When Ciara Gen painted her own distinctive gown by hand for her graduation ball, she was just 17 years old. Her artistic career has taken off after she shared pictures of her garment online.
One of the most important nights in a high school student’s life is prom. For every student, it’s all about having the opportunity to dress up for the event and spend one last evening with all of their closest friends. It is, therefore, not surprising that many students consider every minute detail of their attire. Some people could even shell out hundreds of dollars for a suit or attire. However, one Filipino student felt that she had to really take matters into her own hands. Ciara Gen, a 17-year-old high school student, desired an unusual dress for her graduation ball. She reached for some paint and a paintbrush and started to create.
Ciara has a deep love for the arts. She creates invitations, stickers, vector graphics, and much more using her painting skills. For one of the most special occasions of her life, she made the decision to transform her biggest passion into a gown. She started by sitting down to draw. The now-former student created a strategy and drew up a template for her garment. She then selected the fabric and materials. With her mother’s assistance, Ciara put the dress’s bodice together and pleated the skirt. She described how she created the ballgown construction in a YouTube video, explaining that she sewed each pleat individually. There was boning on each pleat to ensure that its structure would not be compromised.
The exciting part—painting the lovely flowers—was the next step. Since Ciara lacked a mannequin, she made do by resting her gown on an easel. Using iPad software, the student created multiple versions of the garment she wanted. She began working on the outfit by selecting her colour scheme and starting with a white base. It took five days to paint the dress with flowers, but it took a month to design, create, and assemble the garment. Ciara even hand-beaded her outfit. It proved to be an entire masterpiece in the end! She looked stunning on the big night of her graduation ball.
In an interview, the student disclosed that her mother provided the inspiration and encouragement to design the garment. She remarked, “I thought, ‘Why not?’ since I love trying new things.” I would be able to concentrate more on constructing my gown without having to worry about homework because it was my last major event for school, and I had approximately a month to practice for it.” Ciara also gave an explanation for her decision to paint tiger lilies as opposed to roses or other well-known flowers. “I recently reread the book Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (which touched my heart) and then decided to paint the orange florals,” she said. “I strayed away from basic roses and dainty florals because although they’re pretty, they don’t reflect my personality. I love the vibrancy of loud colours like orange and green – they speak more about who I am.”
She’s become extremely popular since she uploaded pictures of her dress to the internet. As a result, her art career is flourishing. She’s had a lot of requests for commissions. “It really warms my heart to see people appreciating my art,” she stated. Ciara updates her Instagram profile with her artwork. Her profile now features numerous paintings, drawings, and other artwork. With more than 55.3k followers, she is still expanding. You can write to her at [email protected] if you’d like to commission a piece of original art. As an alternative, you can message her privately on Twitter.