If you attended this year’s prom, you may have seen Lauren Nelson, a senior, wearing a dress made entirely of duct tape. This albeit strange dress, served more of a purpose than just covering up though. Accompanied by long term friend Ira, also decked out in sticky garb, Lauren has entered herself into the running for a $10,000 scholarship for her dedicated work. “We had to create an entire outfit, a duct tape dress, and then accessories” Nelson said. With an equal contribution from both parties, around 5 months of prep work went into the the outfits. The duo had to help each other, from the main dress down to Ira’s cane, everything was a production, and according to Nelson, “It’s something you can’t do by yourself.”
With a love for the arts, this kind of dedication is nothing new to Lauren, intricate and beautiful paintings being another common pass time for her. Nelson lamented about the dress making process noting that in the end she “has to be taped into it.” She can’t get in there by herself, and “someone else has to seal (her) into it.” The vision that her and Ira had was a classy one, with victorian inspirations popping up left and right, leading the both of them to a more dapper and formal look. The contest required you wear a certain brand of tape, have a certain number of tape made accessories, and then submit prom photos to the company.
Normally, that’s where the story ends, but Lauren needs your help! After the judges choose the top ten entries, the vote goes out to you, America. On June 8th the judges will have finished selecting their top 10, and then the voting begins on June 14th. You can help Lauren by voting for her later this year at stuckatprom.com.