The Infamous Blue Rubber Band Dress. Photo credit, Molly Nance.
This dress, handknit from 4000+ blue rubber bands, was originally an idea for a costume for a stage production of Salome. While the play was provocative in its way, the dress was too much “something else” and I chose a different path for it.
Inspired by the work of Vivian Westwood and Alexander McQueen, I used blue sheet plastic to construct the sleeveless waistcoat with train that, as it was worn, floated ethereally - adding a needed lightness to the heavy rubber beneath.
Here, photographer Molly Nance captures the writing on the wall, “Seek to know no more!” from Macbeth hangs over my head while I inquisitively seek to know more from my perch in the window at Paper Wing Theater in Monterey.
BEVERLY VAN PELT
July 27, 2022