The object I choose is one of my favorite dresses that I currently own. This dress is very special to me for many reasons, including how to came to be in my possession and the meaning I now have come to associate with it through determining its origins. 

This tie-dye sun and moon maxi dress was found at a thrift store in Beacon, NY, back in 2017. I happened to stumble upon this dress through the many racks that the store had lined up from door to practically ceiling it felt like. To my surprise, upon first trying it on, I was taken aback that it fit me to a tee, unlike many thrift store finds as we all know are usually way too big or a tad too small. I knew at that moment this dress was made for me and I had to purchase it. Since that spring day nearly five years ago, I have had this dress and have worn it to many fun and memorable occasions.

I never before honestly thought about the life this dress had before me. Before I stumbled across this great find, it undoubtedly belonged to someone else who had discarded it and given it up to the thrift shop, but for what reason? There are no stains, rips, or tears, no visible reason I saw that someone would not want this beautiful attire anymore. Could it simply be that this person didn’t want it in their closet anymore or was cleaning out their wardrobe as so many of us have done with the changing of seasons? It wasn’t until I was searching for a tag on the dress itself, a marker of sorts to where the origins of this dress perhaps were. The search was futile but also, at the same time, eye-opening. There was no tag, no place where a label may have been or ever was. This can only mean one thing, and as a fellow creative, I knew that this dress was handmade. 

The tie-dye sun and moon fabric are unique, and you can tell that the background indigo fabric was, in fact, hand-dyed, and the stencils of the celestial beings are placed in different spots. This fabric itself is a handmade pattern that is unique unto itself. The rainbow-colored dyes used in both the moon and sun are rich and look as if they are from a tie-dye kit that includes all the primary ROYGBIV colors. As someone who has done the practice of tie-dye before, this is familiar to me, and after looking at it so close, it was something I recognized immediately. The buttons themselves have the fabric sewn onto them and are gently attached to the dress by a simple stitch using navy embroidery thread. It could be from the many times I have worn this dress or even perhaps from the life it had before me, but the thread that holds the button is very fragile and looks as if one or two of the buttons could detach at any second, adding that that handmade touch once more. The last detail that caught my eye was the hem of the dress. On the bottom, you can see that the hem isn’t perfectly straight and looks as if an amateur on a sewing machine was the one behind this creation. If this was a mass-produced dress, the hemlines would be perfectly level. The buttons would be securely fastened to the dress, and the fabric would not be as individualized as it is. Seeing and breaking down all of these details and coming to understand that this dress was made by a lovely artist was heartwarming to me.

The origins of the person are unknown to me, and since 2017, that thrift shop on Main Street in Beacon has closed its doors. I wonder if I had the opportunity to go back there and ask if any local up-and-coming fashion designers or even just everyday crafters had come looking to get their pieces out there, that maybe I could know who is responsible for this beautiful creation. I feel as if I will never truly know, but now I do know that I own a one-of-a-kind piece that I will keep with me forever. I always knew that I felt connected to this dress as if it was made just for me, and I like to think that maybe it really was.