Carnival season reaches its climax on "Mardi Gras" ("Fat Tuesday", today), the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
People who may find themselves visiting cities celebrating Carnival such as Venice or São Paulo will have the chance to join parades and dress up in extravagant costumes. While such events may be taking place miles away from the frolics of the fashion weeks, there's costumes, colours and joyful moods that can lend some great inspirations to fashion designers.
Tomorrow is also Saint Valentine's Day, so, to reunite the two celebrations in one image, here's the libretto cover for Riccardo Pick Mangiagalli's Il carillon magico.
Staged at Milan's La scala in September 1918, this light comedy featured sets and costumes by Umberto Brunelleschi.
For the occasion the artist moved from some of his personal sketches for the Commedia dell'Arte masks that he had created in 1914.
The results were simply amazing: Brunelleschi employed bold colours and elegant moods, so that the lightness of Harlequin's costume was juxtaposed to grand gowns, voluminous pannier skirts, ample capes, and enormous feathered hats.
The cover for the libretto featured a romantic kiss between Arlecchino (Harlequin) and Colombina (Columbine), the veiled collar of Harlequin's costume looking incredibly modern, as if it were made not of tulle or lace, but of transparent PVC and were a detail from a sci-fi costume.
Were there any Carnival moods on the New York runways? Well, one dark cloak on Carolina Herrera's runway (her last one, before passing the sceptre to her collaborator Wes Gordon who has been working with her during the last few years), was covered in large blue, green and turquoise dots of beaded fringes, while a top, skirt and coat and a men's suit that appeared in Libertine's catwalk were covered in colourful sequinned dots.
Somehow they evoked the multi-coloured confetti streamers ever present during the Carnival season, remembering to those ones trapped in the relentless routine of the fashion shows who may have missed the joyful celebrations, that you can still bring a bit of Carnival magic into your daily style, just remember to tone it down a little to avoid looking like the Dream Princess in Il carillon magico.
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