Carnival Nationz 2012 – Empires

It’s that time of year again where different bands showcase their costumes for this year’s Caribana … or should I say The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival (I really don’t know who will ever call it that). My favourite band and for whom I also model for, Carnival Nationz had their band launch on April 21 at The Docks … I mean Sound Academy … lol. I haven’t really checked out any other bands or maybe they haven’t launched yet, but it doesn’t really matter to me because every year Carnival Nationz’s costumes are always the best. I’m just not saying that because I model for them, it’s the experience, organization, theme and the sexiness of the costumes is what I love about Carnival Nationz.

This year’s theme is EMPIRES. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak during the photoshoot on the Thursday before the launch. The sections I modelled for the photoshoot were Aztec (tiffany blue, light green) and Babylon (coral, lilac and gold). I was actually happy that this year they decided to do a photoshoot before the event so that us models can party a little. The photoshoot itself was fun, I mean who doesn’t like getting their make up done and posing for the camera?? The photographer for the shoot was Jane Decle. She was tons of fun to work with and made us feel comfortable. The section leaders for Aztec and Babylon are Bryce and Jeannine. Special thanks go to them and their team, I really don’t know how they keep themselves sane with all the madness that goes in preparation for Caribana … the design, band launch, getting all the costumes ready and whatever else that goes on. Another special thanks to Jeannine, for guiding me on posing … you should see how this lady can curve her body!!! Posing isn’t easy! My back is still hating me for it … but well worth it because the pictures came out better than expected.

AZTEC
My absolute favourite section!! I wish I modelled this for the band launch, it was love at first sight. I just loved the overall style of this costume – the fringes, bronze accents, the colour combination of the tiffany blue and light green made the costume my #1 choice.

BABYLON
My second choice. It is beautiful, it wasn’t my #1 just because I already modelled a very similar colour two years ago. The back pack is absolutely gorgeous, wish I took more pictures of it. I’ve never worn one before and was excited that I was the one going to be wearing it for the shoot. That thing is HEAVY!!! I don’t know how people wear that on the road, I only had it on for about 45 minutes and my back was hating me for it – I just don’t have the upper body strength for that.

Registration for Carnival Nationz was suppose to be Sunday (the day after the launch!!) at 7:00pm, but they’re having some technical difficulties. I’m surprised that registration is this early, it’s usually at least a couple weeks after the launch, so people could at least get a chance to check out the costumes. I don’t know what the rush was, Carnival Nationz pretty much sells out every year. Check out CARNIVAL NATIONZ for more photos and sections.

Band Launch
The day of the launch was already a busy day for me, I had a wedding shower to attend the same day as well. I was hoping to be able to sneak a nap in because I knew it was going to be a late night and sleepy Chiara = cranky Chiara. It was also the same day as the Barcalano & Madrid game, so by the time I reach home it was full of mourning men – Barca lost. I never got that nap.

I was slotted in at 9 to get my make up done, didn’t get there til almost 10, finally got on the chair at 11:30. The food was practically all done … I needed food … hungry Chiara = cranky Chiara. I Managed to get some scraps of chow mein & chicken … It was better than nothing!!! I was hoping that this year we would actually get on stage at a decent time … Boy was I wrong!! When you got 50+ people to make up and dress up… It tends to be a little difficult. I wasn’t feeling nervous as I usually am before hitting the stage, I was more anxious to get it over with & party .. But as soon as I hit that stage, I don’t where it came from but I was totally nervous… I was just thinking … Wow there’s a lot of people, but as I continued to strut my stuff & hear the music that nervousness swept over me like it wasn’t even there. Can’t wait for next year.