Irving Baby Sweet 16

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Photographs by Lara Merrington

Sweet 16 is the design initiative of two Adelaide sisters Trenna Oelsnik and Briar Petersen. The project was started as a way to celebrate their store, Irving Baby's, 16th birthday. Trenna and Briar invited 16 (actually more than that) artists to offer their take on the same dress and the results are quite remarkable. Although not everyone invited to partake in the initiative is from a fashion background, this has only meant that the dresses were not limited to convention in the slightest and essentially resulted in 16 off-the-wall and truly unique creations. Each dress began as a simple white cotton mini dress and has been embellished, re-fashioned, decorated, printed etc by artists and creative friends of Irving Baby! Here are the results.

Trenna Oelsnik: “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”

My dress is an ode to all the party dresses that only get one chance to shine before finding themselves relegated to the back of a wardrobe, complete with wine stains, never to be seen again. I try to incorporate as much recycled product as I can in my work and this dress of teardrops is made from multiple secondhand party frocks.
 
Dress: $240
 

Celia Dottore: “Sweet Tooth”

16 reasons why I have a toothache…toffee apples, fairy floss, candy canes, chocolate,Turkish delight, peanut brittle, marshmallow, jelly beans, icecream, bubblegum, caramel squares, lollipops, liquorice allsorts, fudge, rocky road and cookies.
R.I.P. teeth
 
Dress: POA      16 x Toothaches (patches): $24 each
 

Jeremy Piert: "Tiger Baby!"

Dress: $150
 

Simone Hede "Jane Bond"

The inspiration for the dress came from a love of vintage comics. In this case the Tammy Annual, 1979. Jane Bond, is a character who's life is full of danger, spine chilling thrills and breath taking adventure! I use screen printing a lot in my ceramic practice and it was a great opportunity to do something different with the technique.
 
Dress: POA
 

Katrina Weber: "London Calling"

Kitty Came Home from London swinging and singing and go going all the way. Twiggy was 16 years old when she first hit the runway in the mid 60s when London's youth culture, fashion and music scenes were changing at a rapid pace. This is Kitty's take on the classic A line mini dress:
A dangerously high hemline in combination with a bold 60s vintage fabric and PVC, a material that was all the rage at the time... of course Kitty loves PVC also! Combined with the purrfect matching accessory - a Kitty Came Home clutch purse. Meow.
 
Dress: POA
 

Sam Barratt & Chris Edser: "Dr. Sweet"

Dress: POA
 

Alice Potter: "Betty Needs a Drink"

This dress is inspired by the perky 1950's housewife look - the ever baking, ever happy, ever energetic woman. The colour scheme has stemmed from plastic retro kitchenware, which were once used to make vanilla sponges, boiled eggs and Deb mash potato.
 
This outfit has been made from thinck cotton material and recycled plastics including household items recovered from second hand shops.
 
As a jewweler I make small intricate pieces that need to be studied up close, so with this dress I decided to create a bold look that could be taken in from a distance. I included one large piece of jewelry, permanently fixed to the outfit, made from plastic and metal kitchenware. This piece of jewelry completes the simple yet strong design of the dress.
 
Dress: $234.00 includes hair clip
 

Sophia Badge: "Sophomore"

Dress: POA
 

Peta Kruger: "Orange Lightning"

Dress $290
 

Rachel McElwee "Bambi"

Bambi untangled his legs and stood up again. But he did not speak. He pranced along behind Thumper, and soon he saw a family of birds sitting on a branch. Bambi looked at them.
“Those are birds, Bambi,” Thumper told him. “Birds.”
“Bir-d,” Bambi said slowly.
The young Prince had spoken his first work! Thumper and his sisters were all excited, and Bambi was pleased. He repeated the word over and over to himself. Then he saw a butterfly cross the path. “Bird, bird!” he cried again.
“No, Bambi,” said Thumper. “That’s not a bird. That’s a butterfly”
The butterfly disappeared into a clump of yellow flowers, Bambi bounded toward them happily. “Butterfly!” he cried.
“No, Bambi,” said Thumper. “Not a butterfly. Flower.”
 
Dress: POA  

 

Naomi Murrell: "Sweetheart"

Naomi is a freelance illustrator and designer. Her artwork is whimsical, simple and colourful, and is inspired by what she finds when she gets lost in her imagination. A lover of technical pencils and screen-printed textile, she lives in Adelaide, where she combines creative work with cups of tea and folk music appreciation. Her Sweetheart dress is inspired by your love and wooden jewellery, and is an homage to 60's nostalgia, with a folk-art twist that evokes the cinematic landscapes of the American West.
 
Dress: POA
 

Joelie Croser: "Sixteen Sweeties"

Dress: POA
 

Julie White "Chrysalis"

The power of beauty in the natural world is fascinating. Plants and animals rely on their beauty for survival through the everlasting chain of evolution, like eyed wings of an insect, or colourful patterns on skin. Humans are linked within this chain, and just as nature uses its beauty through colour and form we use this same principle to demonstrate our power of imagination and point of view through the clothing we wear. This outfit is a celebration of the body, living in harmony with nature, while each burst of colour represents a year of Irving Baby's life that began 16 years ago.
 
Dress: $300 includes pom-poms and leggings.
 

Angela Carrig: "After Beardsley"

Dress: POA
 

Monica Watts: "Sweet Creatures Birthday Party Dress"

The Sweet Creatures Birhtday Party Guest List:
We would cordially like to invite: Queen Elizabeth, Beatrix Potter, Edward Scissorhands, Lewis Carrol, Madonna, Vivienne Westwood, Sailor Moon, Elizabeth McGrath and Marie Antionette.
Please come dressed in your best party attire and bring a plate of cupcakes to share.
 
Dress: $300
Bustle: $60
Bow: $30
Tulle Skirt: $20
 

Ryan Sims: "King Irving XVI"

Dress: POA