Trashique 2013 Couture

This year for Trashique, I was invited to design a gown inspired by Erte' with nothing but trash and recyclable materials.  This challenge was so much fun!  As you can see, I chose the Symphony in Black by Erte' to compose a piece that is completely black and extremely dramatic.

 The headpiece is made with a vinegar bottle, shredded VHS tapes, and magazine pages rolled up and glued together.  I also used an aluminum turkey basting pan for the medallion in front.

Chloe Tatro was my model, and took on the fierce attitude of the gown in the most amazing way! Thanks Chloe, for your dedication and grace on the runway.

 As most of you know, I'm huge into altered shoes, and so I simply had to do something crazy for them. The heels have eyes on them from magazine pages, and the toes are covered in shredded VHS tapes.  The straps have wine bottle tops on them to simulate jewels.

 The biggest accomplishment was making the pompoms for all three boas.  I'm estimating that I made at least 300 pompoms from VHS tapes and tied them all together.  Perfect for Trashique!

The dress is weed control sheets from our yard, glued to a thrift store dress, and the bodice is a discarded leather skirt.  I cut the waist band to form the choker around the neck.  A train made with layers of the ground cover is attached to the base of the dress with velcro. 

I'll put up more photos of the details.   Oh, and of course, I'll post some pics from the Trashique' event.  It was so fun, and we raised lots of money for the Fresno Art Museum.