2017 - Bird of Hera

My favorite wild animal is the peacock. They are such beautiful creatures, I love their colors and when they span their feathers to show off. The blue and green color scheme is also one of my favorites. This was my inspiration for my third trashion. I have always been fascinated by Greek and Roman Mythology, although I haven't had the chance to learn much about it, but I wanted to name my outfit based on that. I found out Hera, the Queen of Gods, was believed to be the creator of the peacock. When Hermes killed her watchman, the hundred-eyed giant Argus, she mourned him by putting his eyes on the tail feathers of a peacock. This was my inspiration for the title, although my love for the animal inspired the design.

A couple years before hand I went as a Blue Man Group member for Halloween. I wore a bright blue body suit that was way too big for me. There was no other use for the thing so I turned it into my peacock costume. I cut the seams going down the legs and sewed them together to make a dress, along with cutting off the head part. I had been collecting a bunch more bottle caps that year so I could make the eye of each feather unique. In the end I was a bit too prepared and had too many bottle caps. I had found random blue, green, and purple accessories over time; like a green produce bag thing, which I used as a necklace. I also have been in love with Duck Tape for years so I had a bunch of the labels, which was perfect for the peacock theme. Since my mom is also an artist, she saved some easel boxes for me to use, which were blue. I cut those into thin strips and attached the eyes, made with bottle caps and embellished with a jewel or two. To add some volume, I used paper packaging underneath the feathers. My shoes were an old pair of boots that I cut open to fit me.

That school year I was taking a fashion class. One of our assignments was to make a mask, so I seized the opportunity for my trash fashion outfit. I loved that mask, and I still have it today. It wasn't made of any recycled materials but it fit perfectly with my dress. About two weeks before the show I knew I needed to add something. After looking through all my fabric I had the idea to make wings. I cut out a basic shape for both out of an old green blanket. The next part was terrible, I had no other way but to individually cut out all the little feather pieces from my dad's old khakis. It took all weekend to cut enough to fit the wings, and my hands were a wreck! That was the worst part about making the dress but everyone loved it. I even placed the little pieces in a gradient. Even though I'm proud of that, it brings memories of pain and blisters.

This dress was so incredibly loud walking down the runway. Every movement was greeted with crunching paper and swaying bottle caps bumping each other. Although, this year I won the Los Alamos Recycled Fashion Show teen category! At this point I was getting really bored with the Los Alamos show, the teen category was only ever filled with 5 or less other kids and it was a small show. A year prior I found out Santa Fe had a show too, and Taos. I was super afraid but I decided the next big step was to model and compete at these shows. Turns out, the Santa Fe show was/is the largest recycled fashion show in the country. I knew it was time to grow and improve my skills and experience. This dress was retired pretty quick, but I did use it as a Halloween costume a year later.