Goessel girls glowing about garment
Staff writer
After wearing a dress made of burned matches and pages of the book “451 Fahrenheit,” Alece Lehrman has a note for next year’s “Trash to Trends” challenge: maybe use more durable materials.
The dress the Goessel junior wore in BC Emery Photography’s competition was #winning, as the kids say. It took first place in the creative and challenging materials category after Alece modeled it on a runway in St. John. The dress was one of 13 in the category.
“It was nerve-wracking as they called the winners,” art teacher Kacie Schmidt said. “There were a lot of really great dresses that I knew were real contenders being called for lower places, then when it was just first place left. I was beet red, thinking ‘This is it. We either got first or nothing.’ It was thrilling.
“I’m so incredibly proud of my girls. They worked so long and hard on that dress.”
It was Goessel’s first time competing in the contest.
For next year, “we would like to make the skirt easier to take off so that the model can sit down, as well as use a more durable material so that we don’t have to worry about the dress ripping as much,” Alece said.
Adriana Duerksen said it was fun working on the dress.
“We all had certain skills that we are good at, and we used each other’s strengths to our advantage,” she said. “Throughout this project, I learned how to overcome many obstacles that we faced, and learned some good problem-solving skills.”
Cambry Duerksen said she learned that she should have kept the flame moving when she was smoking the bottom of the dress’s cape and accidentally burned a hole in it.
“I thought we would do well in the competition, maybe like second or third, but not first,” she said. “It was honestly a surprise to hear that being it’s our first year doing it.”