From the beginning of his career,
Dorival Caymmi musically imbued his country with a rhythmic, romantic identity that went well with Brazil's enticing geography and sultry, bikini-clad women. His first and immediately popular song, written at 16, was “O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?”. That song became the first hit of
Carmen Miranda, whose well-displayed limbs, extravagant hats and exuberant voice made her a global sensation as the "Brazilian Bombshell". In 1996, the publication News From Brazil said Mr. Caymmi taught Ms. Miranda to move her arms and hands with the music, which became her trademark. In keeping with the song's lyrics, Carmen performs "O que é que a baiana tem?" wearing the costume of the baiana, a term which literally means a woman from the north-eastern state of Bahia but more specifically refers to
Afro-Brazilian woman who since colonial times have sold food on the streets of
Salvador in
Bahia and
Rio de Janeiro, and to the priestesses of the Afro-Brazilian religion,
Candomblé. Carmen, who had worked as an apprentice
milliner and was a skilled dressmaker, stylized the costume herself, adding sequins and a small imitation basket of fruit to her
turban, in a playful nod to the baskets of produce that the baiana street vendors carried on their heads. This stylized version of the baiana costume, with a shortened blouse that exposed her midriff, a figure-hugging, bias-cut, full-length skirt (eschewing the traditional baianas more respectable white lace blouse and hooped underskirts), and most memorably an elaborately decorated turban, was to become Carmen's iconic trademark for international audiences. The costumes created for her first
Hollywood roles, like those she wore on Broadway and in nightclub acts in the
United States, would incorporate the same key elements. == Legacy ==