A recently graduated teen from the Philippines designed and painted her own graduation gown to wear to the prom, and it went viral on the internet.
For 17-year-old Ciara Gan knew exactly what she wanted her prom dress to look like. Gan wanted her graduation to be a memorable moment for her, so she enlisted the help of a seamstress to bring her vision to life. But when the dress didn’t turn out the way she had envisioned, Gan took it upon herself to sew the dress, according to multiple reports.
i made and painted my own gown for my graduation ball! ????✨
i painted over 80 flowers, sewed + stoned my dress with my mama and designed the whole thing myself! ???????? pic.twitter.com/fsDwQK1NfD
— ciara gan (@ciaragan) April 8, 2019
“I made and painted my own gown for my graduation ball!” Gan wrote in a tweet on April 7. “I painted over 80 flowers, sewed + stoned my dress with my mama and designed the whole thing myself!”
After posting the pictures of her dress on Twitter, the post went viral, with many people commenting on the dress, praising her handiwork.
In an interview with Fox 5, Gan said she bought everything she needed to make the dress with her mother, which was 13 yards of fabric, crinoline—a stiff petticoat structure to keep the dress’s shape made from boning—and Swarovski crystals. Gan and her mother took everything to a seamstress, hoping the seamstress would be able to produce the dress of Gan’s dreams. However, what they got back did not meet expectations, and according to Gan, she said, “The dress ended up horrible.”
After that, with Gan’s mother encouraged her to make the dress herself, and so she decided to fix the dress and recreate it in a way that it reflected what she wanted the dress to look like, which was an emerald gown with lush floral designs hand painted—a dress fit for a princess.
“My mom and I made … sewed each panel of the skirt one-by-one,” Gan told Fox 5. She told the media outlet that there were altogether about 12-13 panels to the dress. “It took me about a whole month to make the whole thing [conceptualization and drafting].”
According to her interview with Fox 5, Gan said the floral designs were inspired by her mother. She also told the media outlet that making art made her feel “happy and liberated,” almost like “nothing else matters.”
“I really wanted my dress to reflect my personality, thus the lilies and bright colors,” Gan told Fox 5. “My dress tells a very personal story about the things I hold close to my heart—lilies, the color green, painting, and creating new things.”
Gan went on to further to say that her inspiration for the design came from things that made her happy, according to MSN. However, she said in the interview she didn’t plan to pursue art in college.
“I actually want to develop more skills … that’s why I’m taking up a science-related course instead. I want to be able to hone my skills in the arts, but learn something totally different along the way!”
Online Response
The response on Twitter was astounding—many people responded with praise for the dress and for Gan.
One user wrote, “The Fashion industry needs someone like you.” Gan retweeted the comment and replied that she was touched that someone thought that of her. She also expressed shock after many media outlets covered her story.
waahhhhhhh i don’t know what to say except that i’m so touched you think that ???????? https://t.co/7O6kTW88PV
— ciara gan (@ciaragan) April 9, 2019
i have no words ???? thank you from the bottom of my heart!! ???? https://t.co/a8Dho5uodE
— ciara gan (@ciaragan) April 10, 2019
Because of the stunning dress, many people compared her dress to that of a Disney princess. A U.S. designer commented on Gan’s post telling her how beautiful the dress was, to which Gan replied saying that the designer’s comment meant a lot to her.
Plenty of her friends also commented, praising Gan’s handiwork. After the post went viral, Gan opened up a commission shop directed at people in the Philippines, and in no time her Twitter was flooded with many direct messages.
Some people were very inspired by the dress and Gan’s work, they even created fan art of Gan in the dress.
The post has since received a total of 1,000 comments, over 83,000 retweets, and more than 387,000 likes.
