BEADED

A total of 4 loofahs, 2000+ beads, 500 bingo chips, recycled muslin, construction wire, fishing line, a fringed pillowcase and a total of 7 hours to complete.

Using the recycled muslin, I draped and sewed the base of the dress, mapping out a simple strapless design. To begin the top of the piece, I cut up the loofahs, exposing its material and manipulating it by twisting it tightly and pinning it in place, further reinforcing it with hot glue, which melted the plastic of the loofah, helping it keep drape once tried.

I had a large pack of gorgeous, assorted beads ranging in color and size, so I wanted to strategically place the beads in order to not only emphasize colorway but accentuate the silhouette of the mannequin as well. In order to achieve this, I first used blue and green beading down the entirety of the front of the dress, purposely using the lighter blue beads to help elongate the relationship between the loofahs and the contrasting start to the beading. Loving the sharp change from red to blue, I placed red beads going down the sides of the dress, but not directly at the hip, just along the front, sort of parallel to the bust, adding bright green directly behind it in order to highlight the hip area and bring the eye to it, slightly creating an exaggerated affect when the eye lands on the red.

As the dress was coming to its completion, I used the construction wire to attach and bend out abstractedly along the top of the dress, (I have a thing for exaggerated elements within my garments). I felt as if one more thing needed to be added in order for me to come to a comfortable stopping point, so I wanted to add to the chandelier-like appearance that the bottom of the piece was giving off. In efforts to do so, I took the fishing line and added beads along it as I carefully tied them together in this layered-like effect, also leaving some just fall freely. As the headpiece, I used the fringe covering of a pillowcase to creae one, this was very impromptu and a last miute addition I wanted to add to the overall look.