Plainview resident Lien Tan has been nominated as a finalist for the Duck Brand 25th annual Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest. The contest challenges high school students to handcraft their dream prom dress or tux using duct tape and other materials.
From nearly 150 entries, Tan’s elegant gown, made from 37 rolls of tape in 28 hours, embodies the beauty of the swan and forms a silhouette from feathers to a shield that forecasts strength.
“Swans are often regarded as symbols of romance, strength, and elegance and are seen as majestic creatures,” said Tan. “I wanted to showcase those characteristics throughout the dress.”
Tan said she was also inspired by princess gowns and wedding dresses due to their combination of class and romance. She said she also aimed to go for a more armored look on the bottom in comparison to the top half. As for the accessories, the scarf and fan, she noted that fans are stereotypically regal accessories, while the scarf has a regal element as well.
Tan is now a top 10 finalist after submitting an entry for last year’s contest, which she said she felt wasn’t her best work.
“Last year, I made a dress that inspired my passion for arts and crafts, but when I made it, the dress was so heavy that the shape just fell apart completely, it didn’t hold up,” Tan said. “So in the end it just looked terrible and my idea just didn’t come to life.”
Tan has begun planning for this year’s competition since last year, with the opportunity to possibly win the $15,000 cash college scholarship.
“I joined this competition last year and I didn’t make finals, but I started planning this about a year ago.” Tan said. “I really wanted to have some personal connection to the dress. I love reading romance books and I really wanted to include something with romance. Swan was like the first thing I thought of.”
She also spoke about how craftwork has always interested her, even more so as time went on, mentioning how her father is in construction and how her mother likes to sew.
“She likes those wooden crafts and Legos, as do I,” Tan said. “When I was younger, I had an obsession with Legos, anything that had to do with coloring the numbers, things like that. And, I guess that grew more and expanded as I grew up. I adventured into model building, I was in an architecture competition and it just expanded me using more materials.”
Until July 9, the public can vote on who they would like to win the contest, voting for their favorite prom dress and tuxedo fashions. The winners, along with the runners-up and judges’ choice, will be announced around July 16. The runners-up and judge choices will be awarded $1,000 cash scholarship.
Tan said she was elated to find out that she was a finalist for the contest.
“When I found out, I was so happy, like there’s no emotion to describe it,” Tan said. “My parents thought I was psychotic when I was on the couch screaming.”
Last year’s winners showcased bright colors and explored Mexican heritage. For Tan, if she were to win the contest, she would use it to pursue her future career.
“It’s obviously a really big opportunity, it’s $15,000 in scholarship money, which would help me in my future,” she said. “I really want to pursue dentistry, so that would definitely help with the debt that would come up in the future, since that’s a lot. It would be good to financially support myself instead of relying on my parents for money.”
