How to make duct tape prom dresses that are elegant, postmodern, and economical.
Silvery, Sleek, High-tech, How much more elegant can you get than duct tape?
And where better to unleash your elegance than at the prom?
Follow these instructions, and you'll be guaranteed to be the feast of all eyes and the subject of more than your fair share of the yearbook pictures.
How do you make a duct tape prom dress?
First, go to Goodwill and buy a dress. Any dress. The worse the color, the better.
No one is going to see an inch of the fabric once you're done; and if you take that lime-green and lemon-yellow plaid off the market, you're only racking up more good karma for your next life.
There are only two things to keep in mind when you choose a dress: It must be approximately the style and fit you want (loose is better than tight), and it must be smooth.
Pronounced textures will show through the duct tape, and fuzzy fabrics like velvet won't give the duct tape something to stick to.
Got your dress? Good. Ah, purple paisley, my favorite. Before you tear off the first strip of duct tape, commit to memory this rule:
NEVER APPLY DUCT TAPE TO YOUR SKIN. As you shape the dress on your body, you may be tempted to add a bit of tape here and there to cover skin that the original dress doesn't cover.
Before you do that, add a strip of duct tape to the inside of the dress, sticky side out, so that the piece of tape you're adding to the outside of the dress has something to adhere to other than your tender flesh.
Duct tape applied to the bare skin will rip out every hair you have as it comes off.
If it's been on long enough, it may even leave an attractively geometric hickey-like red spot on your skin. I repeat: NEVER APPLY DUCT TAPE TO YOUR SKIN.
How do you make duct tape clothes?
Now that you've memorized the first rule of duct tape safety, spread the dress out on a flat surface and cover all of the puffy, unfitted
parts-skirt, sleeves--with strips of duct tape. Try to get the tape into the folds rather than taping over the folds.
Taping from top to bottom, with the hang of the skirt or sleeve, will produce a more streamlined effect and a hang reminiscent of normal clothing.
Taping around and around the skirt or sleeve in horizontal circles is harder to do, but it will encourage the skirt or sleeve to stand out.
How do you tape a dress to the skin?
Once you've taped all the unfitted parts, put the dress on. This is the fun part-fitting the dress.
Run the tape around yourself horizontally, or have a friend hold the tape while you twirl slowly. (At this stage, don't worry about covering the entire dress. Just fit it) .
When you're done, the dress should cling to you like a second skin. Nip and tuck at will with the duct tape.
Take care not to bulk up any part of the dress too much by heaping on too many layers of tape.
What is duct tape art?
Also, take care not to make the dress so tight that you can't keep it structurally intact when you put it on again.
Y'see, this method assumes that you're covering up the original dress's zipper, so unless you're fitting the dress on the day of the prom.
you'll have to slit yourself out of the dress when you're done fitting, then tape it together again before the prom.
Vertical strips of tape won't be able to hold the dress together under much pressure.
Breathe too deeply, and you'll hear the long, sad ripping noise of the tape coming unstuck.
Horizontal bands of tape, on the other hand, will hold the dress together nicely, especially if the tape is wound around you in a spiral.
If the style of your dress requires that the bodice be covered with vertical strips of tape, fit the dress more loosely.
If the style allows you to wrap the bodice with horizontal bands, then cinch away.
What is Stuck at prom scholarship?
Once you've fitted the dress, decorate it. Cover all the remaining material with duct tape, paying attention to the patterns the tape makes.
If you want the dress to have a different neckline, different sleeves, different skirt length, cut-outs, etc., take advantage of duct tape's unique advantage over cloth:
When cutting cloth, you need to be careful never to cut too much because once it's gone, it's almost impossible to attach more without leaving an obvious seam.
When cutting duct tape, there's always more waiting on the roll if you make a mistake.
If you cut before the last layer of decoration is done, there's no seam and no sign that you ever touched the tape.
Can I use duct tape on clothes?
The kinds of decoration that duct tape is suited to are limitless:
ruches, stiff ruffles, broad pleats, bows, rosettes, streamers, futuristic diagonal stripes...
Gray is, of course, the duct tape color par excellence, but a rainbow of colors is available, including reflective tape that looks dazzling under black light.
Don't neglect non-tape-based touches like fringe and rhinestones, and remember that your shoes and purse should be as fabulous as your gown.
Extra points for convincing your date to wear a matching cummerbund or vest.
See also a topic that may interest you:
Enjoy your prom! And remember: Audacity is the soul of style.
