My Brazillian friend invited me to her 40th birthday "carnival" - so I decided I would make a special costume for the occassion.
I had some plastic gold wings, which I wore to several protests back in 2019 which had become very battered and basically unwearable. So, I decided to use them as a template to create some new ones - but blue this time!
Firstly, I cut the shapes out of a large cardboard box and stuck the layers together.
Then I papier-machéd the cardboard using kitchen roll and PVA glue.
Once the glue had dried I painted the wings in EU blue.
I then punctured holes in the wings, to fasten them together with blue ribbon, as well as attaching larger ribbons to loop over my shoulders.
I spent a small fortune on blue feathers and glue, in the end - as I significantly underestimated the quantities required to cover such a large (double-sided area). I bought a mixture of long, thin rooster feathers, shorter, flat goose feathers and these fluffier, curled feathers. It took 7 tubes of glue in the end, and I was slightly amused that I got ID'd every time I went back to the shop to buy more. Boudicca was, unsurprisingly, delighted by this creative project.
It took a long time to cover both sides of both wings, but I did it in a series of sessions over a few days.
The last job was to add the gold stars. I had saved the strings of gold stars from the wind-destroyed umbrella which I had taken to Liverpool for the National Day for Rejoin event. After untangling some of the strings, I glue them onto the feathers.
Overall, I am delighted with how these turned out!
"CarnaLivia" - The Brazilian Carnival in Sheffield
I'm always astonished by the attention to detail Livia puts into the events she organises. Especially the effort she makes aesthetically - it was really a special moment to be included in. And the guests met the effort with great enthusiasm - there were a lot of great, colourful costumes at the party.
A photo with the birthday girl of the back of our outfits...
My friend Lora, who is participating in my research project along with Livia, was also at the party. She has been watching my updates about making the wings (on Instagram stories) and said she was going around the party telling everyone with pride that I had made them myself. I am so happy when I am surrounded by these wonderful, loving humans.
And, inevitably, some delightful feedback from a troll...
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