Stuck At Prom®
Emily M.
9 Rolls
48 Hours
Inspiration:
For my prom outfit I wanted to do something classic but with a modern twist unique to me. I also took some inspiration from the androgynous turn that fashion has taken as of late. I love the classic black tux look, so I chose that for my base and added a feminine twist. I for one have never felt especially comfortable in extremely girly clothing. However, men's clothing isn't exactly flattering. So I decided to make a tux/skirt combo with a modern corset top instead a button up shirt that is typically worn. This way the femininity of the corset top and skirt is toned down by the jacket. This was a lot harder than I thought but ended up being so rewarding. So, all in all this was a really fun experience and this allowed me to challenge myself and create an entire outfit completely unique to me.
Stuck At Prom®
Jaelyn S.
22 Rolls
37 Hours
Inspiration:
I have always been inspired by fashion. I will be majoring in fashion design and merchandising this fall at Carson-Newman. I wanted to create an elegant dress that connect to me personally. This dress is named “Elegant Feathers”. Feathers have a deep personal meaning to my family, for they represent my brother. My brother was born five months early and didn’t survive. I also choose the feathers because it allows the texture to contrast to the elegant smooth sleek teal. I especially love adding contrast to my designs and outfits. Another inspiration was Charles James, who is my role model in the fashion industry. His work is so unique while still being simple, creative and elegant. He always said that he saw his pieces as “sculptures not dresses” and I wanted to do the same.
Stuck At Prom®
Nayely G.
15 Rolls
45 Hours
Inspiration:
I have always loved going outside on a clear night and trying to point out constellations. I remember being younger and not knowing any constellations and the sky looked like a bundle of stars, as I got older and learned some constellations I would get excited and point them out to whoever I was with. When making the dress I wanted to embody my younger self and put stars everywhere on the dress. In the process of finishing the dress when my family would ask me if a certain constellation was on the dress, I would quickly look for it and outline the constellation to them. I mapped out 57 constellations, 8 on the top, and 49 on the skirt, and added white stars in the remaining space of the dress. When looking at the dress there are some holes, however, that is intentional as that is a portion of a constellation. I had so much fun making this dress as I felt like my younger self would have totally geeked out on the dress and would've loved to learn the pronunciation of the constellations as well as the story behind them.
Stuck At Prom®
Alexis F.
8 Rolls
8 Hours
Inspiration:
Butterfly’s are cool creature because just like humans they change. Eventually every person reaches their full potential and becomes a butterfly. I chose to make my dress red because red is such a bold color, and it’s often not associated with being an elegant creature.
Stuck At Prom®
Alexis W.
22 Rolls
300 Hours
Inspiration:
My name is Alexis Wrightson. I’m a graduating student at College Heights Secondary School in Guelph, ON. My journey in education has not been easy. I’ve encountered several challenges over the years. I haven’t taken the traditional pathway but rather found a route that allowed me to thrive and become the person I am today. When I first entered highschool, I quickly learned that I struggled with Borderline personality disorder and Developmental delay disorder. I found myself overwhelmed with my classes. I entered a special needs class and reduced the amount of courses I was taking. The program allowed me to stay in school until the age of 21 and graduate with my full diploma. In my program I was blessed to meet several other students with unique learning styles and disabilities like me. It was through this program that I feel I matured as a lifelong learner and an individual who accepts everyone for who they are and embraces the uniqueness each person has to offer. I’m proud to say that I am accepted into post secondary education starting in September 2022.I will be pursuing my dream as a hairstylist at La Luma Academy. I encourage others with disabilities to follow their dreams and never give up hope. I want to share my success story and journey through the education system. Each symbol of my dress represents various gifts and challenges that either myself or my fellow students have navigated through and will continue to do so. The colors are bright and vibrant as we all shine bright as individuals.
Stuck At Prom®
Katherine W.
20 Rolls
38 Hours
Inspiration:
This outfit was inspired by the natural patterns of a monarch butterfly. If you look at the bodice upside-down, you will see a (right-side-up) butterfly! Also, the corsage includes flowers meant to attract butterflies, like daisies.
Stuck At Prom®
Dani J.
15 Rolls
97 Hours
Inspiration:
The inspiration for this outfit was something happy and other worldly. The main goal was to create something that was a nice contrast to the world. A lot of us have been going through difficult experiences and have been wanting a break, this dress was my break. I got to spend a lot of time just doing art, which I love, and getting to work on a project with my friends.
Stuck At Prom®
Emmy S.
39 Rolls
117 Hours
Inspiration:
Green, the color of the majority of the world around us. But also the color of May, which represents mental health awareness month. Throughout the past couple years the world has shined a light on the topic of mental health, especially in athletes of all levels. It has been proven that almost 40 percent of professional, elite, collegiate and high-school athletes suffer from mental health issues that they believe were created from the stress to perform at their best. Estimates say that 60 percent of athletes suffer from sports/ competitive anxiety. The collegiate athlete suicide rate for 2022 has shattered previous years data. As a 3 sport varsity high-school athlete soon to be collegiate athlete, I chose to do different shades of green for this dress in order to contribute to mental health awareness month as the majority of this dress was completed in the month of May. The dress is a symbol of all who the world has lost and everyone who is currently struggling.
Stuck At Prom®
Olivia L.
8 Rolls
2 Hours
Inspiration:
My inspiration came from my love of mermaids as a child. Especially Disney's the little mermaid. I liked that she could live under water and escape to another world. I liked to collect things and so did she.
Stuck At Prom®
Chidinma O.
12 Rolls
30 Hours
Inspiration:
I grew up as a tomboy and was sometimes made fun of for not trying enough to be girly. Being a tomboy was a result of me being close to my older brother. I have never really been in touch with my feminine side and so I never really liked bright colors or dollhouses and dolls. But in this case, I really wanted to push myself and try something new. I wanted to show that there is nothing wrong with having a masculine side through my piece. I wanted to show the beauty of masculinity and femininity when they are put together. This is why I decided to use the color pink which is seen as a more feminine color for my suit. As much as I wanted to try something new I still wanted to keep in touch with my true self. I couldn't leave my spontaneous tomboy side out of my piece, so I decided to make a suit instead of a dress. I created this piece in hopes that I could enjoy both the masculine and feminine sides of me. Although it took a dozen duct tapes and 30 hours. I am more than proud of the piece of art I was able to create. I am truly happy for the opportunity to present this piece to the world as well as the message I wish to share through it.
Stuck At Prom®
Hikmah A.
20 Rolls
50 Hours
Inspiration:
My dress was inspired heavily inspired by my Nigerian background. I love African prints because of how colourful and vibrant they usually are and so I decided to make my dress based on that. In terms of the style, I have always loved mermaid style dresses so I made the skirt based on this personal preference. When creating this outfit, I was able to come up with many hacks to speed up the process. For example, instead of using a sewing machine or simply taping the cut pieces together, I decided to use a stapler because it was easier and more secure. I have a very strong interest in fashion and I plan to attend university for fashion design later this year.
Stuck At Prom®
Adrienne F.
50 Rolls
81 Hours
Inspiration:
I am a seamstress and an engineer. When those two skills combine, they lead to limitless creation. This tuxedo not only provided an atypical challenge, but also served as a unique, creative outlet for my most imaginative design. I wanted to break away from the typical dress and create something distinctive, inspiring, and empowering. The result, this tuxedo. The design came to me randomly in math class. The original sketch existing in the margins of my notes. Unlike my previous options, this design was eccentric, colorful, and ideal. I immediately began work, buying out the entire mint, transparent iridescent blue, gold, and shimmer mirror tape stock at Walmart and Michael’s. I was able to utilize my sewing skills to construct an advanced bodice and my first jacket. My engineering characteristics allowed me to easily find solutions to the inability to sew through tape, resulting in stapling seams. The process challenged my abilities and taught me the tricks to manipulating duct tape. The result is much greater than I ever imagined it would be, and I am proud to have taken on the Duck Tape Stuck at Prom scholarship challenge.
Stuck At Prom®
India F.
19 Rolls
94 Hours
Inspiration:
Living in a farmtown, there’s not much for teenagers to do besides drive out to the fields and stargaze at night. This is where I drew my inspiration. I based my design off stars in the night sky. I have never made a dress before, so this project was quite the adventure! I wanted to play with asymmetry, which is where the pattern of the bodice comes in. When constructing the dress, I lined pieces of fabric with duct tape and sewed them together. I made the skirt and bodice separately and pieced them together like a set. I made various different accessories including a shawl, necklace, and many bracelets. I decided to go with this headpiece and bracelet because all the other accessories detracted from the dress.
Stuck At Prom®
Jochebed A.
23 Rolls
65 Hours
Inspiration:
" I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!" Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets who lived during the Victorian age. This helped me come up with my theme and main idea for my dress. Basically, I was inspired by the Victorian Age, but of course I wanted to incorporate my culture as well and added an African twist . Due to the whole Quarantine situation and having to stay at home for a long amount of time, I got into watching lots of different Victorian shows and of course the beautiful dresses caught my eye, and I have always wanted to have one of my own. This led on to the creation of this alluring dress. The designing and making of this dress has been a journey, where I have learned to enjoy and appreciate the process, while working hard to achieve my end goal. This dress is meant as a representation of who I am as an African person living in the United States, as it is a harmonious blend of African culture and American history, and I am thrilled that these two different cultures could coexist in such an elegant fashion.
Stuck At Prom®
Jorja B.
16 Rolls
103 Hours
Inspiration:
I've always loved a challenge that made me think outside the box, when I found out that there was a contest that was purely about making a dress/tux out of duct tape I was all for it. I've created various crafts with duct tape before, but something like a dress was definitely new to me. For my inspiration I decided I would go with the flow and see where the colors of the duct tape took me. The inspirations changed over time, depending on how I felt and what I was thinking the end design of the dress would always change in my head. Eventually I came to the final idea, which is the dress you see now. The idea formed when I was thinking about going to college, I am going to be living in a city. It's a change from what I'm normally used to, so I added what looks like buildings on the bottoms and top of the skirt of my dress. As I looked at the emptiness in the middle of the dress, I added a moon and two fish. I added the fish in the "sky" to symbolize peace, freedom, and wonder. I've always wondered what it would look like to see fish swimming freely in the sky, it always seemed like such a beautiful sight in my mind. As for the shape of the dress I wanted to change things up a bit for myself. I liked the style of big dresses, but I also adore ruffles. I just knew that this dress needed to have eccentric ruffles down the slit of the dress. The open leg part of the dress makes it feel daring and lovely with the ruffles, I'm proud of how well the ruffles came out! I measured myself and used those measurements to design my dress accordingly.
Stuck At Prom®
William Y.
19 Rolls
200 Hours
Inspiration:
The theme of this tuxedo has evolved far from its original concept of a generic heroes costume, or one signaling a message for unity and peace, into what it is today. I first dreamed of entering the Stuck at Prom competition when I went to the Duck Tape Festival the summer after 4th grade, and the “be a hero” theme is one I’ve been working on through the pandemic. Being Half-Chinese, though I’m often mistaken for Latinx or Indigenous American, I don’t get to see many characters who look like the non-Caucasian half of my family or me in superhero films. They are typically sidekicks, comic relief, or a villain when I do. Thankfully the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) came out with Shang Chi in 2021. However, while it is hands down one of my favorite movies, it is thus far the only superhero film with specifically Chinese protagonists to be released for American audiences. My family did an MCU-themed Halloween costume in 2021, and since my younger brother Delano and I often act like Loki and Thor, we dressed up as those two characters. While I was making my Thor costume (which was also constructed using Duct Tape and considered working elements from into my Prom attire), I realized that I have yet to see a Chinese God/Demigod play a significant role in most of the movies and television series I’ve had access to, with the exception being the Monkie Kid LEGO series which is based on aspects of Chinese folklore of the Monkey King. As I was born in the Year of the Monkey in 2004 and am now starting my journey into adulthood, I felt it would be cool to style my tuxedo off of the Monkey King, including working in references to some of the stories I’ve read about him, such as parts of Journey to the West. In this outfit, I took a bit of a leap in mixing ancient Chinese Armor (specifically lamellar) with a tuxedo, and I am happy with the results. I also incorporated my long hair into the design as one of the Monkey King’s powers is derived from cutting his hair. On my 18 birthday, between Prom and Commencement, I cut more than 16 inches of my hair to donate with my parents to Wigs for Kids, my second time donating hair to that organization. The primary colors of this outfit are Purple and Gold because those are the colors of my entire school district, which I have been a part of in some capacity since Pre-K. I wore an incomplete version of this tuxedo to my High School Prom. While it is a bit sweaty being covered entirely in Duck Tape, I have to say I like how it feels to wear it, especially the vest. Many of the fine details were intentionally left off until after wearing it to my Prom, as I worried that dancing it in would damage them. This includes the scroll details on the front and back of the jacket, and the lotus (symbol of enlightenment) at the upper back of the jacket. Photos of me on my way to Prom are in the video. I also wore the circlet and mask cover with my graduation regalia at commencement. On the cape, I put the silhouettes of brave people who have influenced history from the national to the global scale and directly impacted who I aspire to be. These people are former President Barack Obama, the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Stacey Abrams, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Each of these people has/have done brilliant things and were/are still human and grew from mistakes; this, among other qualities, is what makes them heroes to me. The back of my vest is dedicated to people I feel have my back. This includes my parents (my father is a high school teacher and my mother is a disabled activist), a local city councilperson (the person wearing a bowtie and holding a ballot), my faith community (symbolized by the bearded person with a book), and the medical care provider. These are just some of the people who have played an important role in my life. On the sleeves of the jacket are symbols of three organizations who have given me the strength I need in life: the Unitarian Universalist Association (my faith tradition since birth), the Society for Creative Anachronism (where my family participates in medieval recreation), and Cleveland Teacher’s Union (having both brought awareness of actions needing involvement in our area and negotiated fair compensation for my father’s work). On the legs of my pants are symbols of organizations that inspire me to take a stand. From the top down, they are: Semicolon (for Project Semicolon, suicide awareness & prevention), the Obama logo from 2008 (which my mother volunteered on with me along), #MeToo, the logo from the Mended Light YouTube channel (which is inspiring an interest in studying Family Therapy), #BLM, the Ohio Democrats logo, and the Animal Protective League logo. If you want to know more about the meanings behind the symbols on my tuxedo, I am putting together a website, and my mother has been posting about the process using #MonkeyKingIsStuckAtProm. If you want to see close-ups of these, you can watch the video about my tuxedo’s construction and pause on the section where there are close-up images. If you need captions, here is a link to the video posted on Youtube: https://youtu.be/rg9qqqISHFk
Stuck At Prom®
Charles M.
12 Rolls
40 Hours
Inspiration:
I volunteer as a Junior Zookeeper at my local zoo and was inspired by our resident peacock. He is very elegant and graceful, but the patterns and colors he exhibits are wild and breathtaking. I wanted to capture this combination of sophistication and fun in an evening look. I primarily made my costume by adhering duck brand duct tape to poster board using a stencil to cut out the individual components of the peacock feather. I additionally cut feather-sized individual duct tape pieces and stacked them to create the textural feathers of the peacock head.
Stuck At Prom®
Owen M.
9 Rolls
56 Hours
Inspiration:
When coming up with the idea for the costume, I drew inspiration from other alternative artists like Harry Whitfield (aka Charity Kase) and Jovan Bridges (aka Yvie Oddly). Originally, this costume idea started off as one of many doodles in my history notebook. I wanted to create something that was out of the box and had a lot of personal meaning to me. Instead of going for a typical prom outfit, I went with an idea of a prom for monsters. The monster that I made is a characterization of my internalized toxic masculinity and how it affected my social anxiety. The pink parts of the costume are meant to be my inner femininity tearing through the masculine shell that I show the world. Whenever I'm in public places, I tend to just not do anything with my body in order to not seem feminine and more normal. Ironically, when I do this I look even weirder than I would if I was just myself. This character that I have created is meant to represent this weirdness that I feel in public places and what better public place to put this creature in than prom?
Emily
M.
Jaelyn
S.
Nayely
G.
Alexis
F.
Alexis
W.
Katherine
W.
Dani
J.
Emmy
S.
Olivia
L.
Chidinma
O.
Hikmah
A.
Adrienne
F.
India
F.
Jochebed
A.
Jorja
B.
William
Y.
Charles
M.