In his cluttered two-room apartment in Gentilly, a small neighborhood just south of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Flagboy Giz used dental floss to thread brightly colored beads through black gym shoes on a stormy February afternoon.
An assemblage of neon feathers and phosphorescent beads burst out of drawers and scattered across the floor.
Though he was out late at Mardi Gras balls the night before, Flagboy Giz, 37, had awakened early and headed directly to the bead store.
“This is a tradition that you have to preserve,” he said, “so you’ve got to make sure you’re out there every year masking.
Last year, I caught Covid two weeks before Mardi Gras, and I was still sewing with Covid.
Persons:
Flagboy Giz, ”, you’ve, Covid
Organizations:
Mardi Gras, Gras
Locations:
Gentilly, Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Mardi