Duct tape makes a fashion statement

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Forget those expensive designer fashion bags. Roll out the duct tape and design your own fashion statement.

Long-championed for its utilitarian purposes, people across the country have come up with some creative ways to fashion duct tape, well, into fashion.

Its newest image includes transformation into anything from a prom dress to wearable sneakers to flowers that never die. The colors can be bold if not necessarily beautiful: florescent orange, yellow, turquoise, red, pink and green, in addition to the traditional gray, black and white. But it's been on a roll, with books, competitions and Web sites devoted to the pop culture phenomenon.

Young people locally have also become attached to duct tape fashion.

About a dozen children, ages 9 to 15, recently got a chance to design their own "tacky" bags at a program led by Trish Downey at the Mansfield Public Library.

Downey, who has taught jewelry design and crafts to children in the area for a number of years, has led similar duct tape sessions for Girl Scouts at after-school programs in Mansfield and at the Foxboro Charter School.

At the library session, held during school vacation week, the supplies were spread on the table as Downey explained to the group how to make the bags.

"The only thing stopping you is your imagination on this," she said. "The biggest problem is that the tape sticks to your fingers and scissors.

"If you make a mistake, don't panic - just cover it with more tape."

The students were slow to start, but then went on a tear.

Alida Lefebbre, 12, went with a design of green and black, her favorite colors. Her finished product was a black shoulder bag emblazoned with a large green "A."

Timothy Elofson, 11 and his brother Dave, 13, on the other hand, decided on the traditional gray, gripping extravagantly long strips from the rolls. Their sister Kristen, 9, was busy beside them cutting an intricate design in navy blue and yellow. In the end, the boys, both referees for Mansfield Youth Soccer, decided on designs that included MYS adorning the gray bags they tentatively planned to use for holding sports-related items.

"You don't want to look like you're carrying a Ziploc bag," Downey said.

One girl worked a vertical red- and white-striped design; another intently mixed colorful strips of yellow, turquoise, red and dark blue in a vertical and horizontal pattern on one side, with green and yellow, some turquoise and a stripe of orange and red each on the other.

Caroline Parsloe, 12, completed her work by affixing the letters of her name in yellow, horizontally on her creation.

"I just love working with kids because of what they come up with," said Downey, standing off to the side. "They put colors together adults would not."

Laura Bryant, 12, chose a motif of black with green polkadots.

Sadie Palmer, also 12, stuck with a turquoise- and white- striped design. "It will go with most of my clothes, which are bluish-green."

Asked whether it's like having a designer bag, Palmer smiled and replied "yessss!" - as if it were indeed haute couture.

Want to make a duct fashion bag? Here's what you'll need:

E A Ziploc bag in desired size. (Sandwich bags or paper lunch bags can be used for small handbags or matching wallets.)

E Rolls of duct tape in the colors you want. (Craft instructor Trish Downey says rolls of the traditional gray, white and black can be purchased inexpensively at Ocean State Job Lot; other colors may need to be purchased in craft stores.)

E A large roll of clear tape.

E Scissors.

E Your imagination.

How to make it:

Downey suggests covering the form (the Ziploc or other bag) in one color and then adding designs or other colors over that base layer. Be careful not to seal the “lock” on the inside of the bag, but cover the outside.

For handles, take two pieces of equal length and stick them together, or fold over one piece of desired length and stick it to the bag.

Cover handles in clear packing or other tape. Affix individual designs or letters onto the base layer with clear tape for better adherence.

Carry fashionably.

— SUSAN LaHOUD

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.

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