The Sunflower Gown
I am the kind of person who always says yes to an outlandish idea, even before I know how I might make it happen. This dress came from one of those conversations, that went something like this:
Debra: I am starting to think about images to promote American Flowers Week 2017.
Amy: Oh, that’s exciting! What do you have in mind?
Debra: Well, I am wanting something really bold. I’d love to take what Susan McCleary did last year with botanical fashion and commission a designer to create something even bigger, like a whole dress made out of sunflowers. I want it to feel like classic Americana, but with a high end design.
Amy: Great, I’ll do it.
Debra: Wait, are you serious? Do you know how to create a dress out of flowers?
Amy: Not yet, but I will soon!
From this initial conversation in mid-August, we compared calendars and talked to the Grower’s Market about when sunflowers would be at their peak, settling on a day in early September. Debra graciously let me choose the photographer for the project, and Anna Peters was the first person I called. I could tell she was skeptical when I explained the idea of a dress made out of sunflowers (I fear she was picturing something like this), but we’d worked together before and she trusted my idea and agreed.
From there, I set to work figuring out how to make a dress out of flowers. It had to have a strong internal structure to support the weight of the flowers, but still appear delicate and whimsical, and I had to figure out a way to create it while keeping the flowers fresh. Because I thought the dress would end up being heavy, I decided on a separate fabric bodice with a fabric and chicken wire frame skirt, that when worn together looked like a gown.
I set off to gather my supplies:
Two black tank top dresses from Goodwill
One black king size flat sheet, also from Goodwill
One woven leather belt, from Goodwill
One roll of 1/2 inch carpenters fabric (a stiff square mesh wire)
One roll of 1 inch chicken wire
A roll of 16 gauge floral wire
All the Oasis cold glue that Floral Supply Syndicate had (almost a gallon, in total)
Approximately $1,800 worth of locally grown sunflowers, rudbeckia, amaranthus, grasses, and turkey feathers, generously donated by the Grower’s Market.
I began the dress the day before the photoshoot by pinning the premade dress on Kelly, our model, for size, and measuring her waist for the skirt. From there, I built an internal framework for the skirt using the carpenters fabric and chicken wire, attaching to the woven belt so that the weight would sit on her hips instead of her shoulders. The wire (and later fabric) came over the belt so that the belt was internal and not visible from the outside. I next covered the chicken wire/carpenter fabric frame with the bed sheet and sewed it on with the paddle wire, finishing the frame of the gown. This whole process took about four hours.
Next was the fun part: adding flowers! With the lovely Erin of Camas Designs creating grass bundles, I started by adding ‘fringe’ around the edge of the skirt. From there, I worked my way up the skirt in a blended, watercolored, ‘ombre’ like design, using a mix of sunflower sizes, with rudbeckia blossoms sprinkled in for smaller texture and to blend colors. I attached all of these flowers, even the heavy sunflowers with cold glue. As I worked my way up the skirt, I reached for the darker and more unique sunflower varieties, and a lot of amaranthus, to drape over the hips and waist. The skirt went into the cooler for the night, and I finished it the next morning. I used rudbeckia, amaranthus, and turkey feathers on the bodice so that it would be form fitting. Once it was almost finished, I packed up the bodice and skirt, with a few buckets of extra flowers, and headed up north to Everyday Flower Farm, where we met up with our model Kelly and Yessie Libby for hair and makeup.
We first got Kelly into the bodice, then used the interior belt to secure the skirt. I glued on some additional flowers where the two pieces met to cover the seam, and we were ready for golden hour! The dress was so heavy (65 pounds!) and awkward that we had to hold it for Kelly to move, but nonetheless, Anna made her look effortless in it. We were joined by Sassy, Vivian’s lively horse, for a while at the end. She loved the dress so much that she took a bite!
The biggest thanks goes out to Debra Prinzing of Slow Flowers for entrusting me with creating this gown, even though I’d never made one before and couldn’t tell her how I’d do it or how the final gown would look. Thank you for believing in me and trusting my creative vision!
Special thanks to the talented artists that lent their creativity to this one of a kind project!
Model: Kelly Uhlig of Sonshine Farm | Hair & Makeup: Yessie Makeup Artistry | Photography: Anna Peters | Shoot Location: Everyday Flowers, Stanwood, WA
This shoot was featured as part of American Flowers Week - you can read more of the story behind the gown in an interview with Amy, here.
THE DESIGNER
Gather Design Company is a Seattle and destination floral design studio led by Amy Ly. Amy's designs are driven by a unique understanding of color and shape, and seek to balance the effortless feel of a garden with the refined nature of contemporary wedding design. She looks to the ever-changing seasons and sense of place to inform her designs, which are artful and unexpected. Gather Design Company travels for celebrations around the Pacific Northwest and worldwide. To learn more about working with Gather Design Company for your wedding, please get in touch here.