Vivien
C.
Inspiration:
At first, I imagined creating a typical traditional prom dress; however, after some time and thought, I changed my mind and decided to choose something of my interest. The first thing I thought was Anime. From that point, it was clear what film I wanted to choose. One of my favourite childhood films, "Ponyo." To summarize the movie in a couple of words, a goldfish encounters a boy and desires to be human. She ends up turning into a human however endangers the entire village where the boy lives. The film helped determine the central and complementary colours used in the look, such as the shade of blues, symbolized as water and the orange to contrast. In addition, the objects and patterns presented in the film assisted in generating new ideas and producing various pieces. Overall, the film was a starting point for inspiration. However, the outfit later became a combination of my style and creativity while incorporating popular fashion trends.
24
Rolls
90
Hours
Casey
A.
Inspiration:
My inspiration for my tuxedo was my home state of Iowa. I was born and raised in Iowa, and have much pride in that. Farming and agriculture is very big in Iowa therefore most of my inspiration came from that. The right leg having corn stalks, and the left arm having that classic red silo. Iowa is the number one producer in corn. Then the left side of the jacket and left pant leg is those classic famer overalls, with a cowboy boot at the bottom and a flannel at the top. However Iowa is more than just farming, we also have some great creativity sprout from Iowa, like Grant Wood. I recreated his famous painting "American Gothic" on the back of the suit. Lastly, I added our states flag, because I love when I see an Iowan flag flying in the wind.
15
Rolls
80
Hours
Jolyssa
P.
Inspiration:
My inspiration was South Texas Culture and tejano styled outfits. I wanted to represent my home town and get our community, and all of the art we do, on the map. I took the liberty in making the prom dress”quinceañera” inspired since that is a big part of my culture.
30
Rolls
40
Hours
Brooke
W.
Inspiration:
Initially I was going for a simple minimalist type style. While I was making the dress I fell In love with how scale shapes looked on the dress. I’d say after that I was thinking a lot about dragons.
3
Rolls
15
Hours
Grace
V.
Inspiration:
One thing that I am so passionate about is nature. It's so refreshing for us to go outside and see leaves, flowers, a stream, a sunset. My dress has been inspired by the beauty of the world. I wanted to capture the idea that enjoying the essence of life is what we are made for. An aspect I definitely wanted the dress to have was big and puffy shoulders to influence a grand viewpoint of our magnificent earth. The clear skirt represents the reflection of water. To show the pureness of nature I chose white for my base dress. I incorporated a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors of greenery since there is variety of greenery on our plant. It is so important to me that people understand that we need to take care of the earth or else future generations may not get to see what our beautiful planet has to offer. Duck Brand, thank you so much for this opportunity. I honestly had so much fun making my dress!
26
Rolls
127
Hours
Meihuan
Y.
Inspiration:
“The stitches done by a nimble hand
Colours built upon the history of my home land
Threads carrying a language that I long to know
I’m crafting my future
I’m wearing my home - Meihuan Yu”
I still remember the feeling of absolute sadness when my 8th-grade graduation got canceled. It wasn't the fact that I had to miss out on awards or socializing that made me feel heavy-hearted, but it was because I couldn't wear the very dress I spent 3 long months designing and hand sewing. Never would I have thought, during these long days spent indoors, that I would get another chance…….to make a very important dress.
Stuck at home and infinitely dreaming of travel, I realized that delving into the art of my own culture can provide the same feeling of exploration. Looking within Chinese culture, I was in awe and fascinated by the complexity of Chinese performing arts, especially a type of opera from Beijing called “jing ju”. Complete with brave masked warriors and powerful animals, I knew that a message of courage can be conveyed perfectly. With a pencil and my sketchbook, I started a process of visualizing courage.
32
Rolls
186
Hours
Isabella
S.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for my dress is Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night"-- an artist and painting I have always admired. I have a passion for creating wearable art that started in an advanced middle school art class and continues in my high school sculpture classes. As a creative person, I enjoy the challenge of designing my creations using everyday objects, such as: staplers, phone book pages, bottle caps and now, Duck Tape!
16
Rolls
38
Hours
Anne
M.
Inspiration:
I was inspired by tea length dresses, geometric patterns, and recycled fashion while planning this outfit, and combined the three concepts in the dress. I have never made a dress before and wanted to try creating something with a bit of volume similar to many tea length dresses I'd seen before, but with a more modern twist leading to the use of different size stripes as a pattern. I also wanted to keep recycling in mind while making this dress by using paper grocery bags to create the structure and front panel I envisioned for the bottom of the dress. I also wanted my dress to incorporate pops of color throughout to balance the stripe pattern, which is why I included a bright pink bag, red belt, and delicate flowers.
11
Rolls
20
Hours
Lily
M.
Inspiration:
The style of my dress was a high low, which is my favorite type of dress. I picked the mint and baby pink and paired them with the gold because I knew they would pop against the black base. I added roses because I love drawing them and I like floral designs on dresses.
12
Rolls
20
Hours
Tesneem
S.
Inspiration:
I designed the silhouette of this dress to match my personal style because I can not find a modest prom dress that has long sleeves and no cut outs or open backs. I am a huge fan of color and wanted to incorporate as many as humanly possible in the design, so I made the dress one large rainbow. The overskirt cape was a fun little addition to add a little bit more flair.
The words on the skirt are inspired by the events of 2020 that bled into 2021. There was a lot of political discourse over multiple issues. Most notably related to the pandemic, immigration, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Additionally, gay rights and women’s rights have always between a topic of discussion throughout the nation. It is important to remember that everybody is human and deserves to be treated with the same amount of respect. The phrases on the dress, from top to bottom, read, "BLM, Love is Love, Science is Real, No Human is Illegal, Kindness is everything, and Women’s Rights are Human Rights".
14
Rolls
92
Hours
Katie
P.
Inspiration:
When finding my inspiration for this dress, the color of it was very important for me. I enjoy using a multitude of colors and patterns in creative projects, however I never had to create a color scheme and design for a dress before. I was concerned about choosing too many colors, making the colors clash and the dress too chaotic. So, I decided on using purple, my favorite color, and silver, which went nicely with it. But using just these two colors felt too simplified for me, and I felt like my dress needed another layer. I decided to use Duck Brand’s Prism Crafting tape, in the colors purple and silver. I found almost a whole other dimension when using these colors, as the underlying color of the tape would shift according to the light. The out of world nature of the Prism Duck tape further inspired me to create the illusion of floating stars in my hair. The hair pins, clutch, and shoes all use the same silver tape as the dress. For the shape of the dress, I was inspired by the skater skirts that I wear every day. I wanted it to have deep ripples all around the dress.
19
Rolls
45
Hours
Ysabel
C.
Inspiration:
I have never done sewing or garment making before this so it was definitely a challenge, I wanted to make something that would look good and make me and others happy when looking at it. I used bright colors and made the outfit androgynous and genderless so anyone could wear it, I had a lot of fun doing this and I will definitely do more sewing and garment making in the future.
6
Rolls
30
Hours
Fortune
D.
Inspiration:
I was inspired by Geri Halliwell's, also known as Ginger Spice, dress at the 1997 Brit Awards!
13
Rolls
96
Hours
Mona
H.
Inspiration:
I wanted to have a black dress, but I thought it would be too plain if I only chose one color to use. So, I decided to add in some silver because it would compliment the black. After putting in some thought of how I would incorporate the silver, I decided to make a snake. But I did not want the snake to be overlooked, so I designed the dress to have it wrap around me. I chose to use a snake as the silver component on the dress because they are seen as elegant, individual, and strong. All of which are things I strive to be.
8
Rolls
17
Hours
Tasha
D.
Inspiration:
Black Lives Matter is an ideology that focuses on how black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted. With the pandemic, the movement has been brought to everyone's attention. Following the tragic death of George Floyd, people of all colours were enraged to see a father's life cut so short. People came together in a moment of tragedy to create a better future for humanity. As a young Black woman, I feel it is important to recognize those who died due to the colour of my skin, those who fought, and those who paved the way for me to live the lifestyle I do today. I wanted my dress to make a statement, to be both socially and politically progressive. I designed my dress first by making a detailed sketch. I knew I wanted it to be big, and incorporate the black lives lost both in 2020 and in the past years. My dress was made to be unique and intricate, I wanted to do something that had not been seen before. Starting with the bottom part of the dress, I designed multiple different panels that each showcased something different. The front and center panel consisted of the universal BLM fist which represents solidarity. To the left, I carved out a duct tape image of George Floyd's face and beside it wrote the words “no more silence”. George Floyd's tragic death left the Black community in an uproar, which influenced positive social change, and led protests in which people of all races came together. Above him, we have the famous mantra “hands up don't shoot”, with an image to accompany it. On the right side of the dress, I have an image of Breonna Taylor who was brutally killed in her apartment. Above her, I have another intricate image that represents BLM. Located on the back of the dress, on one panel are just some of the names of the many black lives who have died because of racism, and next to it is a saying I wrote in which states, “We fight for our future and our ancestors”. The top of the dress was inspired by a corset, but with a spin on it as I cut out the sides, making the dress both trendy, yet unique. In the middle of the chest is the short form BLM and for the straps, I carefully bubbled the duct tape to give off the illusion it was moving. The colour scheme was black and white, as I thought it was only appropriate given my theme. I incorporated accessories such as the purse and corsage in which all followed the theme of BLM. My dress represents the black lives lost, discrimination, and social change. By creating this Duct tape dress, I used fashion activism to remind those that the Black Lives Matter movement is ongoing, so is discrimination of all races, and unjustified murders.
35
Rolls
180
Hours
Sonnet
B.
Inspiration:
I love fairy tales, especially those by the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson. The dress was inspired by Thumbelina, hence the flower dress. I love nature, and chose a tulip flower.
7
Rolls
55
Hours
Max
L.
Inspiration:
I've always been a creative. My dad is a professional artist who inspires and encourages me to create whenever I can. My favorite painting of his is the Fall of Icarus. I was fascinated with the idea of creating articulated wings and the Stuck at Prom contest provided the perfect opportunity. When looking at the available colors I landed upon a black and gold color scheme, which happen to be my school colors. This outfit allowed me to explore wiring up electronics, 3D printing, and construction. After high school, I hope to pursue a career in product design. This opportunity really gave me a chance to stretch my wings!
22
Rolls
43
Hours
Kailyn
C.
Inspiration:
I have always been a fan of the musical Mama Mia and the music. Mama Mia heavily incorporates the music of Abba, and gives of that late 70's, early 80's, retro feeling to the audience. One day, I randomly heard Dancing Queen come on the radio, and It just hit me, a bold, 70's, bootleg, flower power, tux. With that idea in my head I spent hours planning the original concept, and pattern. After that I took to choosing bright colors that offered a bold contrast with the white background.
I then lined the corset, pants and jacket with gold trim. I added a bow-tie flower and white retro boots to complete the look. All it needs is a disco ball!
29
Rolls
96
Hours
