Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly looks good enough to eat in this dress – made entirely of FOOD.
The star teamed up with one of Lady Gaga’s designers to dream up the edible creation, which was made using 4,000 stalks of wheat, 1,300 almonds and 450 whole apples.
It took a team of five people 200 hours to create the gown, using the ingredients from Tess’s new cereal recipe collaboration with Special K.
The dress, which was co-designed and made by Petra Storrs, includes:
• 4,000 stalks of intricately braided wheat which form shoulder pads, bust and corset
• 500 whole almonds, individually drilled and hand sewn together
• 800 flaked almonds, glued together and shaped to form the bodice
• 50 vanilla pods and 50 vanilla flowers
• 100 crafted apple peels curls, preserved red apple peel and apple slices
• Fishtail train of 450 whole red apples
Tess said: “I was amazed at the result Petra achieved – I never dreamed she’d create something so uniquely beautiful.
“To have been allowed a hand in the design process was a great experience – I love fashion, and I love food – what a perfect combination of the two.”
Petra, who has designed out-of-this-world creations for Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Florence Welch, began the design process by sketching a huge array of different styles.
Tess then picked out her favourite elements and added personal touches, including a train of real red apples and striking woven wheat shoulders.
A key part of the construction process was experimenting with the ingredients – to determine which would look good and also allow Tess movement and flexibility.
After vigorous tests during which wheat was soaked before weaving, almonds were individually drilled and threaded and apple slices were preserved, a base dress was designed.
The one-off design was created to mark the launch of Tess’s new cereal with Special K.
Made up of red apples, almonds and vanilla clusters as well as Special K flakes, the cereal collaboration is a result of Tess’s appointment as the first ever celebrity Special K girl.
Designer Petra said: “I’ve created some weird and wonderful things in my time but to make a dress 100 per cent out of the ingredients of a cereal recipe was a huge challenge and involved a lot of hard work.
“Thankfully Tess and I shared a vision of what we wanted to achieve and it was great working with her to achieve this stunning result.”
Special K spokeswoman Ruth Gresty said: “Tess was our number one choice to be the first ever Special K ambassador and we were thrilled when she agreed to work with us.
“This is an exciting new beginning for Special K – we want to encourage women to live a life full of variety, choice and fun and both Tess and the dress embody that spirit perfectly.”
