NEW ORLEANS — Dames De Perlage, a Mardi Gras marching krewe founded in 2013, has made New Orleans history.
The Dames now have their own exhibit, Goddesses in Bodices, at the Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture.
“Who would’ve thought, five years after we started the dames, that we would be featured in the new Mardi Gras museum,” said the krewe’s co-founder, Christine Clouatre.
Perlage is French for beadwork, a tradition that the Mardi Gras have carried on through their costumes for decades. The Dames learned how to bead from the Indians themselves, and passed along the skill to the new comers in the krewe.
“Our costumes are essentially canvases, they’re wearable art,” said Clouatre. “And art belongs in museums.”
The exhibit will be up in the museum now through French Quarter fest, so tourists and locals alike can get the chance to look at the corsets up close.
Each year the dames have a different theme, that they decide on Ash Wednesday and begin beading for the following year.
The process takes nearly the full year and requires thousands of beads.
This years theme is “marching forward, looking back,” in honor of New Orleans tricentennial.
The Mardi Gras museum, located at 1000 Conti, is open 7 days a week, 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $12.