Paper DollAsia Girl Photos

Paper Doll

A few months ago, I made this newspaper dress after being inspired by a Vogue shoot full of clothes created from every day items (see the images at the bottom.) Even better, it was shot by Tim Walker and was full of some truly stunning pieces. A bolero made from yellow washing up gloves? A Rei Kawakubo-esque duvet dress? A tea towel bodice? All now living, breathing items! (Figuratively!)

So one rainy sunday afternoon I carried armfuls of newspapers upstairs, before rifling through the box full of plastic bags. The whole thing is actually attached to a simple black dress underneath, as I wanted to be able to put it on. Each sheet of newspaper was pinned onto the dress, before being generally scrunched and shaped to create the bell shape, before being sewn onto the neighbouring piece. Once I had finished this, which took a while, I hemmed the whole skirt using more coloured wool. The top part is made up of a white plastic shopping bag that I draped and moulded to fit into a bodice, before embellishing a with striped plastic bow(the remnants of which was used on the belt- complete with a house number attached to it!)

So it sat on my mannequin for ages gathering dust, waiting to have an outing. And yesterday it did! I was so relieved when I found that it fitted.. I paired it with two other pieces I made. The bracelet is made up of a metal watch strap, with a tiny reel of negatives (the type of ones you put in a viewfinder to look at indivually) and an interesting piece of embellishment. The necklace is made up of an old disposable camera tied with two grey shoelaces. I also added some thrifted sixties shoes and long socks.

For the shoot I wanted it to be a kind of mix between Coppelia and Truly Scrumptious as the clockwork doll in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They were taken in a nearby field, and we couldn't believe how amazing the light was! I did have a rather interesting experience as I was walking up the road in this ensemble...

We stopped to let a car go past, and the three passengers all swiveled their heads like a lid being unscrewed from a jar to stare at me. The car went a little further up the road before turning round. As it went past again, their heads all turned back... the other way. Well at least I probably gave them a very bad crick in the neck! Well I suppose it isn't every day that you see a teenager walking around a rural village in a dress made up of things usually found sitting around the living room!

It was so fun making this piece, recycyled fashion is always something I've been interested in. A few years ago me and some family friends did a whole fashion show full of customised and made clothes. Although some of the outfits would probably embarass me now, the finale of newspaper and plastic dresses are still some of my favourite to date.

A big thank you to my dad for taking these photos!

Now here are some photos of the shoot that inspired me-