It may look like sparkly silver tinsel, but in reality this dress is made of 100,000 two-inch dressmaker pins stuck through Napa leather. It weighs 92 pounds. Designer Susie MacMurray considers it more of a sculpture than a dress, which explains why it’s on permanent display at the Manchester Art Gallery. Speaking to the BBC, she explained that she dreamed it up it after becoming a widow. “She’s glamorous, you don’t mess with her,” she said of a mannequin wearing the dress. “But she’s also excruciating. She’s been impaled by pins, which are a domestic reference. The leather is a reference to skin or flesh.”
Creative Couture: 15 Dresses Made from Weird Materials
Forget silk and lace. Artists and designers know that truly creative couture can include everything from electrical wiring to discarded juice pouches. Here are 15 surprising frocks.
The Widow Dress
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15 Dresses Made From Weird Materials