NOLA Angel Costumes

Our Parade Day Costume is the costume we are best known for - this is our Gold & White, full Angel Wings, costume.  We wear this costume for most of our parades.  Each Angel is invited to build the costume that best suites them, their body, their personality, and vision!

If you are a new Angel, you do not need to purchase a costume until you are ready to perform or parade.  In addition, if buying your costume is not in your budget right now, do not worry, our 'Angel Box of Fabulousness' has lots of fun gold & white costume pieces you can borrow!  To check out items in the box, or to donate items, please speak to Charlie.

You do not need to buy your own wings; these are provided for at parade line-up!

Once you are ready to build your Full Costume, here are the guidelines you will need to follow:

Key Full Costume Guidelines:

1. Gold & White: Your costume must be gold & white, and only gold & white.  While all shades of gold work, we find that bright gold tends to look the best and stand out the best on parade day.  The more gold (& gold sequins) the better!
2. Wings: Your Full Costume includes your official NOLA Angel Wings.  You can use the link below to purchase your wings or you can borrow a set of wings.
3. Sassy but Classy: As NOLA Angels we always aim to be Sassy but Classy. When it comes to your Full Costume this means making sure your costume is fun and flirty, we are parading in Mardi Gras after all!  However, we also want to keep it classy!  For costumes, this means ensuring your costume fits you and that your butt and other private areas are covered!

More Full Costume Guidelines:

1. Don't Trip: Long dresses or skirts are not allowed as they can be a trip hazard when we parade and/or dance.  Please keep skirts/dresses at knee-length or above.
2. Make-Up: For Full Costume we wear gold or gold glitter eye-shadow, black eye-liner, black mascara, black false eyelashes (if they are your thang), and red, gold, or natural lipstick.  Body and face glitter is allowed, as are rhinestone stickers.  Nails should be natural, red, or gold.
3. Hair: We wear our hair natural.  If you need to wear a wig, please keep to a natural looking wig. Hair glitter is allowed.
4. Halo: You are invited to wear a fabulous gold or white halo or crown with your costume!.
5. Bum-Bags/Fanny-Packs: Angels are allowed to wear a gold or white bum-bag or fanny-pack.  Please make sure it is all white or all gold, and doesn't have a black strap.  Angels find these helpful for keeping their phone, money, keys, on them and to hand right up until parade time.
6. Shoes: On our feet we wear gold sneakers.  If you can not get gold sneakers, you can wear white sneakers.
7. Hats: If you are taking part in a parade or performing in a dance outside of Mardi Gras season it is likely to be hot - we do live in south Louisiana!  To help with this, if it is hot and/or sunny you are invited to replace your halo/crown with a gold or white baseball cap or visor.  To Angel things up, you can add a tiara, crown, and sequins to your hat!  Please only wear a baseball cap or visor, not other styles of hat.  If you wear a headdress for religious reasons, of course you can wear that with your costume.
8. Sunglasses: Again, sometimes we need sunglasses, especially when parading outside of the Mardi Gras season.  Angels are invite to wear white or gold rimmed sunglasses.  If you wear prescription glasses, of course you can wear them whenever you need them.
9. Something Special: Keep an eye on our Team Facebook page as you may find you are given the opportunity to make your Full Costume extra special by changing or adding something for a specific dance or parade.  For example: Adding bloody makeup for Krewe of Boo, or an Easter Bonnet for an Eater Parade!

Style Tips:

1. Mardi Gras Ready: You want your costume to stand out from a distance - so bright golds, sequins, and strong shapes are great.
2. Close-Up Ready: You also want your costume to look fabulous close up & in photos - so a fabulous halo or crown and great gold make-up are also important.
3. Mix & Match: Manu of our Angels choose to build their costume with different pieces that they can mix and match depending on the time of year or the performance location.  You may want long sleeves for a parade in early February, but want something light and airy for a Memorial Day parade.
4. Comfort: Make sure you can move (and sit!) in your costume!  Yes you want to look fabulous, but you also want a costume you want to wear.  You may be in your costume all day, you may be dancing or marching in the rain, you may be asked to smile and look fabulous for a photo after a long performance or parade - keep these things in mind.  (For example: Instead of the gold leather ribbed corset, consider a gold fabric non-ribbed corset; instead of a strapless top that you will want to keep pulling up, consider a top with straps; instead of a halter top that puts a lot of weight on your neck, consider a cross-back top; feather can look fabulous & work great for a dance performance, but when parading, if it rains, they will stick to you an look like a hot mess).  Remember, long dresses or skirts are not allowed as they can be a trip hazard when we parade and/or dance.  Please keep skirts/dresses at knee-length or above.
5. Have fun with your costume!!  Your Full Costume is a great opportunity to show your love for Mardi Gras & performing!

If you need to borrow a costume or pieces to add to your costume, the Angel Box of Fabulousness (ABF) is what you're looking for!

Out ABF is full of fabulous gold & white costume pieces to help make any Angel look fabulous! The ABF has lots of different styles & sizes of clothing from long pants to dreßses, from 4x to XS, if you need something feel free to check out the ABF!

Angel Box of Fabulousness (ABF):

1. If you need a costume or piece to add to your costume, let Costume Captain Abigail know

2. Abigail will pull some items she thinks will work best

3. Try on & choose what you like

4. Signed out the item(s) with Abigail

5. Ask our Style Stars for help with styling 

6. Wear, enjoy, & look fabulous

7. Return the item(s) clean & ready for the next girl to use after the performance/parade (preferably the next practice)

8. Preference is given to Rookie Angels first

9. Any items donated to the ABF must go via Abigail who will check they are good for parade & add them to our inventory list