Towson University is no stranger to the public eye. From students to alumni, people associated with Towson’s network are constantly making headlines. Bri Garriss, a student from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, has gained international attention virally. Bri is a senior majoring in Interdisciplinary Object Design and last semester, she created a wedding dress by reusing plastic bags.
Bri’s brother posted pictures of her modeling the gown on a reddit.com message boards. Since then, it has been viewed by many and Bri has been featured in several online editorials, including the Huffington Post. Bri cites waste in general as her inspiration for using such unconventional material for a refined dress. She was interested in how stores today are making an attempt to save money by promoting reusable bags or charging a “bag tax.” Bri compared these actions to weddings. Women often wear those beautiful gowns just once on their special day. Shoppers use plastic bags once to transport whatever items they’re carrying then dispose of it. Bri’s creation demonstrated the two concepts brought together.
To put together this gown, she first removed the red Target logos. She then layered the bags and used an iron to fuse them together, creating a noticeably thicker material. In effort to soften the dress, Bri lined the inside of the dress with recycled T-shirts. The final product of the design itself was inspired by Simplicity pattern directorial.
Despite her major mainly concentrating in jewelry design and 3D printing and scanning, Bri says that she would be interested in exploring what else she could do with alternative fabrics. She describes her own personal style as “mix and match.” Ironically, she rarely wears dresses! In five years, Bri would like to relocate somewhere in the south or out west working for a small jewelry firm still pushing artistic boundaries. If you’re interested in seeing the dress in person, it is on display at the Center for the Arts in the gallery!