The Tortured Poets Department Paper Dress
#ttpdpaperdress
Wendy Churton and Jenna Elberson created The Tortured Poets Department Paper Dress exclusively out of upcycled and repurposed paper and materials.
This creation was inspired by the Vivienne Westwood-designed dress worn by Taylor Swift during The Eras Tour. The original dress was unveiled in Paris in May 2024, Jenna and Wendy fell in love with the idea of recreating this dress as an art piece and tribute to celebrate The Eras Tour coming to Toronto in November 2024.
Why Paper?
This dress is a representation of Taylor Swift's most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department. The songs on this album explore the emotional turmoil of love, and paper embodies this perfectly. Paper is a challenging medium for garment construction: it's rigid, it tears, and it creases. It can disintegrate under harsh conditions and it lacks the flexibility of fabric. Paper is a theme used in the visual representation of the album.
The same can be said about love and human relationships. Love, with the absence of care, can leave us torn and damaged. The very thing that makes love so beautiful also creates vulnerability and fragility.
Wendy and Jenna spent nearly two months working on the dress – from conception, research, prototyping, material experimentation, to building the final product. They used paper, paint and notions donated by the community, and used the existing tools within the makerspace to fabricate stencils for the lettering and a sewing pattern for the bodice of the dress.
Sustainability informs all aspects of Mischief Makers programming, and coming at this design with a sustainable lens was important to us. We spent time researching the original dress and the process of how it was made. We wanted to capture the details as accurately as we could: the typeface of the lettering, the positioning of the boning in the bodice, even the folds in the skirt draping. That said, we also knew that some of those details could be suggested with a similar result.
Jenna Elberson is the owner and founder of Mischief Makers. Their goal is to be a positive role model and create a safe space for anyone who walks through the door of their makerspace.
Wendy Churton is the owner of The Willow Shed Studio, a woodcraft-focused business based out of the garage at Mischief Makers, and the resident Swiftie.
“We are thrilled that Taylor Swift has chosen Toronto as one of the final two stops on The Eras Tour, and we wanted to find a way to commemorate and celebrate this special time in our city.” - Wendy Churton
The final result was a sustainably crafted tribute to Taylor, to love, and to sustainability.
Mischief Makers is a makerspace, a collaborative community-centered workspace with a focus on making, learning, exploring, and sharing for all ages. We are an entry-level space for anyone learning a maker-skill for the first time - from sewing, to carpentry, to painting, and more. Our primary focus is on material sustainability and upcycling, both in the creation and exploration of making art but also in our daily lives. Our makerspace hosts a series of workshops, community events, and after-school clubs.
In November 2024, we featured the TTPD Paper Dress in the front window at 247 Coxwell Ave in Toronto. Throughout the month of November, we hosted a series of crafting events and socials to celebrate The Eras Tour in Toronto. A portion of funds from all of our Taylor Swift themed events throughout the month were collected; in the end, we donated $273 to Tay It Forward, a Canada-wide project raising funds for Foodbanks Canada.
On December 2, 2024, we gathered in the park and commemorated this beautiful moment in time with a ceremonial bonfire, where the dress symbolically burned into ashes and we closed the Toronto chapter of The Eras Tour.
About Mischief Makers
247 Coxwell Ave, Toronto, ON M4L 3B4 - www.mischiefmakers.ca
Mischief Makers is a female-owned, queer-run, neurodivergent-friendly makerspace in the East End of Toronto. Our focus is on material sustainability and upcycling, both in our creation and exploration of making art but also in our daily lives. Our makerspace hosts a series of workshops, community events, and after-school clubs.
For us, making mischief means transforming the everyday into something extraordinary. It’s about collaboratively crafting a lively and dynamic world, where we not only celebrate our community but also actively enhance it. We challenge the status quo, embracing weird and unexpected methods to enrich our environment and ourselves.
As Mischief Makers, we are committed to lifelong learning, approaching every new challenge with curiosity and an open mind. We ensure that the spirit of mischief permeates every facet of our programming, inspiring everyone who joins us to see the world as a playground of possibilities.
please direct all inquiries to Wendy Churton thewillowshedstudio@gmail.com