I participated in the annual FGI Spring Recycled Show this semester. As a member of FGI, i help come up with and plan the theme and show. The theme was "The Adventures of SuperChic", so it went along with the idea of super heros. I submitted three dresses to the show. the only rules were that each garment was to be made out of 70% recycled/recyclable materials!
The first dress I entered was into the general submission category. This was my favorite piece and the the one I'm most proud of!
Recyclable Materials Used:
Pop tabs
Flattened bottle caps
Black trash bags
Silver and gold Aluminum foil
Brass colored spray paint
For this dress i began with a interfaced fabric base for the bodice. I hand sewed on 1200+ pop can tabs on the bodice and hot glues the bottle caps on. To say the least this was the part that took the longest, but I loved how it turned out. I was told many times that it resembled armor of some sort. For the skirt I sewed layer of ruffles bags together because I wanted a very full and fluffy appearance. I also attached alternating colored layers of tin foil in to the hips to tie in the metallic coloring. This dress also turned out to fit very well (thanks to my roommate during construction!).
The next dress was entered into a smaller category that consisted of designs inspired by a certain super hero. This dress was inspired by Storm, who is an X-(wo)man! I looked at lots of old comics and watched the new x-men movies for research and became such a big fan of Storm. She's hot!
Recyclable Materials Used:
Pop tabs
Flattened bottle caps
Aluminum foil
Newspaper
White trash bags
Clear trash bags
Sheet metal
Duct tape
Spray paint
PVC tape
My favorite part of this dress was the braids. I made long strands of tin foil, newspaper and plastic bags and braided them together with 3 and 5 strands for varied thicknesses. I glues these onto a fabric bodice and filled in empty areas with bottle caps, pop tabs and this very thick foil/thin sheet metal. For the skirt, I cut out 5 pieces of sheet metal and sprayed them white on the ends. I made these into a belt sort of thing using duct tape to attach them at the top, and the glued layers of ruffle bags between them to attach everything. I used both white PVC tape (tape that sticks to itself only, not other things) and white trash bags for the sash!
WOLVERINE
This third dress was a little different, and it also was a winner(first place!)! I was inspired by Wolverine, also an x-man. The storm research also helped with this one! Wolverine's also a hottie, but that is thanks to Hugh Jackman.
Recycled Materials Used:
2 brightly colored power suit jackets from Good Will
Silky PJ's from Good Will
lots of colored soda/energy drink/tea cans
Sheet metal
Electrical tape
Black trash bags
Spray paint
So this dress was a little easier for me, just because the material was more familiar. I struggle with having enough fabric from the jackets, but I worked it out. I wanted to make a bright dress to match the cans, so that is why it is colorful! under the skirt of the dress is two layers of ruffled black trash bags to add volume. The best part of this dress though, is the collar thing. It is made out of a bunch of cans that I cleaned, cut and glued together in strips. Then I made a base out of sheet metal (so they would stick out) and glued/taped the strips on the base. These are inspired by wolverines blades! I arranged the colors on the strips so that they alternate between red/orange/yellow and blue/green/yellow. I then attached these to a sash what you just tie around the shoulders.
I wish I has more time to work on this dress, because it was pretty last minutes. I would have perfected the fit and added more construction details to really make it a special piece.
All in all, I had a fabulous time working on this show! I helped with the model call and fitting, stage decor, and dressing the models. It took alot of work but it all was completely worth it! I had alot of friends and family there to support me, which I really appreciated, thanks guys! i love youuuu :D
