Niemeyer hired proper seamstresses, most of them women from Rio's "favela" hillside slums who worked for samba schools, stitching extravagant Carnivalcostumes.
Hundreds of devotees in extravagant costumes travel to the carnival on the Elvis Express, a special train service from Sydney, where the morning rush-hour is invigorated by white jumpsuits, aviator sunglasses and black wigs.