Well hello there, dear Panda! Welcome to a world where imagination becomes reality and one thing shapeshifts into another. Sadly, I cannot tell you that you’re a wizard (Harry), but what I can do is bring you a story of the books, telling of the magical world of Harry Potter, turning into a beautiful prom dress in the hands of one fan.
As always, dearest readers, make sure to leave your thoughts below and let me know whether you’d be interested in making something like this for your own occasion. All the upvotes and followers support the writer (aka me, hi!) and it is much appreciated. So without further ado, let’s Wingardium Leviosa into this.
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An incredibly creative Harry Potter fan, named Hailey Skoch, worked her magic and transformed the beloved books into her prom dress
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Hailey Skoch, an 18-year-old high school student from Prairie Grove, Arkansas, made her own prom dress out of hundreds of pages from the Harry Potter books.
The teen spent four days working on the stunning dress. Countless hours of ripping, folding, sewing, and gluing pages together, sometimes working deep into the night, until it all came together.
The strapless, corseted number flounced and flared like an origami dream with fan-folded pages from her beloved books.
Image credits: zer0_t0_her0_13
Hundreds of pages, 4 days and countless hours later, the strapless, cream corset dress was complete and a true stunner, catching everyone's eye
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Hailey told Bored Panda that the books "are a part of my identity and its characters and lessons of morality inspire me to be the person I am today."
Thus, it's not surprising that each crafting session included the Harry Potter series playing in the background. “I was binge watching the whole Harry Potter series so you can’t just get halfway through and wait a week and watch the rest,” she told Fox23.
“You start on a project like that, you just have to get it done as fast as possible.” She said she watched all eight Harry Potter Movies plus two of the Fantastic Beast spin-off films, but whether she watched them each a single time or multiple times throughout the four days is unknown.
The look was complete with her dark hair in a bun and dramatic avantgarde makeup
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Hailey stated that it was the first time she'd ever made anything like this. She was going for a Victorian era-inspired gown, "something that would fit with such a classic aura of ink on paper. I wanted it to have a certain fantasy to it."
She explained that she was inspired by a dress that she saw on TikTok, but believed she could put her own spin on it. “I really wanted to do something more unconventional, and I’ve been obsessed with Harry Potter forever,” she told ArkTimes.
Her love for reading, combined with her curiosity and imagination, lead her to crafting something truly special. Her mom Valerie, who works as a costume maker, was key in making the actual design come together. “She just completely helped me put it all together with the corset and gave me some great ideas for the bodice,” Hailey said.
She finished the look by putting her dark hair up in a bun and adorning her face with dramatic avantgarde makeup.
“It was almost creepy in sync, everyone’s heads just turned," she recalled the event, but that wasn't the only attention she received
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Hailey said her classmates were completely in awe of the intricate gown. “It was completely insane because I just kind of entered and everyone was kind of doing their own thing. One person saw me, and then another,” she recalled.
“It was almost creepy in sync, everyone’s heads just turned. It was the craziest feeling I’ve ever had. Remember when Hermione Granger showed up at the Yule Ball as heartthrob Victor Krum’s date, rendering her fellow Gryffindors nearly speechless? It probably went a lot like that.”
Hailey posted some images of her breathtaking dress online and quickly went viral, gaining thousands of likes and comments in a matter of days. “I made my dress! I wore it to prom pictures and wow, I was not expecting all the support and compliments,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Thanks for all the love, guys. I’m obsessed with this look and it was made from the books of my childhood, Harry Potter. For me this is a piece of art about growth and transition into my adult self as I wear the words that brought me so much peace in my youth.”
She posted pictures of her dress on her Instagram account, quickly going viral, with thousands of likes and comments coming in
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The attention didn’t stop there as the 18-year-old said designers and photographers have also reached out to her, as well as two different libraries in Arkansas, asking her if they could put the dress on display. For the moment, this piece is just for her, regardless of all the attention and price tags being offered; it’s a very sentimental piece for Hailey.
Growing up, the books were key to her childhood. They were her best friends during a very difficult time when her parents were getting divorced. “I was this shy, nerdy, geeky kid that was looking for some magic in my life,” she said. “[These books were] just such an inspiration at a time when I was so vulnerable and needed it most... I have such a great love for these books.” They helped her reunite the ideas of family, hope and love at a time where they were lacking.
Hailey was planning to study psychology at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville next year, however, she’s now considering other career choices - like fashion design. “It’s not every day that someone tells you that you could pursue your hobby,” she told Fox23. It still remains a question mark, but whatever she chooses, we’re sure she’ll have a blast.
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Now, I can empathize with those that feel sorry for the books that got destroyed. I am a writer, I love books more than most things, however, we cannot disagree with the fact that sometimes things need to be destroyed in order for them to be reborn as better.
Hailey said that "making the dress out of my favorite books was more of an act of love than anything."
"The books that I had chosen were already breaking down and recycled from a secondhand store. The glue and the spine were yellowing and ripping. One would probably say that they were 'well loved' and read several times before. So if anything, it was more sentimental and nostalgic than sad."
She continued to say that "as I was taking them apart chapter by chapter, I had chances to read favorite excerpts and quotes that are very endearing to me, so it was a very nostalgic journey."
The dress, although undoubtedly beautiful, holds a very sentimental meaning for Hailey as the books helped her through some tough times
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Open Culture describes a time where repurposing books as fabric was commonplace. “It’s a rich tradition, putting old pages to good use, once they start feeling like they’ve outlived their intended purpose,” they say. “The bishop likely didn’t know the specifics on the material that made his hat stand up.”
As Dutch art historian Erik Kwakkel explains: “The dismembered books were to have a second life: they became travelers in time, stowaways… with great and important stories to tell. Indeed, stories that may otherwise not have survived, given that classical and medieval texts frequently only come down to us in fragmentary form.”
Some might be concerned about the destruction of the book, yet we believe it to be more of a reincarnation and a rebirth as something more special
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It’s almost a kind of reincarnation, a magic available to all us muggles. The Harry Potter series is a core childhood memory to a lot of us, allowing the escape towards the incredible and intriguing.
According to Vox, the Harry Potter books combine the intricate plotting of a mystery with the sweep and scope of epic fantasy and the intimacy and character development of a classic boarding school narrative. What we end up with is a story that resonates with millions of people and continues to do so, becoming a modern classic and a comforting piece of literature.
Hailey's favorite is the 3rd part of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. "I love Remus Lupin and he is bisexual like me, so it’s nice to feel represented," she said.
We wish Hailey all the best and look forward to seeing what she'll craft up next!
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Whilst I would not readily encourage you to go rip up your books for art projects, we can all learn something from Hailey - whether it’s the curiosity of trying something new, the determination to commit to a project, or the creative approach to commemorating an important piece of her life.
She'd like to inspire others to be themselves, saying: "Don’t be afraid to just exist as you are and the way you want to. You are beautiful as your most comfortable and natural self, despite what criticism you may hear from others about your self-expression. 'I mean, it’s sort of exciting isn’t it? Breaking the rules?' - Hermione Granger."
We can’t wait to see what she does next, especially as she promised it would mark the start of "the paper fashion revolution."
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Would you like to have a similar dress or suit to this? Are you yourself a fan of the Harry Potter universe? Can’t wait to read them all and I bid you a magical and fun day!
Some people have fallen in love with the dress, others wrote their concerns. What do you think? Leave your opinions in the comments!
