Fancy Sailor

This character was introduced in the 1880s when British, French and American naval ships came to Trinidad. It is one of the more popular costumes, being lightweight and inexpensive. There are several variations on the sailor mas, including Free French Sailor, King Sailor, and Fancy Sailor to name a few. The costume of the Free French sailor consists of a black beret with the name of the ship on the rim of the beret, a tight-fitting short sleeve bow neck jersey with horizontal blue and white stripes, long, bell-bottomed black melton pants, and black shoes.

The King Sailor's costume consists of white drill or corduroy pants and shirt with a sailor collar. There are epaulettes on each shoulder, a red sash across the chest, a crown on the masquerader's head, cords, medals and war ribbons on the left side of the chest and a walking stick in his hand.

The Fancy Sailor was an off-shoot of the King Sailor. The Fancy Sailor costume consists of papier-mâché headpieces, decorated and painted to look like birds, animals or plants. The sailor outfit is decorated with ribbons, medals, braiding, swansdown and other embellishments to match the headpieces. There are several dances to go along with the sailor mas portrayal, such as the Bote, Crab, Marrico, Pachanga, Rock de Boat, Skip Jack and the Camel Walk.

- Nalis

https://www.nalis.gov.tt/Resources/Subject-Guide/Carnival#tabposition_24145