17 Rolls
65 Hours
My outfit is inspired by los trajes típicos of my home country the Dominican Republic. My culture has always been a significant influence in my life and I knew I wanted my final piece to reflect it. When Cardi B performed ‘Bodega Baddie’ on SNL it inspired me to represent my culture more and love where I come from.
25 Rolls
207 Hours
Creating a tuxedo out of duck tape challenged me to think creatively and turn simple materials into something unique. Music and playing the guitar inspire me because they allow me to express myself, tell stories, and bring ideas to life, just as I did with my tuxedo design. The creativity, dedication, and passion required in both music and design motivate me to keep learning, creating, and pushing my imagination further.
35 Rolls
250 Hours
My dress was inspired by my experience growing up as a girl and struggling with beauty standards and expectations of femininity. For a long time, I felt pressured to be pretty, sweet, polished, and admired. The strawberry cake theme came from the expectation for women to be beautiful and decorated, almost like a dessert made for others to look at and enjoy. The giant fork attached to the outfit represents how draining and consuming those expectations felt to me. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time comparing myself to others and worrying about whether I was "pretty" enough. In a way, I was trying to fit that "cake mold" image of a perfect woman, and it was slowly eating away at my confidence. The fork symbolizes that feeling of being consumed by society's idea of what a girl should be. As I grew older, I became more comfortable with myself, learning fashion, makeup, and self-expression. I realized that femininity could be something I enjoyed and defined for myself rather than something forced or performative. In the process, I learned that my worth isn’t determined by how closely I fit an ideal.
32 Rolls
44 Hours
The Phoenix is a mythical creature that is known for bursting into flames and rising from its own ashes, symbolizing resilience, and renewal. This dress pictures the phoenix rising from the ashes, brushing the soot off its wings and embracing the new day ahead. My family has gone through a bit of hardship over the last few years, but we are always able to pick each other back up and help others find their way. The design of the dress also went through multiple “rebirths”, having multiple different concepts before landing on a final design. The colors and the details on the dress were chosen to represent the newly risen phoenix. The Black and white represent the past, the soot and embers that remain, the red symbolizes the growing fire that will soon blossom into a raging Inferno of passion. Pushing on towards the future. And the hand cut feathers that embellish the gown represent the Phoenix shaking off the remains of the fire and embracing who they are.
5 Rolls
25 Hours
I was mainly inspired by the venus fly trap. I'm very passionate about plants, and while many people know of its iconic method of capturing prey, not many are aware that it has a flower. The flowers are often comically tall in comparison to the rest of the plant in order to keep the pollinators safe. I wanted to capture a bit of the odd beauty of such a dangerous plant.
19 Rolls
37 Hours
I took inspiration from peacocks which is my grandmother’s favorite bird. She is the one informed me of the scholarship opportunity. She encouraged me to participate.
47 Rolls
220 Hours
My stuck at prom dress was inspired by my favorite flower since I was little, sunflowers. I always loved sunflowers for their bright colors that seem to shine down on the world around them.
15 Rolls
39 Hours
This dress was inspired by a dress that I couldn’t stop drawing last year. Every time I wanted to draw myself in a dress, it turned out the same. It incorporates all the things I love in a dress, like the sleeveless corset top, and the long skirt with flowers and vines. The design has changed slightly, as I usually draw it with a gradient, which is a little hard (although not impossible) to do with duck tape, but overall, I think it still reflects the feel of my drawing. I have liked sleeveless dresses for a while, and I hadn’t been sure why until I remembered that my mom’s wedding dress was sleeveless and that I loved her dress. The names on this dress each represent an important person in my life who has passed: Birdie was my aunt, Penny was my grandma that I, sadly, never got a chance to meet, Monster was my childhood dog, Clayton was my dad, Buzzard was a firefighting pilot that came to this airport a lot, Eddie was my great-grandad, and Ben was a friend that worked at the airport. I hope that they would be proud of my memorial to them. There was a point in this process when I started doubting myself and didn’t work on the dress for weeks, but my friend asked me when I’d be finished so she could see my entry and I realized that, even though my dress may not be perfect, it was still worth it to finish to show to my friends and family. I have spent a lot of my life at this airport, so it felt right to take my pictures in front of one of my favorite airplanes.
32 Rolls
80 Hours
I started with an idea for a classy, 50's style A-line dress with an off-the shoulder mantle. I knew from the start I wanted it to be bright red, with an accent color. I chose gold for the accent, because I wanted something both bold and elegant. The colors made me think of flames, and flames made me think of the sun. I decided to try embodying the sun as an ethereal being.
17 Rolls
30 Hours
My inspiration for my garment came from my mom who inspires me everyday. Throughout my childhood my mom had breast cancer and multiple surgeries while bring a single mother. Even with these hardships she always remained strong, resilient, and always stylish. I never saw the struggling side of her as she always tried her best to act strong in moments where she was her weakest. She has been my biggest supporter my entire life. The cheetah made from rhinestones is a symbol of my moms strength and beauty as she is a very glamourous woman. Cheetahs spiritually symbolize power, confidence, and fierce grace. All the things I see in my mother as well as her loving heart. From the age of 8 I knew I wanted to become a fashion designer and my mom has always supported me regardless of the countless amount of people who didn't believe in me or still doubt me to this day. Judging that it's unrealistic and I'm not capable, however my mom has never doubted me and continuous to support, motivate, and inspire me to this day. The use of braids roots from memories of my mom and I together when she would braid my hair as a child, regardless if we were sitting in a hospital bead or my childhood bedroom. The act of her braiding my hair is when I felt the closest to her, just us two in a world of chaos. Cherishing those special moments where I wasn't sure if it was our last or not. Turquoise and gold are her favorite colors, so this dress is an overall dedication to my appreciation and admiration towards my mother. The process included using table cloth covered in duct tape as my fabric, creating a sketch of my initial design, then making mockups of different ways I could transform the basic duct tape into art. I then cut many individual strips to make the braids that are incorporated throughout the dress. I then created the top and bottom portion of the dress, making a corset and double sided skirt. Also creating a belt in which would help cinch the waist part of the dress. The final project was the cheetah, starting with pattern paper, sketching the cheetah, then individually rhinestoning each gem onto the cheetah to bring the art to life. I used gold flakes and glitter as the cheetahs spots and the outline of the body. The final addition of glitter finished the dress, showcasing my mothers glam and how she is the sparkle in my life.
21 Rolls
122 Hours
There were two very large inspirations for this dress. The first one being the night sky. I love the look of the stars at night, infinite in grace and beauty, much like what I wanted my dress to be. The other one being my high school colors: blue and silver. These colors represent the most important years of my life at the best school in Sprague. As a senior, I know I’ll miss the experiences I’ve had here.
27 Rolls
208 Hours
I have been lucky enough to visit all across the United States, and my tuxedo is inspired by my travels across America to honor our 250th Anniversary. On the tuxedo, I included some of my favorite memories from my road trips with my mom, aunt, and grandpa. These road trips have shaped my future and allowed me to discover my passion for hotels and hospitality, which I am pursuing in college. On one side of the tuxedo jacket, I chose my hometown of Los Angeles, represented by the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign. On the other side, I chose where I’m moving to for college, New York City. We included the state flowers from both; New York’s state flower is a rose, and California’s is the California poppy. For the pants, we chose some of my favorite landmarks from each coast: the Golden Gate Bridge and a New England Lighthouse, like those I saw in Maine. On the back, we have a map of the United States that’s color-coded by when they were added to the union. There are also postcards of some of the landmarks and things I’ve come across on my trips, like a Hawaiian beach, the Liberty Bell, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Yellowstone thermal pools, Mesa Verde, and the numerous corn fields I passed along the way. Largest of all, we put the Statue of Liberty to represent the American ideals of hospitality. The postcards are mapped in an east to west pattern in alignment with where they are on the map.
15 Rolls
32 Hours
My dress was inspired by military children. I am a military kid myself and have always resonated deeply with dandelions as the representation of these strong, brave, courageous, and resilient kids who can bloom anywhere in the world. I made this dress both for myself and to be a beacon of light for military kids to show that they are not alone. I chose my dress colors as purple, gold, and white as purple is the color of the military child, gold to compliment the purple, and white as a pop of a different color and to help the contrast of the dandelions. I think the hardest part was making the skirt as it took five rolls of purple Duck Tape and a lot of patience to cut out both of the dandelions and a bunch of dandelions seeds. My accessories include a bouquet of roses, a Duck Tape woven clutch, a pair of gold shoes with a mini purple bow, a purple headband, and a princess cape. To be honest I really had no plan or ideas on how to make the dress and kind of just winged the entire thing but I am so happy and proud of how it turned out and cannot express my gratitude toward everyone who supported me during this process!
9 Rolls
134 Hours
I was always told femininity was a one way street; quiet, delicate, soft, and beautiful. Growing up, I didn't fill that mold of traditional femininity; I was loud, bold, strong, but nonetheless, I was still beautiful. This dress is inspired by the struggles of fitting into traditional femininity and realizing that it is a giant highway system, where we get to choose which road to take. I choose to be feminine in loving being a woman and not letting anyone shame me or make me feel weak for being a woman. I chose a princcess knight because of how princcess are depicted in fairy tales, a damsel in distress. This princcess knows that being one doesn't make her weak and in need of saving, when she can do it herself. I took heavy inspiration from Joan of Arc, Nella the Princcess Knight, and Merida from Brave. I first started with the skirt, then the chest armor, shoulder armor, sword, cone hat, and finally, the patterns on the chest plate.
13 Rolls
30 Hours
The Inspiration is The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia. A beautiful cathedral made inside an active salt mine. It is both a tourist attraction and an active church. I started with a concept sketch of the design, then, through a series of tapping my dress form for the base, and building off it, I completed the dress.
15 Rolls
23 Hours
Since I love the ocean so much, despite living in a desert, my main inspiration was a whale shark and the golden sunsets here in New Mexico. For the whale shark pattern, I hand drew it with a white paint marker and created a gold corset top in order to incorporate two things I was inspired by.
27 Rolls
59 Hours
I didn’t draw or plan out my dress before I started creating it. Most people would consider that unconventional, but I work best by figuring things out as I go rather than following a detailed plan. Throughout the entire process, I relied on creativity and problem-solving to overcome challenges and bring my vision to life. Whenever I encountered an obstacle, I looked for different solutions and evaluated which approach would work best. One challenge was making the skirt appear as if it were flowing naturally. To solve this, I walked around craft stores searching for materials that could help and eventually discovered floral stems, which I attached to the ends of the skirt layers. The stems allowed me to bend and shape the layers, creating the flowing movement I had envisioned. Creativity helped me think outside the box and find solutions that traditional materials and methods could not provide, making the final design both unique and dynamic.
9 Rolls
39 Hours
When I was looking for ideas for this suit I was largely inspired by beaded suits with floral designs running across the whole ensemble. I wanted to incorporate a uniqueness into the suit and create something that someone could wear to prom wasn't simply a plain black suit.