Boston Fashion Week and what to do with your leftover coffee filters

I was pretty excited to learn that I now live within walking distance of a fashion week.

One Saturday afternoon some friends and I headed over to the Back Bay area to the big mall in Copley place to see an exhibit put on by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design called "Wearable Art."

It was straight out of a Project Runway unconventional challenge.

Forget recycling. "This garment was crafted out of cut and scrolled aluminum cans and wired to window screening. Designer: Jessica Soter". This looks like a treacherous dress to make--those aluminum strips are probably really sharp! Also, can we all take a moment to admire how adorable it is that she used a row of can tops on the back of the dress to mimic the look of sewn-on buttons and loops?

"This garment is made from woven raffia on a loom and sculpted by hand. The skirt is from brushed lambs wool and baby's breath. Designer: Elle Audra Mackey." I love the back!

Remember when you did that art project in like kindergarten where you microwaved scraps of plastic cups to make a pin or something for your mom? 

This person took that idea to a whole new level. 

"Mom, I made you a dress in art class today!" "This garment was made from melted spoons (?!?!!! Melted spoons!!!) which were molded into the shape. Designer: Nicole Dupuis." I'm never throwing away my plastic spoons again. 

"This garment was made from over 500 dyed coffee filters. The skirt is shaped by 4 chair back supporters. (Confirmed by me.) Designer: Sylvia Lund." The shaping on the skirt is really cool--it looks like a continuous piece of ribbon or tulle! 

There was also a coffee filter ballgown! 

"This ruby evening gown was crafted out of coffee filters. Designer: Olena Cook." 

Guess what this one is made of!?! You won't be able to so I'll tell you. "This dress was made from torn egg cartons dipped in dye and molded onto tarp using hot glue. Designer: Cassandra Gossett." This is where "no touching" started getting really hard.

This one looks like something out of a movie set! "This garment was created completely out of feathers. Designer: Breanna Budryk." 

This one is just ridiculous. 

"This garment is made of over 5000 coffee stir straws. Designer: Kathryn Higham." And I thought using boning was hard. The incredible thing about this dress is that even though it's made out of tiny wooden sticks, it's completely awesome and deceptive in that I can totally picture this being a runway, not to mention an actual person. 

After checking out the exhibit, my friends and I took a walk around Back Bay. While marveling at the beauty of Boston's historic buildings, I saw this: 

It's hard to see from far away...

The entire display was filled with these gorgeous, intricate vintage sewing machines! 

Each of them was like a little functional piece of art! They were absolutely beautiful! 

There's me in the background :D

Afterwards, a remarkable event occurred: we stopped at Georgetown cupcakes, and I ate the only purchased cupcake I've come across that was worth eating. 

YUMM

Chocolate fudge and peanut butter. It was actually SO GOOD. The filling they put inside tastes like molten chocolate cake batter, and the creamy peanut butter frosting goes perfectly. 

Plus they had a sparkly mixer ;) 

Boston is such a gorgeous city, and the weather was beautiful, so I can't resist sharing some pictures :D

Trinity Church

Next time we have a formal, I feel like I should  make my dress out of coffee filters ;)