PPR Challenge #9 – Kat’s Design

This week’s Project Project Runway challenge was particularly tricky with our doll-sized models. We were directed to use lighting technology to create an avant garde look to be shown on a runway lit by black light. The problem with most lighting technology is that it is just too big for our purposes. My husband Matt, a tech and electronics geek, got very excited when he saw the challenge and immediately ordered some el wire for me. (I think it was a great excuse to get some to play with himself.) El wire is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it. Its size and flexibility made it a good solution for this challenge.

My idea was to create a full tulle skirt with the el wire glowing underneath it. Then I wanted to use white and white with patterns to create the rest of the outfit with the idea it would glow under the black light. I even got my model a new blond wig with hopes it would glow too. I like the shape of my outfit, I think of it as a sort of futuristic ballerina or fairy. I wish the tulle had been a little more opaque so the el wire wasn’t so distint. I also wish my white had glowed more, but I think that was a lighting problem more than anything else.

I kept my accessories relatively simple because let’s face it how much more bling do you need with that skirt?

So, how do I think I would have done this week? Well, I’m afraid the judges wouldn’t think my look was avant garde enough even with the wide skirt and the straps off the shoulder. Really the most avant garde part is the lighting. That said, it was fun playing around this week and Jenny from A Mom and 2 Things and I were laughing pretty hard the whole time we were making our outfits and trying to photograph under black light.