Miss TT World stirs pageant with sailor costume

MISS TT World Aché Abrahams will display what it means to be a Trinidadian woman as the 71st edition of the pageant moves along. Abrahams stirred excitement with her national costume at the opening ceremony on February 20.

The pageant which began February 18 ends on March 9 with a grand finale in Mumbai, India. The sailor-inspired costume is “sand-coloured” and has similarly-coloured feathers along with a silver, beaded one-piece.

The Solange Govia piece was originally designed for the 2021 movie, Lavway. The movie was the brainchild of Tribe’s creative director Valmiki Maharaj and was produced by Ultimate Events Ltd, in partnership with Tribe, The Lost Tribe, and Carib Brewery.

In one of her Instagram posts on February 20, Abrahams said the costume was an “extra glamorous take on our traditional fancy sailor costume which is one of our historical traditional mas characters.”

Govia said in a post on the Miss World Trinidad and Tobago Facebook page that when she thought of modern mas pioneers like Jason Griffith and bands like Belmont Battalion, their different details to the unique dances that were born out of the traditional king sailor, she felt it important to commemorate the golden era of sailor mas portrayals, acknowledging the sophistication, vibrancy and power of the mas character.

She said she thought about being a woman in the Carnival industry and that it was her duty to always honour womanhood in these traditions.

“From the embellished hat, to the towering collar, to the classic stick, I wanted to pay homage to the opulence that the sailor mas experience brings to the streets of Port of Spain. Of course, there had to be a design twist in this Fancy Sailor – the sand-coloured feathered skirt that replaced the bell-bottom pants, to not only represent the first visit of British, French and American naval ships in our nation’s history, but to also highlight where the Caribbean Sea meets the TT shoreline. For me, it is this simple reminder that through every storm, women have become ‘the glue’ to the Carnival experience. We bring these powerful elements together to define our legacy, and we will always be pivotal in pushing the winds of change forward,” she said in the Facebook statement.

Discussing it further in a phone interview with Newsday on Wednesday, Govia said, “It was my first delve into sort of like marrying traditional and bikini mas.”

She said she then was very apprehensive about it as she knew how traditionalists could be.“But it was something Val pushed me to do. He said, ‘You can do it.’ This was the reason I did it and honestly I was very surprised at the reception I got.

“There are people that want to see that evolution. It got such a great response…” she said.

The piece drew a lot of interest and even caught the eye of the Rotunda Gallery which invited her to display the costume at one of its exhibitions. When the Miss World local franchise holders contacted Maharaj, he recommended Govia’s piece. She had no problem allowing it to be used for the pageant. “She had to have a couple of adjustments and this is where we are, right now,” she said.

Govia’s brand and aura is about creating costumes for women. She added that she was in the business because of women and women supporting women.

Even though the sailor mas is traditionally male, Govia wanted to infuse that with the feminine touch and pay homage to women while doing so.

All of these factors contributed to the piece’s creation.