Photo: Charlotte Barich via TODAY
Prom dress made out of duct tape? That's been done ... but what about prom dress made out of potato sack? Now that's a fashion statement!
Courtney Barich said no to fancy prom dress and yes to making one out of burlap - basically a glorified potato sack - in order to raise money for charity. The 18-year-old teen from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, got inspired when looking for a prom dress and saw that the one she liked was $700.
"We were driving in the car and I felt kind of selfish for how much it cost," Barich said to TODAY, "My mom said, 'You would look good in anything, even a garbage bag or a potato sack.' And the idea kind of grew from there."
In her website, Barich posted a challenge: "I will give up the glitz and glam of a beautiful grad dress and I will wear a Burlap dress to grad instead, if I can get $10,000 in much needed donations to help [St. Martin De Porres Orphanage in the Philippines]".
Barich and her classmates had visited the orphanage on a summer's trip, and the experience had touched her. "It was definitely an eye-opener to see all the poverty, from the houses they live in to what they eat. All the kids were walking around with no shoes," she said. "It was very sad. I came back grateful."
It was a double win for Barich: she reached her goal to raise the money for charity, and thanks to a collaboration with Suman Faulkner of Lata Design, the dress came out gorgeous:
Photo: Courtney Barich
Read more about the teenager who went to prom in a burlap dress over at TODAY.
Note: Don't forget to check out Twaggie's new (and very funny) video: Just Kid-ing