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.
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.
The modified costume was used in a subsequent photoshoot, with the addition of other mirrored costume pieces and accessories:
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.
This piece was paired with a hoodie and mirror-covered bra top:
Alia. Photo by Shane O’Neal
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.
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.
This project is funded in part by the Cornell Council for the Arts.
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