As the days count down and things to begin to heat up for carnival, it is time to prepare. For some people, it is setting hair and make up appointments. For others, it is placing orders for boots, bags, and bling cups. But me me... FIRST THINGS FIRST. Without a good bra, my carnival is going nowhere FAST!
I can looked good in some fab boots by Afro Chic, with the best hair and make up in the world.. but if the twins are not comfy... consider my carnival is RUINED!
With that said, in the post below, I have reported on which bands are large bra friendly and those which offer alternative costume options for the plus sized or "well endowed in the breasts" masquerader.
Having finalized my choice of band and section, it is now time for me to send my bra for decoration.
I recently macco'ed a conversation on Saucy's blog, in which a very well loved and respected carnival designer and Saucy spoke on "granny bras". Saucy complained about the "granny bras" that have been issued to her in the past by TRIBE, which lead her to see her own bra options for carnival 2009. The conversation, while very entertaining and comical got my mind to reeling as to if these hammocks I buy to support my boobs are indeed granny bras.
I than began my search for a bra that would be sexy for the road. While I wish to avoid the "granny" elements, I also have to be realistic. A nice sexy plunge is nice, but comfort and support without the use of an underwire, and minimal chances of a wardrobe malfunction are of utmost importance to me.
* A note on underwire bras. I know that women's preferences in bras can be as diverse as the cars they drive. I personally cannot take on underwire bras. The weight of my breasts press down on the underwire, causing it to dig into my ribcage, which, in the past, has left pain bruising on my midsection.
I have done a search of wire free bras available in my size, and let a few of my girlfriends narrow down the choices for me.
This is where I will let you all, the masqueraders, step in and tell me which bra is your choice of PLUS and SEXY for the road.
I would first like to say thanks to my partner, Afro Chick, who posted Spice Carnival's gracious response to the bra issue. Also many thanks to Spice carnival for responding, and letting yur voice be heard.
So next on the bra agenda. As promised. I have contacted most of the major bands to see exactly where they stood on the bra issue. Here are the results. As I get more responses from the outstanding bands, I will let you all know the results. Some of these bands such as Tribe and Island People are sold out, but I still put their responses on where they stand in providing bras for the plus and proud.
Some bands may not be listed because they did not have email addresses or functioning websites.
D'Krewe - Offers Larger Bra sizes. Tankinis and one piece suits available, Can submit bra for decorations. Evolution - Caters to larger size bras. Tankinis available. Depending on section, own bra may be sent for decoration. Please contact the mas camp. Harts - Whole piece, Whole piece cut out, and Tankinis available. Caters to larger size bras. If bra size cannot be accommodated, personal bra can be sent in timely manner for decoration. Harts also offers several options of 5 bottom piece options. You can view all the options on line. Click on any section and then on female registration to view the options. Island People - Offer larger size Bra. Tankinis and Personal Bra decoration available in certain sections. Contact mas camp for details on which sections offer these services. Pulse 8 - Offers larger size bras. Tankinis and one piece suits available. Can send own bra for decoration. Bra must be in mas camp by Nov 20th. Rugieri Promotions - Offers Larger size bras. Tankinis and one piece suits available. Can submit bra for decoration. Has a female representative in the band who can better assist female masqueraders with these issues. nicola@tstt.net.tt Ronnie and Caro - Tankinis, whole suits, and whole suit cut outs available. Corsets are available. If the band is unable to source one, then the masquerader can feel free to send their own for decoration. Personal bras can also be sent for decoration by the band. HERE IS A NEW ONE: For the Men!! Long pants options are also available as an option. Spice Carnival - see posting below. Tribe - Offers larger size bras. Tankinis available, Personal bras can be sent for decoration.
Stay tuned for more bands and where they stand on the bra issue.
Hi guys just letting you all know that your Plus and Proud blogger Voluptuous Masquerader is out of the country and retunrs on the 15th September :)
In the meantime, here is the response from Spice, and VM thanks you all for writing back and will contact with thoughts, feed back .,etc etc when she comes back...
Dear VM,
Thank you for your inquiry. I am responding to you on behalf of Spice.
Firstly there is no controversy as we have never denied anyone a large or small bra size.
The reality is that we recently had ONE masquerader request a size in a particular FRONTLINE of a very in-demand section called Paprika. This masquerader was advised that the very large sizes were sold out in this FRONTLINE and when offered the size in the regular section of Paprika or in another section of the band they refused. This individual seemed bent on making an issue of this and sadly seemed prepared to use any means to do so including distorting the truth, to the extent that they CREATED a story that they went to the mas camp with their friends and everyone else was allowed to sign up and she was refused. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this never happened and what actually happened was that this individual actually called in by phone. It is this ill intent on that individual’s part that has fuelled some debate.
Now, producing a band is a very complex undertaking especially in the first year. The average person perceives that costume production begins in January when in fact it begins as far back as September and October of the preceding year. Herein lies the challenge, particularly for new bands, as most of the major suppliers give PREFERENCE to their established clients, which in most cases include Tribe, Island People, Trini Revellers etc.
What this means is that many of these suppliers simply do not have the capacity to take on work and additional production in the October to December period. As a result, production schedules are brought forward even earlier to August - September. As a new band this was the dilemma SPICE faced as the bra, shorts and other suppliers gave 31st July deadlines for orders. I can tell you for a fact that the supplier of the shorts turned down the band’s business initially due to commitments to IP and Tribe and only reconsidered after we agreed to a very early production date of September and leveraged our relationship with them through other members of the band who give that supplier business through their other companies.
The downside of this entire arrangement was that SPICE had to ESTIMATE the sizes to order. In so doing we ordered more of the standard sizes and fewer of the extra small and extra large sizes in keeping with the buying trends of masqueraders as we know them to be.
I would like to add that SPICE has several well seasoned and highly experienced individuals when it comes to mas. Many of these persons have done successful sections for years in various bands including Poison and Tribe. In fact the collective experience in mas exceeds 50 years. It was this experience that was drawn upon when calculating the ratio of various sizes to order in each section FRONTLINE and REGULAR.
With regard to the FRONTLINES, most have a maximum of 15-20 costumes which is inline with the industry standard. We allocated in every frontline approximately 3 extra large sizes and 3 extra small sizes. Now note the following:
In the case of frontlines with a maximum of 15 costumes the allocation of 3 extra large sizes represent 20% of the total stock allocation In the case of frontlines with a maximum of 20 costumes the allocation of 3 extra large sizes represent 15% of the total stock allocation In the case of frontlines with a maximum of 15 costumes the allocation of 3 extra small sizes represent 20% of the total stock allocation In the case of frontlines with a maximum of 20 costumes the allocation of 3 extra small sizes represent 15% of the total stock allocation Collectively that means that 30-40% of our frontline stock was allocated to SPECIAL small and big sizes
The reality is that this is not an unreasonable allocation and when translated into actual numbers it represents 3 extra large costumes allocated for each of the 8 frontline sections as Mediterranean Borage and Garden of Sage do not have frontlines. This therefore represents a total of 24 extra large size costumes available across the entire band. So what you have collectively for your frontlines across the entire band is a ratio of:
24 extra large costumes 24 extra small costumes Approximately 72 costumes to now split between small, medium and large – which if evenly split gives 24 each. A collective total of 120 frontline costumes.
Finally, our core committee does include some full figured persons and out of the 24 extra large costumes available overall, at least 12 were taken IMMEDIATELY by these persons when registration opened on the 25th July and the rest were taken up by registrations at the mas camp within the first few days. So sadly we did not have these sizes to offer online by the time the “online store” opened a week or two ago, but we did honor any costumes booked in large sizes via the online application process which preceded the online store.
It is worth noting that nearly all of the band’s frontline sections are now fully sold out and I expect that this will be posted in the next few days.
I sincerely hope that this email will answer your questions and I would be interested in hearing your thoughts, feedback and suggestions on this matter.
I have also chosen to copy Saucy of “trinicarnivaldiary” whose blog carried an article related to this matter.
Hopefully this email will help to clarify things for everyone.
Should you have any further questions or comments please feel free to email them to admin@spicecarnival.com
Since I started this blog, which I did mostly to write about my own adventures and challenges of being a beautiful plus size women on the carnival scene, I realized that this was not just about me. There are many other women out there who are just like me. They have let their voices and concerns be heard to me via email and other forums. As a result, many women, Plus and Proud and a few well endowed Slim and Sexy, who just happen to have big boobs, have contacted me, because in the past weeks as bands have one by one made their launches, the bra issue has come up repeatedly.
As a result of this, I promised my Boobiful Sisters, that I would go on the hunt and find out which bands were willing to accommodate the "Blessed in Da Chest" women, hence on a emailing and calling frenzy I went.
I got immediate responses from every single band I have contacted, EXCEPT SPICE. (Even the completely sold out Tribe contacted me back to let me know that they DO indeed accommodate larger bra sizes and offer the option of a masquerader having her own bra decorated).
When Spice - the premier all female band - made their debut for this carnival season with absolutely beautiful costumes, I was completely "WOWED". I heard their launch was nice, that those ladies can lime with the best of them, and most importantly, their customer service was totally ON POINT. All of these accolades made me very happy to hear, because I am thinking. " WOW, these women are doing the DAM THING. GO SPICE!!!!!!"
As a result, I did not panic when I got no response to my bra related emails. These are women right? Our fellow sisters in the cause to show how women can WERK it, flaunt it, move ahead of the game, and squash stereotypes. They could not possibly ignoring me on purpose. I chalked it up to them being busy. For those of you who do read my blog, (whenever I decide to post, LOL), pretty much know my feelings on sisterhood, unity, and how we as women view each other and ourselves. ( If not, read below).
I began to lightly tease a member of Spice's committee all in good fun about how her band was "igging" me. As a result, this same young lady, who took my teasing in stride, but was still very concerned that my inquiries had not been answered, went on to give me the private email of the band leader, as I had been using the general email provided on the website. I forwarded an original copy of my email to the bad leader and to date... NO RESPONSE.
Yesterday evening, I decided to go online for some kicks with fellow carnival lovers, and was made aware of situation where Spice has FLAT OUT DENIED a young women to play in their band due to her large bra size, even though all of her friends are registered in the band. I heard, (but I was not there), that they even denied her the opportunity to provide her own bra for decoration.
I have already heard from two Spice Masqueraders who are VERY DISAPPOINTED, and are having second thoughts about supporting a band that supports this kind of discrimination by women against women. Before these young ladies consider “jumping ship”…Being the optimist that I am, I am still praying that this is one big misunderstanding, and that Spice will come public with some reasonable explanation. I will forward a copy of this to Spice committee, and give them a chance to have their say if they wish. I feel that every story has two sides. I refuse to let my hopes be totally dashed, that women who touted the power of women in making their own band would be flat out discriminatory towards women.
As I have said many times before, band leaders absolutely have the right to have who they want in their band, and that we, the Plus, Proud, and Well Endowed, DO have the right to take our money elsewhere.
I guess as a woman, this Spicy thing.."burned" a little bit more, because we expected a little more, a little better from the the women to rise above what has been the norm. Many women have expressed feeling that they TRULY believed that Spice was BY women, FOR women, ABOUT women. So was the "Woman" angle simply another marketing ploy, only for them to turn around and repeat the same ole behaviours we have seen in the past? Lets see if Spice really has the "kick", and the "fire" they tout, or are they just another " BLAND BAND".
If the young lady who was denied into Spice due to bra size happens to read this blog.. STAND TALL BABES. REAL WOMEN DO NOT DO DISCRIMINATION.
