Dancing with the Survivors

This fall I had the opportunity to design design a dance costume for breast cancer survivor Cheryl Perkins, who performed in the Pink Fund's Dancing with the Survivors event. 

Here she is performing her swing dance routine at the event!

After getting to know Cheryl and hear her inspiring story, I knew my challenge would be to create a dress that adequately reflected her resilience, strength, and exuberance.  

My dress for Cheryl was inspired by impressionist ballerina paintings by Edgar Degas.  I love the texture and movement that is created by his brush strokes, and the overlap of color.

Red Ballet Skirts by Edgar Degas)

Title Unknown by Edgar Degas

  

This is my initial sketch of the dance dress:

I love using recycled materials for my designs. 
I started with a light blue dress I bought at a thrift store in New York City, and dyed it.

Then, I hand painted the skirt:

 

Next step, hemming and gem-ing...because it's not a dance dress until it's covered in sparkles!

 

Finished and ready for dancing!

Dancing with the Survivors is a fantastic event for an important cause, and it was an honor to be a part of it!