What is the La Catrina trend?
It is a costume reveal built around the most famous figure of Mexico's Day of the Dead. The clip has two scenes with the same person, and the flower reveal brings in the whole look: a wide red hat ringed with orange marigolds and small white pearls, more marigolds at the temples, a red dress with a fitted corset and a neckline trimmed with flowers, a red choker with a heart pendant, white skeleton-print gloves and small electric candles burning on the hat, in the hands and around the waist.
In the original, the face is painted as a sugar skull: a white base, dark rings around the eyes, a red heart on the forehead and stitched lips. The vswp version is different on purpose. It keeps the dress, the hat, the flowers and the accessories, and puts your recognizable, natural face where the skull paint was, so friends see that it is you in the costume and not a stranger in makeup. It works for late October and the first days of November, when Halloween and Día de Muertos (November 1 and 2) meet on the same feeds.
Where does the original video come from?
We have not confirmed who first posted this exact clip, so this page does not link a source and does not name the woman in it. What is visible on the poster frame is a home setting: a dim room with curtains and a sofa, warm candlelight and the full Catrina costume described above.
The character itself has a well-documented history. The Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada made a zinc etching of an elegant female skeleton around 1910-1913, first called La Calavera Garbancera, a satire of people who hid their roots behind European fashion. The name Catrina, from "catrín", a well-dressed dandy, came later: Diego Rivera used it and gave her the long dress and boa in his mural "Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central" (1946-1947), where she walks between Posada and Rivera himself. Since then La Catrina has become the face of the Day of the Dead, from street parades to costume reveals like this one.
Who and what is in it?
There is one person to replace, and she appears in both scenes:
- The first scene. The opening before the reveal.
- The flower reveal. The full Catrina: the red hat with marigolds, the red gown and corset, the skeleton gloves, the candles and the slow, posed hand movements that show off the details.
One photo covers both scenes, so your face stays the same from start to finish. The clip is 15 seconds long.
How to make the La Catrina video with AI
- Open the La Catrina — Flower Reveal trend and sign in with Telegram. There is no password.
- The person is already found. Add one photo of yourself (JPEG, PNG or WebP).
- Keep "Keep the original look" on to wear the Catrina dress, hat and flowers with your own face and hair; turn it off only if you want the look to come from your photo instead.
- Press "Make the free preview" to see about 5 seconds at 480p with a small "vswp.app" mark; every new user gets one.
- Press "Create the full video". The price in Telegram Stars is shown before you start, and the Stars come back automatically if a render fails or is canceled. You get an MP4 at 480p or 720p with the original sound, typically in minutes.
Making it for a friend or your mom? Ask first: by starting a video you confirm you have the right to use the photos. For more party ideas, read Halloween videos with friends; for another marigold clip, see Puente de Cempasúchil, or browse the trends list.
Which photo works best?
- A clear, front-facing face. The Catrina looks straight at the camera most of the time, so a sharp photo with both eyes visible, no sunglasses and no hand near the face works best.
- No face paint in the photo. The point of this version is your natural face; a skull-makeup selfie would fight the costume instead of showing you.
- Even light. The scene is lit by warm candlelight; a photo in soft daylight blends in more naturally than one with hard flash or colored club light.
- Hair that frames the face. Long dark hair sits naturally under the big hat, but short hair works too.
- One person per photo. Group shots make it harder to tell which face to use.
More tips: which photos work best for an AI video swap.
