Duct tape tux wins a national prom contest, but the winner couldn’t dance in it
Every year we ooh and aaah over the clever prom clothes teenagers make out of duct tape, and this year is no exception.
Duck Tape’s 17th annual Stuck at Prom contest has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarship money to high-schoolers across the country who created prom apparel out of duct tape.
Winners, chosen by online voting, won $1,000 to $10,000 each.
One couple turned 34 rolls of tape into elaborate steam-punk costumes.
Another winner, inspired by his Hispanic heritage, won scholarship money with a vest decorated with gold floral detail similar to mariachi charro vests.
Allison Poolman of Elgin, Okla., won first prize in the single category after spending 79 hours making a purple strapless gown with snowflakes on the skirt out of 13 rolls of Duck tape.
Two winners confirmed what we’ve suspected all along: It’s not easy to dance in duct tape.
“They were heavy, and sticky,” first-place couples winner Emily O’Gara of Lincoln, Neb., told the Omaha World-Herald of her gown that weighed about 5 pounds.
Her date and fellow winner, Ethan Weber, who will be a senior at Lincoln Pius X High, compared his tux of tape to a suit of armor, though he clarified that he’s never actually worn a suit of armor.
O’Gara, who told the company she knew since she was 10 she was going to make her prom dress from duct tape, drew inspiration from the prom’s theme, Enchanted Gardens.
She created a black-and-white geometric pattern on the bodice and skirt using 1/8-inch strips of tape, and scattered floral shapes along the bottom of the skirt.
The couple carried the hexagon pattern into the lapel of his tux and their accessories.
The stats on their winning creation: 200 hours, 20 rolls of tape and 25 X-Acto knives.
The most important number: They each won $10,000 scholarship money for college.
This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Duct tape tux wins a national prom contest, but the winner couldn’t dance in it."