On a cold November afternoon, my first semester of college, visions of playing cards, lollipops, and stuffed toys were dancing through my head. I was pondering what material to use for my final project in Introduction to Fashion. This was the first large scale project I would face as a fashion design student and I wanted to prove my unique design skills. The assignment was to select an unconventional material (anything but fabric) to construct a dress with.
Since cotton candy is one of my most favorite things, I had the bright idea to use cotton balls in order to create a cotton candy look. Had I been given a “That’s so Raven” style glimpse into the future, I might have selected an alternative medium. Pink always seems to make its way into my designs and the same was true for that first dress. My next step was to dye the snow white cotton balls baby pink. After a few dye trials, I determined that a combination of gel food coloring and three hours in the communal basement dryer was the best approach.
Thanksgiving rolled around and I drove home with a suitcase full of pink cotton balls. The plan was to individually hand sew each ball together until I had a dress. Easier said than done. I began my work on the living room couch at my dad’s house while the Even Stevens Disney Channel Movie kept me company on the tv. The movie ended, another went by, and then another. Three movies worth of work, yet all I had to show for it was a cotton ball fabric swatch the size of my laptop screen. Oh no. This was going to take a bit longer than I anticipated. But, I was too far down the rabbit hole now. No matter what it took, I was determined to have a beautiful pink cotton ball dress to present at my final class.
Break ended and the clock began ticking down. The pink cotton balls also began ticking down. With such a lengthy dye process, I chose to rework my color palette, using both white and pink. A pink halter style top would expand into a huge white skirt that hit right above the knee. I kept up with about an hour of hand cotton ball stitching each day and before I knew it, it was the day before my final.
Never ever in my life, had I pulled an all nighter to finish a project (this would be the first of many). But, there I sat in a pile of cotton balls, as 10pm turned to midnight and midnight turned to 3am. By the time 6 am rolled around I had been working for nearly 12 hours straight and I had a fully formed pink and white cotton ball dress that I couldn’t have been more proud of. With a couple hours before my presentation, that meant sleep. No, just kidding, it meant time to work in final details until I reached a state of near perfection. More is always more! Sparkly Christmas streamers draped around my room were snipped and sewed into straps that gave me the last spark of confidence I needed.
The rubric did not require the garment to be worn on the body, only a dress form. However, I decided to wear my cotton ball dress to the presentation, acting as my own model. I was the only one in my class to make the bold choice. It was the perfect added presentation element to make my design stand out. I was so proud to be sporting the dress that I had put so much work into. I had an adrenaline rush of sparkles, pink dye, and cotton candy. That feeling of accomplishment stayed with me from that day forward. With each project I undertake, I chase that sparkly feeling of pride in my final product.
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