PHOTOS: Behind the beads: Fiesta dressmaker weaves raves
"I thought I would make costumes for the circus!"
Credit: Martha Cerna / KENS 5
Dressmakers like Javier Castillo have a deeply intimate connection to that scene. He is one of seven designers who create the extravagantly ornate gowns worn by Fiesta royalty each year. Castillo and a staff of about 14 workers are busy bees for several months leading up to the moment the royal court is revealed.
"It runs in the family," says Castillo. He says his grandmother used to make costumes for the circuses. "Barnum & Bailey - It was Barnum back then only, it wasn't Bailey. We just grew up around all that atmosphere. I thought I would do the same thing."
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