How AI helped me research, design, and actually finish a Mardi Gras costume
Mardi Gras 2026
After two years of wearing nothing more ambitious than a teal Mardi Gras sweater, this year I wanted a Mardi Gras outfit that looked homemade and intentional, something that could hold its own among the wildly creative costumes you see all over New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day.
Instead of starting with a fully formed concept, I used ChatGPT like a design partner first for concept directions, material suggestions, and then for mockups and stencil-ready artwork.
This article is going to walk through a few examples of the queries and model responses I thought made the biggest impact.
Here's what I want folks to take away from this: this costume is not winning any awards on Mardi Gras Day. It's not even close to the most impressive or wildest thing walking around the French Quarter. But I went from "I have an old jumpsuit and want to use gold paint" to a finished, intentional-looking costume in a few weeks and I could not have done it at that level without AI. Not because any single step was impossible on my own, but because AI compressed the whole process. Materials research, concept directions, mockups, stencil-ready artwork, painting technique, it kept the full context of my project across every step and let me progress fast enough to actually get it done. And honestly, after doing the physical work of painting, cutting, and heat-setting, I'm kind of amazed I finished at all.
Example #1 - What kind of Materials Will I Need?
As someone who tries to encourage people to use AI tools, one piece of advice I emphasize is that it's important to bring some kind of direction or constraint to the AI tool to get the best results for your situation.
I had an old mechanic jumpsuit from a Halloween costume from years ago and I knew I wanted to use gold paint in the costume. That meant the gold paint and any other colors needed to work on dark fabric along with whatever kind of fabric the jumpsuit was made out of.
I enabled internet search for this query, uploaded a picture of the tag, and it ended up searching through over 20 websites including product descriptions, reddit threads, essays, and other sites that related to the query.
User
I live in New Orleans and I need to make a Mardi Gras Day outfit. They’re usually homemade clothes or costumes. I have this dark blue jumpsuit that looks like a mechanic’s jumpsuit thing and I’m thinking I might do a combo of painting on it. Can you help me figure out the best kind of paint to make it look good and last as long as possible?
ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking
Perfect — your tag says the jumpsuit is 65% polyester / 35% cotton. That’s the key detail: polyester-heavy fabric is where a lot of normal craft paints start to crack or wash out unless you use the right kind and heat-set properly.
Best route for a 65/35 poly/cotton jumpsuit: - Jacquard Textile Color + Neopaque/Lumiere - Use opaque paints on dark blue - Neopaque for solid bright color blocks - Lumiere for metallic gold accents
This setup gives you the best combination of durability and pop on dark fabric.
Example #2 - What Ideas Should I Explore?
Since I knew I wanted to use gold, naturally I was thinking about how to incorporate a gold chain into the design. This was the basis for the next question, wondering how to incorporate it into a larger concept.
User
I’m still brainstorming, but I was thinking I could paint big gold chain links around the neck and start from there. I like the idea of gold and purple highlights. What else might look good?
ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking
On a dark blue jumpsuit, big simple shapes plus metallic/opaque paint and a few high-contrast accents will look intentional.
Strong directions: - Royal mechanic / pit crew: chain collar, sleeve rank stripes, bold back graphic, fleur-de-lis chest detail - Gold hardware theme: zipper-teeth motif, painted rivets/bolts, purple seam piping
Why it works: the garment already reads like a uniform, so the styling builds on that.
What really caught my eye in the response was the "royal mechanic / pit crew" idea because the jumpsuit already reads like a uniform. Bold shapes, repeating symbols, and contrasting accents that read from a distance became my filter for every idea after that.
Example #3 - Visualizing the Ideas
After going back and forth on concepts, I wanted to visualize the direction.
User
Can you generate a picture with some of these ideas?
ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking
Here is a rough concept image based on your notes.
From the image generated, the ideas that stuck with me were the patches and the wrench with a crown. The necklace looked more animated, but I mainly needed the overall direction.
Example #4 - Creating the Designs
For each painted element, I needed images I could use to create stencils or mockups for the jumpsuit.
User
Please create a bold, simple street art stencil design of a crowned spark plug. The style should be rugged and industrial, suitable for spray painting onto the back of a mechanic's jumpsuit. Black silhouette on a white background. Minimal detail, high contrast, chunky shapes. The look of a vintage garage logo.
Google Nano Banana Pro
Generated concept image.
Once I had the designs I wanted, I traced outlines onto paper, transferred marks onto the jumpsuit with a textile pencil, and painted the designs.
Example #5 - Refining Ideas
After painting on the gold chain, I thought it needed a medallion to help it pop a little more.
User
Could you add a golden medallion with the words “ROYAL SERVICE” in all caps to the necklace?
Google Nano Banana Pro
Updated concept image with medallion placement.
Example #6 - Painting Advice
User
Should I paint a white undercoat to make the colors appear better or would that be too much paint?
ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking
Good instinct. On dark blue, a white underbase is how you get bright and crisp color instead of muddy and transparent results.
Use white undercoat where color pop matters: - Purple accents - Non-metallic gold/yellow details - Small symbols and lettering
Skip or minimize undercoat where flexibility matters: - Metallic gold areas that already cover well - High-flex zones like knees and elbows
Example #7 - Links to the Supplies
To get started on construction, I asked it to pull together purchase links.
User
Can you give me links to the right paints? Let’s start with white, gold, purple, and black.
ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking
For your 65% poly / 35% cotton jumpsuit, I’d buy Jacquard paints for these jobs: - White underbase: Neopaque White - Gold metallic: Lumiere Metallic Gold - Purple accents: Neopaque Violet - Black outlines: Jacquard Textile Color Black
Additional links: - Neopaque White on Amazon - Lumiere Metallic Gold at Jerry's Artarama
Final Result
AI helped me find the right paint for a synthetic and cotton blend, suggested concepts that actually fit the garment I had, generated stencil art I could trace, and walked me through layering techniques on dark fabric. All of that probably saved me several days and nights of research, sketches, and false starts.
What AI actually gave me was a realistic shot at finishing something that was better than I could have created on my own. It shortened the distance between "vague idea" and "okay, I know exactly what to do and I have everything I need." For a holiday where the whole point is making something yourself, that felt like the right kind of help.