Party Animal

This is a dress I made the summer of my junior year in high school for AP 3-D class. This assignment was on a list of others to choose from. The challenge for this one was to design and create a garment NOT using fabric materials. I actually had another idea for this and created a more flapper design. But once I got my hands on the bubble wrap I could see it had more potential. So I whipped up this sketch.

The corset is made from cardboard. I cut separate pieces and let them soak in water to make them malleable. After letting them dry on the form i stitched and glued them together. Once smoothing the seems out with glue, I painted on the Zebra pattern with acrylic paint. Then covered it in clear packing tape to give it a shine.

The skirt was made of several cut out pieces of bubble wrap. They were stitched onto the corset. Duct tape covers the seem between the skirt and the corset. It is very see through so I suggest wearing a silver something under it.

When it comes to finishing touches, I used black duct tape for the side belt, the sleeves and the straps. For each piece I stuck lengths of wire between the pieces of tape so I could ruffle the edges. The belt strap has Velcro on the inside and there is a seem in the skirt down the middle. This makes it easy to slip on and attach. The mettle grommets on the front and back, are laced with black and silver chains. These make it a little harder to adorn. The brazier is glued in peacock feathers.

This piece has been featured in the Fall 2009 Senior Art Show called "Le Cirque" at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. It has also been at the Senior Art Show at The Norwood Flynn Gallery as well as a few others. This piece reminds me of Alexander McQueen's garments and I would like to see it worn by either Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.

Can I Sit?

This piece was done during my Sophomore year of high School in 2009. My AP 3-D Instructor assigned us something new, "Everyone make a chair". So this is what I came up with. I started with a wooden frame, that I made myself which was really hard because the wood was warped. I designed it to look like that classic fold up chair. except the difference with mine is that I didn't make the chair adjustable, I screwed and glued the two sides together, so it is stationary. I cant remember where I got this idea but what I did next made it even less functional. I took different soda cans and crushed them into discs. It took a long time to collect the cans and I had several techniques for flattening them. Although several were flattened a select few were used for the chair. Then I drilled four holes in each disc and connected them with floral wire. Once they were made as one blanket I hung them on the dowel rods for final completion. I would very much like to try this project again to see if I can improve the looks and functionality of the chair.