The University Book Store hosted a Duct Tape Fashion Show on Friday to encourage students to have some fun. Two dresses made out of Duct tape were chosen as first-place winners. They both received a gift card to the bookstore, a water bottle, a blanket and a backpack.

Sara Kinderknecht, junior in apparel, merchandising and design, made one of the winning designs. She constructed a long, asymmetrical dress that was inspired by the various shades of blue Duct tape.

“They reminded me of a hurricane,” Kinderknecht said.

Kinderknecht felt that making the dress out of Duct tape was actually easier than making one entirely out of fabric. She made the base of the garment from muslin and then covered it with the Duct tape. She also incorporated a zipper and Velcro to make the dress more wearable and versatile.

Kinderknecht would definitely participate in the fashion show again.

“It’s a different type of competition,” Kinderknecht said.

Shelby Schmidt, freshman in apparel, merchandising and design, and Seth Huffman, freshman in pre-graphic design, created the other winning dress. They constructed their dress entirely out of Duct tape using black, white and red.

Huffman has made many garments, wallets and flowers out of Duct tape before. He has found a creative niche in Duct tape and plans to continue to develop his skills. This competition seemed like the perfect opportunity for him.

Huffman began by creating the base of the dress to fit his partner Schmidt. Once that was finished, they began to add more elements and edit their work.

“The Duct tape was hard to work with, but we took it as a challenge and just kept going until we got it right,” Schmidt said.

Amy DeLashmutt, UBS marketing manager, and Shandra Van Berkum, UBS art and supply buyer, helped to create and run the first Duct Tape Fashion Show sponsored by 3M. They allowed anyone in groups of one or two people to enter into the competition.

In order to enter, students only had to register online at the University Book Store’s website by paying $10. Each team was given a T-shirt, a utility knife and six rolls of Duct tape to complete their look.

“We wanted to showcase the students’ talent,” DeLashmutt said.

Both DeLashmutt and Van Berkum encourage students of any major to enter the competition and to have fun with it. They predict that the fashion show will get bigger each year and look forward to it next fall.