A beaked mask covered in mirrors

#15/20 MirrorBall

The MirrorBall Plague Doctor-style and daily wear masks join previous mirrored  creations in my collection. I first created the MirrorBall Dress, masks, and accessories in 2013 while living in Las Vegas. The first iteration of the dress was made for a photoshoot, with future modifications made for durability and comfort.

A woman in a mirrorball dress surrounded by mirror balls
Hanna in the MirrorBall dress. Hair and Makup by Meghann Mason. Photo by Lei Rivera.

The MirrorBall dress was next worn to the Electric Daisy Carnival by a bridesmaid for friends getting married. The couple, Matt & Alli, and bridesmaid, Erica, are friends from my Cirque days, and I was asked to help with some costumes for their EDC trip. Matt & Alli were featured in a documentary filmed at the festival that year, later screened in movie theatres across the country. The MirrorBall dress revisions included adding a pleather binding to eliminate sharp edges, and the addition of mirrored epaulets.

A picture collage of people in costumes
Screengrabs from “Under the Electric Sky” with Matt, Alli, Erica, & CJ.

The modified costume was used in a subsequent photoshoot, with the addition of other mirrored costume pieces and accessories:

A woman in a mirrored dress
Behind the Scenes shot of Nicolle in MirrorBall. Hair and Makeup by Meghann Mason.
A woman in a mirrored costume
Behind the Scenes shot of Nicolle in the MirrorBall costume with face shield.

Mirrored Masks

In the image above, a mirrored face shield is visible. The piece is built on the same kind of face shield that has become ubiquitous over the course of the pandemic. Two mirrored face shields were made and have since been distributed to friends. A paintball mask covered in mirrors was also created at this time.

A mask covered in mirrors
The paintball mask covered in mirrors.

This piece was paired with a hoodie and mirror-covered bra top:

A woman in a mirrored mask, bra and neon zebra hoodie

Alia. Photo by Shane O’Neal

The MirrorBall Mask Set

A trio of mirrored masks
The MirrorBall Mask set

For the BeMask’d exhibit series, a Plague Doctor and daily wear mask were created. The daily wear mask is comprised of black cotton twill, lightweight fusible interfacing, glitter dot fabric, black cotton bias binding, and glass mirror tiles.

A mirrored face mask
The daily wear mask

The glitter dot fabric provides base coverage beneath the mirror tile layers. It is an aesthetic complement to the mirror tiles, and provides coverage of negative space between mirror tile strips. The Plague Doctor mask is built on a base of black cotton twill fused to heavyweight interfacing, covered with a layer of glitter dot fabric.

A sequin mask detail
The Glitter dot base layer detail
A beaked mask covered in mirrors
The Plague Doctor MirrorBall Mask

This project is funded in part by the Cornell Council for the Arts.  

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