Inspired by the starlets of black and white film, Ivanna came to us looking for a spooky drag gown fit for hosting their Halloween show as an icon of Camp. The design that followed brought together multiple vintage textiles and trims. Black stretch fabric covered with thousands of embedded sparkles in geometric designs made the gown luminous on stage despite being so dark.

We decided to draft the under-arm web panels out of a gorgeous red-sequined illusion mesh and hand-stitched vintage braided trim on each web. Each web point was then finished with black fringed rope tassels. As a personal homage to Porter’s late grandmother who kept a bejeweled spider on her reading lamp til the day she died, we appliqued beaded spiders to the gown in tones of gold and champagne.

The gown itself needed to read sleek, sexy, but covered. A mock turtleneck, hidden zip, full length sleeves, and sweep train rounded out this vision. We love a look that can create lasting impact for audiences and be easy for the performer to wear!