The White Paper Bride Ashton Roach Delta State University, Ashton.Roach@Yahoo.Com

International Textile and Apparel Association 2015: Celebrating the Unique (ITAA) Annual Conference Proceedings

Nov 13th, 12:00 AM The White Paper Bride Ashton Roach Delta State University, [email protected]

Janice Haynes Delta State University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/itaa_proceedings Part of the Fashion Design Commons

Roach, Ashton and Haynes, Janice, "The White Paper Bride" (2015). International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) Annual Conference Proceedings. 24. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/itaa_proceedings/2015/design/24

This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Symposia at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) Annual Conference Proceedings by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Santa Fe, New Mexico 2015 Proceedings

The White Paper Bride Ashton Roach, Janice B. Haynes Delta State University Keywords: Design, bridal, sustainability Aesthetics and Visual Impact This wearable art wedding gown incorporates the elements by following design principles, resulting in an unusual and compelling design work.

Contextual Review and Concept A study of wedding gowns, prompted by a tour of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, coupled with a review of fashion repurposing, inspired the design context. The concept was to repurpose, or give a new purpose to (Merriam-Webster, 2015), white paper for a wearable art wedding gown, particularly for use as a store display piece, but with actual wedding events also a possibility. Process, technique, and execution The repurposed materials included white copy paper, white and silver feathers from an earlier project, and remnants of nylon tulle. Aluminized polyester/cotton ironing board fabric was purchased for the underskirt and the self-lined midriff tube top silhouette. Silver polyester lame´ formed the underskirt hemline ruffle and silver glittered grey crinkled polyester formed the train. White paper pieces were edge painted silver, cut into feather shapes, and hot glued onto the base fabric. Small white feathers were sewn among the paper feathers on the skirt and top. Silver holiday feathers accented the halter top.

Cohesiveness The feather and paper theme is maintained throughout both pieces, with a stream of soft tulle cascading around the side edge to tie pieces together rhythmically.

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2015 Proceedings Santa Fe, New Mexico

Design Contribution and Innovation The white wedding dress, according to Begley (2015), has been credited to the Victorian era, from Queen Victoria herself. Red was then a popular bridal color, but Victoria broke tradition, with white later heralded as fitting for a bride, symbolizing purity and innocence. Victoria was an early proponent of economy and fashion repurposing, as exhibited when she repurposed the lace from her dress more than once. Today’s fashion repurposing phenomenon, as well as experimental materials and designs for special occasion gowns, seem to be themes impacting the fashion industry, particularly the couture collections. Interest in fantastical looks for fashion and costume, and the idea of the store as theatre (where this white paper gown welcomed shoppers) are concepts that continue to pique people’s interest and create drama.

References

Begley, S.C. (2015, Feb. 10). The White Dress That Changed Wedding History Forever http://time.com/3698249/white-weddings/

Repurpose. In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (2015). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repurpose

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