Has The Poky Little Puppy ever looked so good? Fine artist and designer Ryan Novelline created this gown by stitching together pages from a collection of 300 Golden Books, which he assembled from Goodwill and used book shops.
After removing the pages, about 1,500 in total, Novelline sorted them by color and sewed them into strips, using a metallic golden thread, which caught itself in the machine about every 10 inches, says the Boston-based artist, who is currently a BFA candidate at the Rhode Island School of Design. "I rethreaded my sewing machine about a thousand times and finished the whole dress in nine days, working around the clock."
Novelline has fond memories of curling up with volumes from the tried-and-true collection with the shiny metallic spines (see them forming the bodice of the dress), which his parents had grown up with and passed on to him. "When you read something as a child, it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does," he says, quoting the Meg Ryan character, a bookstore owner, from the 1998 Nora Ephron film "You've Got Mail." Novelline recalls as a kid sitting on the floor copying pictures from the books, because he would never dare to cut them out to hang on his wall. "Ironic, huh?" he says.
Novelline's other creations range from dolls and Gap cardigans to design work for Walt Disney Imagineering.
This a such a fabulous dress!!! Worthy of Project Runway!!
Posted by Kim on April 5, 2011 03:35:21PM
SCBWI should have a book fashion show at their annual meeting.
Posted by Natasha Wing on April 5, 2011 03:47:35PM
Beautiful! Should go on tour to libraries around the country.
Posted by Vickie Fortenberry on April 6, 2011 12:24:11PM
Definitely at the Children's Book Council Gala and Book Expo--Simply stunning. And tour museums such as the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the amazing museum of children's book illustration in Texas, not to mention the National Museum for Women in DC. Tour it to support libraries and reading and the sheer magic of books and imagination.
Posted by Anita Merina on April 7, 2011 04:02:17PM
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