Toilet Paper Dresses (unconventional materials project)

A couple weeks ago, my class did our second unconventional materials project, and this time, we made wedding dresses out of toilet paper! It was difficult because toilet paper comes in long strips and is very delicate, so this created some unique challenges that we didn't face with the garbage bag dresses. It was also difficult because we were expected to create formal, elegant, wedding dresses, which are typically large and voluminous. As you could probably imagine, this is not easy to recreate with delicate toilet paper!

We created our dress with a very distinct top and bottom. For the top, we decided to go a little unconventional, which was fitting for our unconventional material. We folded small triangles and pinned them directly to the mannequin to give the suggestion of illusion mesh. These triangles were evenly spaced to create an edgy geometrical design. Then, for the bottom, we went totally romantic. We created a textured hi-low skirt with a short train by hanging layers of toilet paper strips that hung from the bottom of the mannequin to the floor. The came the cool part. We made small "flowers" out of the toilet paper by folding one square into a fan and then separating the ply. The, we pinned hundreds of these flowers all over the bottom of the dress. The result was an awesome texture that looked somewhat like crepe.

This was a group project, and so we did have to bring our ideas together as a group to create something we could all stand behind. However, there are a few changes I would make were we to do this again. First, I would plan the triangle top out a little better so it could be symmetrical and have lines running parallel to the ground. Since I created it trying to keep all the triangles the same size, the design as a whole does not move with the contours of her body and looks a little on the sloppy side. Second, I would make sure to incorporate other shapes of triangles to create more structure and order, and I would use long triangles to create a smooth sweetheart neckline to bring a bit of the romantic vibe into the geometrical top. Lastly, I would bring the bottom point of the flower texture on the front up to a peak, like how we originally had it. Currently, it reminds me of the "hi-low" dresses that were everywhere on Instagram in maybe 2012. The peak also complemented the geometrical top without clashing with it.

sketch of the dress after it was created