A 17 year-old girl has found herself becoming a viral sensation after she hand-painted her graduation dress, creating a gorgeous work of art that looks like it belongs in a museum.
Ciara Gan is a 17-year-old girl who just graduated from high school in the Philippines, and her biggest passion in life is art.
When it came time for Ciara to prepare for her graduation ball, she initially hired someone else to make her dress. When she didn’t like the results of their efforts, however, Ciara decided to make her dress herself!
The entire process took about a month, and Ciara thankfully got some help from her mother.
“For the whole of March, my mom and I made (and) sewed each panel of the skirt one by one,” she said. “It took me about a whole month to make the whole thing. The whole process was so rewarding afterwards because I was able to wear one of my own creations.”
“My mom and I are best friends. We work on DIY projects together all the time,” Ciara continued, adding that they “loved the challenge.”
“Because I love to try new things, I thought why not?” she said. “It was my last big event for school and I had about a month of graduation practices, so I’d be able to focus more on making my gown without worrying about schoolwork.”
The process began with a miniature concept model, and Ciara and her mom then bought 13 yards of fabric, crinoline, boning, and Swarovski crystals. Together, they sewed each panel of the skirt, and Ciara used acrylic paint to meticulously paint her dress over the course of five days.
“As nerdy as it may sound, I chose emerald green because I’m an avid Potterhead and a proud Slytherin,” Ciara said. Meanwhile, the orange tiger Lillies were inspired by the book “Tiger Lily” by Jodi Lynn Anderson, with Ciara explaining that the flowers sum up her cheerful personality.
“I strayed away from basic roses and dainty florals because although they’re pretty, they don’t reflect my personality,” she said. “I love the vibrancy of loud colors like orange and green — they speak more about who I am.”
Ciara’s classmates were stunned when she showed up to the ball in her beautiful dress.
“When I first showed up at the event place, my one classmate took a double take to make sure what he was seeing was right!” she said. “He told me, ‘I thought it was printed!’”
Photos of Ciara’s dress have quickly gone viral, garnering over 400,000 likes on social media.
“I still really can’t believe it,” she said. “When the numbers increase I realize that so many people have seen my gown.”
Ciara is currently taking local art commissions in the Philippines, but when she’s older, she would like to go into the field of science.
“I know I have a lot more to learn and I’d like to grab every opportunity I can,” she said.
Find out more about Ciara’s dress design the video below!
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