TTPD Paper Dress

The Tortured Poets Department Paper Dress

Wendy Churton and Jenna Elberson have created The Tortured Poets Department Paper Dress exclusively out of upcycled and repurposed paper and materials.

This creation was inspired by the Vivienne Westwood-designed dress worn by Taylor Swift during The Eras Tour. The original was unveiled in Paris this past spring, Jenna and Wendy fell in love with the idea of recreating this dress as an art piece and tribute to celebrate The Eras Tour coming to Toronto.

Why Paper?

This dress is a representation of Taylor Swift's most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department. The songs on this album explore the emotional turmoil of love, and paper embodies this perfectly. Paper is a challenging medium for garment construction: it's rigid, it tears, and it creases. It can disintegrate under harsh conditions and it lacks the flexibility of fabric. Paper is a theme used in the visual representation of the album.

The same can be said about love and human relationships. Love, with the absence of care, can leave us torn and damaged. The very thing that makes love so beautiful also creates vulnerability and fragility.

Sustainability informs all aspects of Mischief Makers programming, and coming at this design with a sustainable lens was important to us. We spent time researching the original dress and the process of how it was made. We wanted to capture the details as accurately as we could: the typeface of the lettering, the positioning of the boning in the bodice, even the folds in the skirt draping. That said, we also knew that some of those details could be suggested with a similar result.

The final result is a sustainably crafted tribute to Taylor, to love, and to sustainability.

The finished product is now on display in our front window at 247 Coxwell Ave, Toronto ON.

About Mischief Makers
247 Coxwell Ave, Toronto, ON M4L 3B4 - www.mischiefmakers.ca

Mischief Makers is a female-owned, queer-run, neurodivergent-friendly makerspace in the East End of Toronto. Our focus is on material sustainability and upcycling, both in our creation and exploration of making art but also in our daily lives. Our makerspace hosts a series of workshops, community events, and after-school clubs.

For us, making mischief means transforming the everyday into something extraordinary. It’s about collaboratively crafting a lively and dynamic world, where we not only celebrate our community but also actively enhance it. We challenge the status quo, embracing weird and unexpected methods to enrich our environment and ourselves.

As Mischief Makers, we are committed to lifelong learning, approaching every new challenge with curiosity and an open mind. We ensure that the spirit of mischief permeates every facet of our programming, inspiring everyone who joins us to see the world as a playground of possibilities.