Slartibartsy-Fartsy: The Polka Dot Dress That Didn’t Exist

There’s always that one thing you have to wear for an event — the dress that embodies your excitement, your style, your mood. For me, that moment came when I was planning to attend the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the NGV in Melbourne. But, when I went to search for the perfect polka dot dress to wear, I found… nothing.

So, I did what I always do when there’s a creative gap: I designed and made it.

The Vision

I knew exactly what I wanted: a dress that paid homage to Kusama’s iconic polka dots but that wasn’t your stock standard black and white polka dot dress that I saw everywhere online. I envisioned something bold but wearable, with a  a mini-skirt length, long sleeves and a V-neckline. It would be a celebration of Kusama’s whimsical style but through my own lens — a design that made sense for me, in my skin, in my life..

I also knew that the polka dots had to be larger-than-life, playful, and striking. The goal? To make a statement with the dress before I even walked into the exhibit. What better way to merge my love for fashion and art? First off, I decided I wanted to make this out of second hand dresses, and I wanted to Frankenstein them together somehow.

Sourcing the Materials

This is where things got fun. I scoured Depop for hours, hunting for dresses that I could Frankenstein together. I needed materials that were close to what I envisioned, but also something I could experiment with — maybe even push into new territory. I searched for dresses where the scale of the polka dots was larger than normal, and i also really wanted a combination of Black & White, and Rainbow polka dots. Surprisingly, there is not that many dresses made out of rainbow polka dots! So when I did find one, straight into the cart it went!

After finding six secondhand dresses that seemed perfect, I ordered them and crossed my fingers.

Playing with AI

Now that I had purchased my materials, I needed to design the dress. I turned to AI to help me visualize the design. I fed the above collage of photos of the dresses I’d bought into the AI, and used my design knowledge to guide it. I wanted a mini-length skirt with an A-line cut, a V-neckline, and long sleeves. Using prompts about shape, color, and fabric, I generated hundreds of design ideas.

This process took hours. Some of the designs were terrible — some were mind-blowing. Ultimately, I ended up with a handful of promising concepts, and then I had to go through the painful task of narrowing it down to one. It felt like the AI and I were working together to make the perfect dress, but I was still in charge of making the final decisions. Unfortunately, one of out of the 6 dresses was not able to be sent to me by the buyer, and it was one of the two rainbow polka dot dresses. But I took it in my stride. I had one rainbow polka dot material, and that would be enough.

Facing the Unknown

The moment I had to start cutting into the fabrics was terrifying. I kept looking at the pieces I had, wondering how I was going to bring them together in a way that worked.

But here’s the thing: I’m a firm believer in pushing through fear. I remembered I had other dresses to use for fabric, and I decided to go for it. Slowly, step by step, I pieced the dress together. I used an inner shell to create the volume I needed for the skirt, and every stitch felt like a victory. I ended up using two of the more sheer satin fabrics for the bulk of the dress, piecing the Rainbow and the Black & White polka dots in parallel with each other for balance.

Made in Brisbane, With Love

I’m proud to say that I made this dress in just five days — my personal challenge was to finish it within the time frame of a Project Runway challenge, so like, 2 days!. In the end, I spent a little more time refining it, chatting to AI for emotional support and sewing tips, and having anxiety every step of the way. I had such fun pushing myself and learning to trust my process. One last thing I did, which i’m still not sure if it was the right move, was to trim the sleeve frills down. They were sitting at an avant garde 20cm length as you can see in the above photo, and as flowy and delicious as that is, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to trim them down to approximately the 9cm mark. Was it the right move? I don’t know. But its done now!

The final result? A playful, bold dress that felt so me.

I’m beyond happy with the final look, and I felt like I truly honored Yayoi Kusama’s artistic spirit while making something that reflects my own creativity.