Elly Jessop Nattinger, Experience Engineer

people + space (+ technology)

Little Black Dress 2.0

Click on the image to go to the project page on the New Textiles class wiki.

With Xiao Xiao.

For the final project in MAS.962: New Textiles, Xiao Xiao and I developed a dress that incorporated thermochromic ink panels to change its appearance on demand. The "little black dress" is an iconic part of a woman's wardrobe, but generally it is fixed to a single form. We wanted to create a dress that would allow the wearer to change the shape of her dress at will, varying how revealing or covered the garment would be. What if at a moment's whim you could lower your neckline, form a slit up the thigh, reveal your back? For this dress, dark thermochromic ink was printed over sheer fabric with integrated resistive thread. When the wearer activated the dress, the resistive elements would heat up and turn the ink clear, creating the appearance of a much lower neckline.

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