Rick Gunn photoCrystal Brown, 17, smoothes out her prom dress made of black and white duct tape. She is hoping to win a $5,000 scholarship for her creation.
Allison Kop made her own dress for prom to receive high school credit and Crystal Brown made her dress -- out of duct tape -- in hopes of receiving money for college.
Crystal is entering the second annual contest sponsored by Duck Tape brand duct tape, which awards $5,000 to the couple wearing the best adhesive formal wear. The hosting high school receives $2,500.
"I'm really excited," Crystal said. "People will probably look at me funny, but that's OK."
From black and white tape, Crystal pieced together a gown for herself and a tuxedo for her date. She used white tape to fashion flowers to place along the bodice of her dress as well as her corsage and made a boa out of the black tape.
"Putting it together was the hardest part," she said. "I had to sew the seams together -- the tape would undo, so I had to stitch it."
Using more traditional methods, Allison sewed her dress as part of her senior project, a three-part assignment necessary for graduation.
"I was going to do something more academic, but I decided to do something totally different," she said. "This was pretty new for me."
She appealed to her former babysitter for help and the two set out to make Allison's dream gown.
"With my body type, it's hard to find things that fit right," Allison said. "When you make it yourself, you make it exactly how you want it and it fits perfectly -- plus, nobody else has your dress."
Especially since she combined two different patterns to make it.
For the research paper aspect of her senior project, Allison explored fashion trends of the 1950s and how those trends reflected the role of women in society during the time.
Allison, who led her soccer team to win the Northern Nevada championship and was named one of the state's top 100 seniors academically, is also a candidate for prom queen to be announced tonight.
