2 Rolls
10 Hours
Grey duck brand duct tape represents the steel grey feathers of a robin. Orange mesh signifies the burnt orange of a robin. The accessories include a hat with a feather in the rim, a quiver of arrows, and a bow. This is a Robin Hood dress in the colors and style of a robin.
27 Rolls
73 Hours
Hey! My name is Josephine, and the theme of my dress is Sakura. That is the Japanese word for Cherry Blossoms. The blossoms are a beautiful and important part of Japanese culture. Sadly, they only stay in bloom for a few weeks each spring; a short, delicate existence. Because of this, Sakura symbolize the precious and fleeting quality of life. They remind us that nothing lasts forever, and while the future is important, we should cherish, enjoy, and be mindful of the things we have now. One of my favorite Japanese traditions is Hanami, which literally means “flower viewing.” It is a centuries old tradition where the people gather for picnics under the Sakura and take time to pause, reconnect, and appreciate life. My design also ties into my career dream of being a pediatric oncologist. I want to help children with leukemia to heal so that they can better enjoy the time they have. The best way to enjoy your life is by helping others to enjoy theirs. Helping others will bring you the most joy! Additionally, the colors of my dress have meaning. I went with a color scheme of pink, white, and gold, which creates a simple and elegant look. The pink represents hope, white for clarity, and gold for enlightenment and illumination, all of which we receive from slowing down our lives. I wanted my dress to be a beautiful reminder to slow down and cherish what we have now, symbolize my career dreams, and encourage people to help each other whenever they can! The attached video explains how I fabricated the dress. Thank you so much for taking the time to view my creation!
27 Rolls
80 Hours
When I was a young girl, I was captivated by a fairytale book about a magic garden and a fairy princess. The story ignited my imagination and helped me see the magic all around me, including all of the living things in my own garden. I often dressed up as a fairy and loved playing in my own fantasy world. As I grew older, I felt a growing pressure to conform to social norms and dress a certain way in order to fit in. With every passing year, the magic was harder to find. The idea of dressing up like a fairy seemed more and more absurd the older I got, but my imagination kept growing. What if there was a way to dress how I wanted? What if I could find a way to enter the magical world of the fairies and be celebrated instead of laughed at? My passion for design and sewing led me to find ways to create magnificent dresses for different functions and helped me keep the magic alive. I truly believe that magic is all around us, sometimes we just need to create it ourselves!
14 Rolls
60 Hours
This outfit took heavy inspiration from the Victorian period of the 19th century, as well as some of my other favorite fashion eras. The top was modeled after the bustiers that were popular in the Victorian era, specifically ones with different colored panels that resemble a heart shape. The sleeves are a combination of puff sleeves from the 19th century and bell sleeves from the medieval period in Europe. The skirt was modeled in part after a pannier, which is a cartoonishly wide skirt from the 18th century. The hat is a musketeer hat, which can be found in 17th/18th-century France as well as Mickey Mouse cartoons. The necklace was inspired by the Victorian cameo necklaces I saw while in Italy.
10 Rolls
17 Hours
I have always loved history and my favorite era has always been the Rococo Era. This dress is inspired by the saying from the most famous person of this era, Marie Antoinette. The saying (that she didn’t actually say) is, “Let them eat cake.” This has always stuck with me because it’s such a strange thing to make up. Marie Antoinette was very young and not even French and the people still hated her, knowing this has helped me understand that it’s not always my fault if someone blames me for everything going wrong in their life, they’re just going through something and don’t know how to handle it. Throughout the making of this dress I’ve learned more about Marie Antoinette and Rococo fashion in general because I wanted my dress to be as historically accurate as possible. Even though my dress isn’t as accurate as I wanted, it has allowed me to learn more about things I’m passionate about and practice something I love doing.
16 Rolls
41 Hours
The inspiration that came to make this outfit is kind of funny. I went with my family to a Chinese restaurant and at that restaurant I got a fortune cookie, as you always should at Chinese restaurants. In that fortune cookie my fortune said, "You are the life of the party!" I hung this fortune up in my bedroom and every day I think about it. The day that I heard about this contest I decided that I should do it and I started brainstorming ideas. The best idea I came up with was a party theme and it came from the fortune inside my fortune cookie because I want to become the life of the party. Another thing I thought about as I made this was that each piece of confetti represents each person in the world. Some of the confetti pieces can be similar in ways but none of them are exactly the same. I also made this dress at first all white, which was pretty boring, but after I added the color from the confetti, my design came to life. It really showed my true colors and who I really am. This dress also resembles to party hard even in hard times. I loved making this dress and finding new ways to use the tape.
23 Rolls
65 Hours
My inspiration for this dress includes a touch of my culture and the style of quinceañera dresses. Ever since I was little, I've loved the color blue, butterflies, and flowers, which led me to incorporate all of this into my creation. This dress has over 200 flowers of different styles and shapes, and over 20 butterflies, which were made with the help of my parents! My accessories include a mariachi sombrero (the hat), which symbolizes my Mexican culture, of which I will always be proud of. I also decorated earrings and heels, incorporating flowers and butterflies, with a large white flower with gold-striped lines on the back of the dress. My dress includes all hand-cut designs, and represents lots of hours of patience and dedication. With this masterpiece, I was able to make my childhood dreams come true by creating a big, puffy dress that not only I designed, but also made out of Duck Tape. The flowers symbolize my change and growth as I enter a new chapter of my life, while the butterflies represent my gentle personality and my transition into college. I had a lot of fun making this dress, and I am ecstatic to share it with everyone!
11 Rolls
27 Hours
My inspiration for this dress was my love for the sport I compete in, which is crew, where I race in a boat with eight other people down lanes on the water. I’ve made the ribbing on the corset part of the dress to be representative of the lanes we race down, the waves at the bottom to represent the water we race in, and the lace up back to represent the boat I row in with all of my teammates.
14 Rolls
55 Hours
I designed my prom tuxedo in red, white, and blue as a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the United States. I placed 250 stars throughout the whole outfit, with each star representing a year of America's history. It required careful planning, layering, and hand-cut details to bring it to life. This tux celebrates a major milestone in our nation's history, and I'm glad to be a part of it.
8 Rolls
22 Hours
As someone who naturally leans toward English, taking AP Calculus this year has been an enjoyable way to push myself. After dedicating countless hours to the subject, it had effectively taken over my headspace. For my final project, I wanted to channel that academic intensity into something artistic, translating my coursework into a fully wearable garment constructed out of duct tape.
11 Rolls
40 Hours
I took inspiration from my favorite movie, fashion styles, and personal design choices. I've always been a little different and I like to embrace that. This project was certainly more appealing than simply writing another essay for yet another scholarship opportunity.
7 Rolls
24 Hours
Strangely, my dad, who helped me buy the Duck Tape, made me choose my colors before I designed the dress. So I chose blue and gold—the most elegant and aesthetically pleasing color combination, in my opinion. I knew I couldn't go wrong there. As I thought about those colors, Marie Antoinette, Versailles, and 18th-century gowns came to mind. From that point on, I knew I wanted a corset-style bodice and a full skirt. After trying on the dress for the first time, I noticed fairytale and Disney princess influences that I hadn't intentionally planned. That inspired me to add the delicate gold scrollwork up the side of the dress for a magical touch. It was interesting not to start the project with a clear design in mind, but it definitely pushed me to rely on my creativity. Constructing the full skirt was especially challenging, requiring four rolls of gold tape and a hoop-skirt form to achieve the silhouette I envisioned. I'm glad I was able to take the project in an unexpected direction and learn new skills along the way!
24 Rolls
82 Hours
Ever since I first heard of this competition I knew exactly what I was going to make. Since I was thirteen I have been making drawings and sketches of this gown, trying to envision it in my head. I am so excited to have finally been able to enact my vision and bring this dress to life. This dress is a classically constructed robe a la francaise, a type of gown worn in the mid 1700s by nobles like Marie Antoinette and Queen Charlotte. The gown consists of four parts: the Pannier; a type of early hoop skirt that was wide only at the sides, the Petticoat/Underskirt that was wor, under the dress and was visible through the v-shaped opening in the front, the Stomacher; a panel worn on the chest that attached the actual dress together, and the Robe a la Francaise itself; a beautiful gown with ruffled sleeves and a pleated cape in the back. Now, back then they would have used expensive silk or satin. I went a slightly different route. I thrifted bed sheets and carefully covered them in duck tape before measuring and cutting out my pattern. This was my first attempt at dress making, so I was slightly out of my league, but I think I pulled it off! I wanted to combine 2-d and 3-d elements, so I spent many hours carefully constructing ruffles and bows and carefully drawing and cutting out images of flowers. Figuring out I was trans was one of the best moments of my life. It came to me as a shining light in a time where I was so depressed and miserable and didn't feel like I had anything to live for. Realizing I was trans saved my life and has saved the lives of so many people like me. With this dress I wanted to show that trans people are here; we do exist; and we are capable of living fulfilling and happy lives, even in a world that may not always accept us. My inspiration for this dress was my identity as a trans person and the transgender flag. The three colors I used on this dress are the ones on the trans flag. And I even made the cape of the dress into a transgender flag. The flowers on the front of the dress also have meaning in LGBTQIA+ culture. The roses represent trans people, as well as love, passion and friendship. The carnation was popularized by Oscar Wilde as a symbol for gay men. And the violet has long been used as a symbol for lesbians. I felt it was important to represent other members of the queer community on my dress as well as trans people.
17 Rolls
15 Hours
This year we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. My inspiration for my dress is colonial gowns, ruffles, paper fans, beauty pageants, and the American flag. What helped me design my dress was envisioning all the patriotic colors of tape I picked up at the store integrated into each other . I wanted to spotlight every single color I’ve chosen somehow in my design. I also wanted to convey how I see patriotism throughout my whole dress, not just by colors but history. I incorporated history by trying to use the essence of colonial gowns used before by woman and somehow also use part of the design of the flag. In the end I had a bunch of scraps of tape so to represent the freedom of our country I decided to make an Eagle which I then name Liberty to represent us. I’m so happy that I get to share my creation with its representation of the United States Of America!
12 Rolls
140 Hours
Inspired by American superheroes and Japanese magical girls, this dress was made by around two months of work, a bunch of Duck Tape, and a couple zippers.
12 Rolls
49 Hours
For my dress, I was inspired by the Artemis II space launch on April 1 earlier this year. There have been a number of rocket launches over the course of my lifetime, but this was the first rocket launched with the goal of an eventual moon landing since the 1972 Apollo 17 launch. While there is much to learn from every space mission, the choice to begin sending missions to deep space again marks a new period of exploration. The little nerd inside of me who watched every Star Wars movie and read Sci-fi obsessively is filled with excitement at the thought that there is so much left for the human race to discover. I’m excited to think that there could even be life that we haven’t reached yet, and whole cultures that we’ve yet to learn about. It was this that inspired me to create the dress I did. Each layer gets darker symbolizing the deeper that humans explore in space.
18 Rolls
75 Hours
The design of my dress was inspired by my love for theatre and the arts. It depicts themes from one of my favorite musicals, Phantom of the Opera, including a piano pattern, a mask, and 127 red roses.
11 Rolls
30 Hours
This dress was inspired by the song "Butterfly Season" by Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert because as I move closer to my grade 12 graduation, it truly is my butterfly season. I grew up in a small town, raised by my grandparents my whole life. Finally now I am spreading my wings and moving to Calgary to pursue my Bachelor of Commerce. Every detail of this dress tells the story of my youth. The grey middle section was made out of my youth ballet tutu, the dried roses were from a bouquet given to me at my last-ever dance recital, and lastly, the giant wings represent leaving home and finding the best version of myself. The outfit represents my transformation from feeling like an unworthy young girl to a confident woman. The entire outfit was handcrafted using Duck Brand duct tape in gray, rainbow, blue floral, pink zebra, teal leopard, zig zag, and butterfly patterned varieties. I started by cutting out the wings out of cardboard, pinning a sheet to fit me like a dress, and pinning the tutu onto the sheet. After this base was completed, I used the tape to decorate the dress and the dried roses to make a piece of art that tells the story of moving into young adulthood.