Mardi Gras Costume Shopping

The best way to experience the joys of Carnival is to go in costume. To assemble the perfect get-up, start at the top, with a custom-made wig from Fifi Mahony's on Royal Street in the French Quarter. Feel free to turn to the store’s expert staff for all manner of advice, from how to properly apply glitter eye shadow and false eyelashes to how to pull off Lady Gaga’s platinum bow-tied hairdo. For the rest of your outfit, stroll down to the French Market, where you can find cheap sunglasses, feather boas, and all sorts of other accessories, or continue to the Artist's Market, where there are masks you'll want to keep long after Mardi Gras has faded into Lent. For a one-stop costume experience, travel to Magazine Street and Funky Monkey for costumes, stockings, wigs, and accessories, or the Encore Shop, where you can choose from affordable ball gowns, suits, and more. Mardi Gras is all about having fun. So dress the part, enjoy the sardonic humor of the Carnival krewes, and have a ball.