Carnival is my escape to happiness … My mother often
wondered if I lived for anything else…”
Barbara Lewis, Costume Designer,
JamBoree Mas Band
By Daisy Lafond
The art of costume design begins with a fertile mind, a computer, and an endearing love for the most spirited of all celebrations—Caribbean Carnivals. And if your goal is to transform an ordinary person into a peacock or Nubian queen, you use wire as the foundation. You bend it, shape it and coax it into whatever you desire, peacock or hibiscus.
And that is what Barbara Lewis has been doing all her adult life. She is the costume designer and president of JamBoree Mas, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia. Born and raised on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, she is a woman doing exactly what she wants to do and has been preparing for.
Masqueraders from Trinidad to Toronto and Carnival celebrations in between have frolicked in costumes that explode with glitter, flash, and color, displaying the genius of costume designers. But all this bacchanalling requires many months of serious planning and hard work – research, design, and construction.
“Carnival is my escape to happiness,” she says. “My mother often wondered if I lived for anything else. She would get upset with me for spending all my free time making costumes with my favorite Carnival troupe until wee hours in the morning.”
And, at this moment, that is precisely what she is doing—designing and making costumes until the wee hours in the morning. Her partner, Bernard Joseph, also from St. Thomas, is Vice President, Public Relations and Treasurer of JamBoree Mas, Inc. Together, they hope to take Carnival and costume designing to a new level.
And where did she learn costume designing? “I think my costume-designing skills come from God,” she replied. “I can look at a costume and envision the skeletons of the costume. I am a self-taught wire bender and allow the jewels, fabric, and feathers to speak to me. In a way, it’s like I’m on a spiritual journey, from wires to fabric, with each costume design.”
Joseph says he practically grew up in a mas camp and was raised by some of St. Thomas’ finest wire benders. Together, they share a love for Carnival and all things Carnival.
Their JamBoree Mas Carnival Troupe was christened in 2013 at the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Celebration held over Memorial Day Weekend. The band attracts about 90-100 members annually. Their vision is to promote, enhance and integrate Caribbean and American culture; their mission is to show the world that though fun and frolic may be the intention, carnival costumes are not only serious work but indeed a work of art.
JamBoree Mas is billed as an all-inclusive band. That means you get all you need to play mas: a package that includes your costume and t-shirt; brunch at the beginning of the parade; lunch after the parade; cold refreshments while rollin’ yoh waist to three DJs in the parade; free entry into the Carnival at Festival Village and tickets to live entertainment in Atlanta.
They have also opened for such events as VI Caribbean Catwalk–NYC, Fashion On The Hudson, and Global Winter Wonderland. They were featured in the September 2013 issue of Fashion Avenue News Magazine. And that is not all, JamBoree Mas also designs and makes costumes for various social activities, including weddings, dance teams, and special birthday celebrations.
Their website is www.jamboreemas.com
