Simplicity Pattern #8406 Yellow Disney Princess: Re:dress | NYC:dress | Docu:dress
I grew up surrounded by stories like Snow White and Cinderella—narratives that shaped me without my knowing. These stories presented ideals of beauty and passivity deeply ingrained in our culture. It wasn’t until I witnessed resistance to these stories that I began to question these ideals and realize how insidious and persistent these unwritten scripts are.
When I created this Disney princess dress out of synthetic felt, it became a way to confront these deeply embedded cultural scripts. The tension between resisting these ideals and their persistence lies at the heart of this dress.
What I have found interesting is how the dress transforms when worn by others. For some, it invites fantasy and play. For others, it opens the stereotype, creating space for new, more inclusive interpretations of femininity. In other moments, it reflects how these ideals are either internalized or rejected. Throughout these portrait sessions, the dress reveals the complexity of identity and the power of reimagining what beauty and femininity can mean. It embodies the tension I see—between resisting outdated ideals and recognizing their persistence.