IHS Prom 2004

ILWACO – Alisa Patten really stood out Saturday night, especially when compared to the other girls. While the rest were very much “prommed-out,” wearing fluffy, sparkly, poofy, shiny, glittery dresses – hers looked more like a flat coat of paint. That’s because it was made of Duct Tape.

Yes, Duct Tape. Polyethylene bonded to cloth, best known in the color gray.

But Duck brand Duct Tape comes in 20 different colors now, including “Funky flamingo,” “Blaze red,” “Camo green” and offers a scholarship contest this time of year for couples who want to go to their high school prom dressed in their product. That is what originally interested Patten in the idea.

“I’m not even applying for the scholarship anymore because I don’t have a date,” she said the day before the prom. “It’s probably more of just a fun thing.”

Patten has been interested in fashion, even contemplated going to school to learn how to design clothes. She used this interest when designing her dress, using a computer program to plot out 50 different styles, settling on none of them.

She began work on the gown in January, just in her spare time. She ended up taking an old dress, cutting the skirt off and attaching the Duct Tape. It took her a few times to figure out how make the top half, settling on an old T-shirt, cutting away most of it and then applying the tape while on her. She was still making last-minute alterations only an hour or so before the prom started.

She said compared to other dresses that have been entered in the Duck Brand contest in the past, hers doesn’t quite stack up, but she doesn’t care.

“There are dresses that are amazing,” she said. “Mine is really, really un-amazing. It’s not made real well, but oh well.”

Since she wasn’t gong with a date, she decided to go with a group of friends, who all met and prepped at Ali Daulton’s house in Chinook. Patten finished off her ensemble with red cotton socks, black low-top Converse All-Star sneakers and a hair-do that would stop traffic.

“This was kind of a last minute addition,” she said of the six- to eight-inch spikes she made out of her hair, sprayed red, which matched her dress, which was red, black and white.

Some of her friends said that she’s the only one they know who could pull off a look like this.

“I think it’s awesome,” one said.

“They think it’s cool. They kind of weren’t surprised I don’t think – it’s kind of something I would do,” said Patten.

Patten definitely got some sideways glances while sitting in Chico’s, partaking in the pre-prom meal. Many diners looking her up and down in between bites of pepperoni and sausage, mouthing “look at that!” Comparisons to an American icon came all night from many people as well, including a woman from Patten’s church who ran into her at Chico’s.

“She said all I would need is a book and a torch and I could be the Statue of Liberty,” Patten said.

It didn’t take her long to test the one thing she was worried about when it came to the dress once she got to prom. With it being form-fitting, she was unsure how well it would stand up to a night of getting down.

“I like dancing a lot,” she said. “The only thing I’m worried about is not being able to dance real well.”

Just in case, Patten brought an extra skirt and some Duct Tape, to save her if her dress fall apart during the dance. But it seemed to hold up pretty well. She was one of the first to hit the dance floor, flailing about with her original prom date while the rest of the crowd looked on for the first half hour.

“I thought it was a great idea because it’s a creative way to have her try out her design skills,” said her mother Andrea. “Plus it doesn’t cost so much. It’s an economic way to do the prom thing.”

Patten said that while some of her friends paid upwards of $250 for their dresses, she made hers for around $20.