2011

When it comes to Mardi Gras costumes, just about anything goes. For many, Mardi Gras is an opportunity to express opinions about the state of affairs in community and government with costumes that reflect social issues, while for others it is free license to be as outrageous as imaginable.

Mardi Gras costume ideas are often taken from news headlines and generally poke fun at serious subjects in a tongue-in-cheek manner. They can reflect something a politician has said or done, the latest celebrity scandal, or even take aim at religion (the Catholic Church is a popular target.) These types of costumes tend to reflect the wearer’s desire to make a statement about some condition in the world.

Perhaps because Mardi Gras immediately precedes the Lenten season and is seen as a time of “sin” and indulgence, adult costumes run the gamut in creativity from political statements to artistic ones. Some are subtly suggestive while others are more provocative or even downright raunchy. It is not unusual to during Mardi Gras to see pregnant nuns or men in drag dressed as ladies of the evening or wearing wedding gowns.

It is also common to see literal costumes such as the queen of hearts, which may be represented as an actual playing card or simply by wearing a crown and an outfit with hearts attached or with heart symbol. Other costumes might signify a phrase such as “green with envy,” “static cling,” or the title of a book, movie or favorite song.

Some Mardi Gras attendees forgo creating homemade costumes and go as celebrities or other public figures wearing purchased masks. Of course many people take the easy way out and wear hospital scrubs or simply costume in a non-specific way, donning a simple mask covering their eyes and/or colorful wigs, or having their faces painted in the spirit of revelry without creating a full-scale costume.

Creating a fun costume for Mardi Gras requires coming up with a theme. The next step is thinking of creative or outrageous ways to express the idea of that theme by choosing objects or imagery that represent something specific to that theme. For instance, a political costume representing a lame duck session might include a duck suit and crutches. A literary costume based on the book title, “The Grapes of Wrath,” could involve balloons attached to a T-shirt and tights (a la the Fruit of the Loom guy) with angry faces drawn on them.

Fun is relative to the individual and a Mardi Gras costume is a matter of personal choice. The idea is to be comfortable and feel at ease being seen in public in whatever you choose to wear, keeping in mind you will be in the costume for several hours, moving around among enormous crowds of other people (often including children).

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