Faith
C.
Inspiration:
My inspiration was my intent to pursue cyber security. Not many females go into the field so I wanted to represent that in my design. My inspiration to apply or attempt at all was the hope that this can help me get through college and go through with my dream.
17
Rolls
20
Hours
Katherine
G.
Inspiration:
My biggest inspiration for this dress is Pride month, and how beautiful and colorful it is! I wanted the dress to be as extravagant and colorful as possible, using all colors from the rainbow.
I aim to proudly represent the LGBTQ+ community. While I was designing and making this dress, only one thought came to mind: to properly show representation to a community I love. June 12th of 2021 marks the 5th year of remembrance for the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, Florida, which has been my home since I was 5 years old. Originally, I only wanted 49 flowers to resemble each beautiful soul we lost, but the list grew longer and longer. This dress is dedicated to those we lost due to hate, to those we loved, to those we cherish, to those who live on in our memories, and to those who are still not ready to come out into the light just yet. With all the love and support, we are #OrlandoStrong. Love is Love, and this dress is the definition of it. Happy Pride Month everybody!
"How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race?"- Marsha P. Johnson, 1945-1992
32
Rolls
167
Hours
Kayla
G.
Inspiration:
The Stuck at Prom scholarship gave me the chance to explore what truly inspires me. It took finding the prefect materials to realize it but once I narrowed it down to glow in the dark tape I knew I had to make a dress that would embody my ambitious energy and creative spirit.
15
Rolls
63
Hours
Michaela
G.
Inspiration:
My inspiration for this dress came from a strawberry bucket hat that I crocheted about a month before starting this project. When I was looking around my room for ideas, I saw it hanging by my bed and the ideas for the dress and accessories came to life. My love of strawberries and the color pink helped me pick the color palette and for the style of the neckline/bodice, I took inspiration from a few of the dresses I have in my closet that I really like and are pretty comfortable.
8
Rolls
24
Hours
Justin
B.
Inspiration:
I was inspired by the classic look of the tuxedo and the ingenuity and creativity needed for this challenge.
8
Rolls
12
Hours
Maelys
H.
Inspiration:
I was inspired by creating volume out of a flat surface such as duct tape. I wanted to stand out and use duct tape like it was never used before: as a material to take up space. During the making of this garment, I also became inspired by the silver color that I chose for the garment. Due to its reflective property, I felt as if the dress became inspired by the environment surrounding it.
25
Rolls
90
Hours
Emily
O.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for my outfit came from both the fashion of the 1960's as well as the challenges the pandemic brought. I wanted to tie in the idea of growth with the color palletes that were popularized during this era in order to create a dress that would symbolize a garden with the underlying message that there is growth after despair.
15
Rolls
55
Hours
Isabella
A.
Inspiration:
I wanted to make a dress that embodied female empowerment. I decided I would focus on a character and a object to base the design off of. The character I modeled the dress after was Athena the goddess of war and wisdom. I chose Athena because she is intelligent, brave, strong, and independent. I decided I’d make the chest piece look like a golden piece of armor to resemble her strength. The object I chose was a rose as they are beautiful on the outside but they have thorns and are able to hold their own. I decided the dress would be gold and red as they are strong bold colors.
7
Rolls
40
Hours
Hannah
D.
Inspiration:
My outfit was inspired by the past year's challenges, and my overall love of the outdoors. Throughout the pandemic, I spent a lot of time outside, admiring flowers. This was part of the inspiration for my dress design. The pandemic has forced us all to change our ways of living, and in the end, we have all grown and blossomed into new people, just like flowers. Each duct tape flower is unique, just like all of our experiences and journeys to where we are today.
25
Rolls
30
Hours
Naomi
Y.
Inspiration:
“The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all” - Josyiah Martin. The inspiration behind my dress was inspired by spring which is considered to be the season of new beginnings. This spring has shown to be hopeful for me as well as many others across the globe as the vaccine has become available. As a graduating senior whose high school experience got turned upside down due to the virus I am ready for change but more specifically ready to end a chapter in my life and start a brand new one. I wanted my dress to represent things that I found beautiful but also represent the change and meaning that I will put towards a brighter future. The ukulele for friendship, hummingbirds for happiness, sunflower for vitality, dandelion for perseverance, and the hand reaching for butterflies for the acceptance of change. So as I end and begin a new chapter in my life I’m looking forward to the new changes in my life like attending university and meeting new people.
27
Rolls
186
Hours
Seani
C.
Inspiration:
This competition started as a fantasy for me! When I was younger and in my main “duck” tape stage, my mom told me there was a contest where you could make a dress out of “duck” tape. I couldn’t believe it! Now years later, I found this scholarship and realized I could actually enter! In my final designs, I ended up combining 3 inspirations that define me; dragons, family, and trials or as I like to think of them--personal progress.
Inspired by my love of dragons, I made the top of my dress look like armored scales. I then added more scales to my hip, left arm, and crown. I love how my shoulder armor really looks dragon textured! The reason I love dragons and styled my dress similarly is because they can be amazingly powerful, fierce warriors but also elegant and gifted creatures. They are easy to relate to. I have many friends and family members who fit my description of dragons. I am so thankful for each of them!
One of them is my Gramma. She reminded me to make a pocket for lip gloss! Wanting to be original with my pocket placing, I made a (mostly) hidden lip gloss-sheath under one of my left “arm scales”. Another gifted dragon is my mom. She helped me wrap myself in duct tape when I made a mannequin to build my dress on. My older sister helped me decide what type of flower to make for my sword hilt. I used the same flower type on my bracelet. I also made a bag, a pink duct tape hair band, and did the final touches including the taping of my fingernails, with my little sister. We even made her a duck tape hula skirt, armed scales for her back, a sword, a dagger, a crown, and a necklace matching mine ;). (Hooray, maybe I’ll never grow out of my duck tape stage!) We also had a sword fight to celebrate the finishing of my dress!
I am inspired by my dad. And made 8 grey cancer ribbons for him. Four on my dress, one on my bag, one on my necklace, one on my crown, and the eighth one I placed on my little sister’s necklace because when she turns 8 this year and my dad will have survived 8 years with TERMINAL brain cancer! Which leads to how I chose the main colors of my dress.
For my dress colors, I decided to use yellow and grey highlighted by chrome and gold as my base colors. They are my family’s colors. They remind us of hope and trials, also of our family’s saying: “Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst”. This saying is important to remember when challenges or trials hit us or those we love. We know life is full of challenges and we know each one of us can grow from them! I used my dad’s, aunt’s and pappy’s cancer ribbon colors (brain/grey, bone & Ewing sarcoma/yellow, prostate/light blue) to represent trials people go through. I portrayed the ribbons as little flowers because people often conceal how much their challenges affect them.
These “flowers” are all connected and joined into one tree. Since no matter how strong an individual is, he or she still needs support and love from his or her family/friends. The “F” on the big tree stands for family, but love and support does not stop there. So I put more (smaller) trees around the big one creating a forest representing communities.
With the help of my family and the support of my community, I was able to take on a hard (well sticky) challenge and make my youthful fantasy into a reality. As a final touch to connect the world’s past with the present I cut half of my mask open to remind us all that the world can and is healing, and that we do NOT need to be too scared to show our smile and the dragon within us.
11
Rolls
195
Hours
Olivia
S.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for my dress is the numerous attacks on members of the AAPI community. Everyday I would hear stories of people being spit on, hospitalized, their businesses vandalized and I’d constantly be worrying about my siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins whenever they’d go out. It’s horrible, yet going back and reading about how many of these victims have persevered and stood up, used the attention they had to speak out against their attackers and similar events, or have served as symbols of injustice making others stand up and come together, stress that there’s not solely pain and suffering but hope and courage as well. My dress is centered around the hope that many of those people have given me for a better, more peaceful future.
9
Rolls
60
Hours
Gillian
U.
Inspiration:
My inspiration for this suit is from villains-- to many people that may seem unusual to be inspired by something as seen as evil but I’ve often admire how exaggerated their clothing is and how they weren’t conventionally attractive. The ruffles reminded me of royalty and the Neoclassical Era. To give the suit a villainous feel, I made the shape of sleeves and pants an exaggerated balloon shape and played around with different textures including pleats and more ruffles. For the colors, I wanted to make it look innocent to contrast the villains who inspired me.
16
Rolls
76
Hours
Elizabeth
J.
Inspiration:
My love for the ocean inspired my colour choices, and the roses are in memory of my great-grandma.
13
Rolls
17
Hours
Adrienne
F.
Inspiration:
Since December 2020, I had been thinking of prom dresses I would like to sew for myself someday. Unfortunately, prom was cancelled at my school due to COVID-19, so I did not get to sew any of the dresses I had sketched. However, this contest gave me the opportunity to make the dress I had dreamed of. I based my design off of a fashion sketch I had made earlier this year. I self drafted the pattern and even added darts to the bodice. I am proud to say that my design turned out much prettier than I had ever imagined. The duct tape allowed for the circle skirt to flow outward, making it appear large and beautiful. For the accessories, I knew I would need a folding fan. I live in Florida, and the heat in May and June is no joke. I hope to make the dress and accessories out of fabric soon so I can wear it to my senior prom next year.
17
Rolls
97
Hours
Kylie
R.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for my prom dress was my love of journaling. It was the perfect creative outlet. I could design an iconic ‘memory dress’ that encapsulated not only my best high school memories but also inspirational quotes from teachers and coaches that I’ve jotted down in my journal over the years.
6
Rolls
85
Hours
Alecia
F.
Inspiration:
As I started brainstorming on what I could create, I knew I wanted to be able to share an important message with my prom suit. With everything that has occurred within the past year it seemed that anytime you read the news, the headlines would be yet another story of loss, hatred, apathy, and heartbreak. It became easy to feel isolated and hopeless, fixating on everything that has gone wrong—the ugly truths of the world that the pandemic brought to light. However, when I stepped back and reflected on my senior year of high school and the past year in general, I came to realize that the pandemic has also highlighted the incredible strength and compassion humanity has to offer. Moments of camaraderie, empathy, generosity, and perseverance, all demonstrated that even in our darkest times, there’s one thing that will always shine through—love. Love for our fellow neighbors, friends, classmates, workers, and those we just see in passing is what has kept the world afloat and allowed us to be hopeful for the future as we’ve entered Spring of 2021. Because of this, I wanted my suit to not only showcase the message of “Love Over All,” but embody Springtime, a time of rebirth and renewal, by using bright and vibrant colors and doing a more seasonal approach by making a pair of shorts to accompany the rest of the suit. I also made the decision to forgo a cloth base to somewhat symbolize the idea that we, as a nation, are starting from scratch as we try to rebuild our “new normal.” Akin to Spring flowers, we have just gone through a harsh Winter but are prepared to bloom once more; we are radiating with life, abundant in color, artful, bold, beautiful, and most of all resilient.
21
Rolls
35
Hours
Kate
A.
Inspiration:
This decades dream dress highlights the fan favorites of several decades. I brought inspiration for the sheer, puffy sleeves from the modern era. The 50s poodle skirt is at the perfect tea length. The shoes have ruffles on the heels resembling 60s fashion. The 90s ring and fanny pack are outstanding companions to this dress. The 70s flower crown is the cherry on top. The entire outfit is topped with a timeless classic: flowers- lots of them. Also, the big flowers are based off of 80s prom dresses where large floral pieces were all the rage. Plus, this dress includes a mask from today's day and age. This dress is sure to be the dress of your dreams given that it showcases years worth of fashion.
15
Rolls
30
Hours
