o r i g a m i   d r e s s  ../../images/fleuron4



An Aery Sprite



This dress (pictured below) was inspired by a 1917 photograph taken of the too little-known American nature writer, Opal Whiteley. The angelic-looking Opal is wearing a diaphanous white dress, and butterflies have lit on the dress, her hair, and her outstretched hands.

Dress inspired by 1917 photograph 
of Opal Whiteley




Another View

The dress is a white-on-white patterned voile trimmed with cotton lace, silk flowers with pearls, and origami butterflies folded from white organza.

As the webmaster of The Garden of Origami, I had run across the Fabric Origami Workshop web site, and I had been dying to design a dress using this technique ever since. For a butterfly-themed performance which also featured music inspired by the childhood diary of Opal Whiteley, I finally had a chance to integrate three of my favorite modes of expression: music, origami, and costume design.

Close-up view of origami dress



Detail of organiza origami butterflies

Detail

Here is a close-up view of the origami butterflies.






Child in tree


  b  a  c  k    t  o    c  o  s  t  u  m  e  s 



home  exhibits  libraries  performance  curriculum vitae


Please send comments to Victoria Beatty: well@springkeeper.org

http://www.springkeeper.org/vita/music/oridress.html
Created by: Victoria Beatty