Mardi Gras Clothes

The words Mardi Gras are of French origin and they mean Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is so named because it falls on the Tuesday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday, just before Lent. This is a period of doing without things in the Christian religion. Mardi Gras has evolved to be the out and out decadent celebration before the onset of the deprivation of Lent. It began as a period of complete abandoned behavior that was frowned on by the Christian church because it honored a god that was not their own.

Mardi Gras has truly evolved into a serious holiday where the Mardi Gras clothes are a huge portion of the celebration. The colors of Mardi Gras clothing in both France and the United States have become a vast part of the celebration. The Mardi Gras colors are selected in 1872 in New Orleans when the first Mardi Gras Rex parade was held. The King of the Carnival parade was held to honor the Duke Alexis, and the colors selected were green, gold, and purple, each of those colors holding some meaning.

The clothing colors that are largely worn for Mardi Gras signify justice (purple) faith, (the green) and power (the gold).

The preparations for the spectacle begin many months before the actual day of the carnival arrives. The Mardi Gras clothes are made generally to go along with the theme of the Mardi Gras Parade. It is made to reflect the sumptuous and spectacular parade and spectacle. The festivities are rowdy and long, merry making going on for days, and the clothing reflects the decadence of the days. Tailors are often working in both France and the United States, sewing for months ahead of time to get every stitch precise for such costumes as jesters, queens, mimes and others. The outfits are sent the world over to a wide array of people.

Mardi Gras History: The Mardi Gras as a festival began centuries ago in the second century when it came about to celebrate Lupercalia. A mid February festival, Lupercalia honored the god Lupercus, who was associated with pastures and was a satyr. In order to gain a bigger following the Christian faith incorporated the festival into a Christian one that transformed the Lupercalia festival into a season of complete abandonment that was taken prior to the restrictions of Lent. Mardi Gras honored Bacchus, the god of wine, venus the goddess of love, and they would all wear costumes so that no one else could readily identify them.

Mardi Gras clothes today are reminiscent of those which began the actual celebration. Masks are common so that others can't identify even those they know well. The costumes are very ornate, very decadent and are extremely costly, but many people make their own Mardi Gras clothing as well. Costumes are a huge part of the celebration of Mardi Gras.

Mard Gras clothes are one of the main aspects of the Mardi Gras celebration. People will import them from the finest tailors or spend literally months making the perfect costume in order that their celebrations are done in a trendy and fashionable way.