The dress itself appears quite fragile, but it is actually built around a strong bodice, reinforced with packaging tape. Around the bodice, it erupts into frothy, rose-studded frills that go all the way down to the bottom. She modelled the dress herself; getting into it required a lot of wiggling, but there wasn’t much risk of ripping.
Her pet cat did pose a few risks – he was eyeing the toilet paper, clearly wanting to make a happy mess. But she cleverly distracted him by giving him a roll before she began the project. “I sacrificed a roll of toilet paper to my cat before starting on the dress, and he took another while I wasn’t looking. He was occupied with that for a while,” said Olivia.
Unfortunately, the beautiful paper dress didn’t win last year’s contest; it was voted 15th out of around 1,400 entries. Olivia plans to enter again this year, with a lot more time for preparation. She said that fashion design is a hobby for now, but she dreams of going to Los Angeles some day to design costumes.
