Nancy sent me the link to the artist above, Leigh Pennebaker (warning, Flash-heavy site; easier to read about her here) who makes wire form dresses. I think this one is called "Bridget."
Sandra (and others) sent me a link to this marvelous artist, Susan Stockwell(very sensible site) who makes dresses from maps, like so:
Theresa sent this, but it was forwarded to her without a good attribution; if anyone knows anything about the artist will you tell me, so I can link it here?
And George (link is to his wife's new book, Momfidence) sent me a reference to the Zenith Gallery in DC, where Donna M. McCullough is showing her dress-themed work. This piece is called "Dancing With the Moon": 
Got any other dress artists you'd like to recommend? Leave links in the comments …
A Dress A Day 
http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=802scroll down and see Karen Lamonte’s glass dress. Amazing.
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Less pretty is the famous (in Canada anyway) “meat dress”:http://www.snopes.com/politics/arts/meatdress.asp
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Six or so years ago I was in Toronto and got to see a marvelous exhibit of works by Isabelle de Borchgrave entitled “Paper a la Mode”. It consisted of dresses and other garments made entirely of paper. It was just stunning. I have the exhibit catalog but haven’t been able to find a link to the exhibit anywhere online. If you ever get the chance to see it, GO!!
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Aha! Found it after all.http://www.isabelledeborchgrave.com/en/projects_4.cfmYou'd never believe it was paper.
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A book of fairy fashion, with everything made from flowers, leaves, feathers, etc…http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780763632625&itm=9
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The map dress is amazing. Better than the condom dresses by far 😉
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This is a picture of a dress made from candypaper by a Finnish artist Virpi Vesanen-Laukkanen:http://www.gov.karelia.ru/gov/Photos/photo_e.html?id=5997More info here: http://www.gov.karelia.ru/News/2006/02/0201_06_e.htmlLove your page!Omppu
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Hi:I am an aritst and i have a thing about dresses. I make some out of leaves and flowers in the summer and i also freeze real garments in the winter and photograph them. You can view my work at: http://www.nicoledextras.com/ephemeralart/index.html and new work i did this winter in Toronto at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndextras/
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Longtime reader de-lurking to say that the wooden clothing is by the amazingly talented Livio De Marchi:http://www.liviodemarchi.com/ukmain3.htmTake a look at his full gallery–it’s worth it.
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For amazing textile objects carved in wood (I confess, no dresses) see:http://www.gofraser.com/index9.htmHis carved quilts in particular (my other textile-based obsession) are amazing: colored, and carved to include each fold of the fabric and each little quilting stitch.Coats, jackets, hats and other objects rendered in carved wood and stained the appropriate colors.CMC
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Julia Morison has an exhibit at the Dunedin public art gallery, which is probably of no use to almost anyone who reads this.http://dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions.aspIt involves dresses, dress forms and artwork inspired by historical patterns and such. She has a webpage, but it didn’t work for me, so I’m unsure about whether any of her work is web-viewable.http://www.juliamorison.co.nz/
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Cat Chow (yes, that is her actual name) is an amazing artist who uses non-traditional media to make dresses. You may have seen her zipper dress, which is a form fitting dress made of one long zipper that has to be unzipped to be worn. Worth checking out for stitchers and artists alike.This site is also flash, but I’m sure an image search for “cat chow artist” will bring up her stuff:http://www.cat-chow.com/
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Jana Sterbak does some great work. If you go to http://www.janasterbak.com/images.html and click on Remote Control in the pulldown menu you will get to a fabulous piece based on a crinoline. Lovely stuff.
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Nicole, I checked out some of your work. Incredible. I put youre page in my favorites.
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If you google “Dress Signal” you can see some of the work in an exhibition from 2003 at the Art Gallery of Mississauga.
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My boyfriend’s grandfather creates Victorian and Edwardian dresses for doll forms. They are truly amazing and intricate, and I wish there were more/better photos up on his site.There’s a few more photos of his bridal pieces for the dolls here [PDF].
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I like Jodi Green (www.jodigreen.ca). /Monika
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Anna Eggert is an Australian artist who makes dress sculptures from wire mesh pounded with river stones. Her work can be seen here: http://www.beavergalleries.com.au/In the flesh (wire?) it has a really interesting effect – it looks soft and flowing until you get very close – and then you realise that the fabric is quite harsh metal.
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I read this entry, then purely by accident walked past the Zenith Gallery. There were a few pretty dresses in the window made from food wrappers- including a cute apron made of shortbread cookie labels… The gallery is downtown, between the Navy Memorial and Chinatown metro stations.
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Kate Kretz’ psychological clothing (which will be on display at the Belger Art Center in Kansas City, MO, this summer)http://www.katekretz.com/psych.html-Kate
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thank you welmoed for the link to the paper dresses show. i also saw this exhibit when it was in toronto and it was fantastic. i really appreciated that the artists realized that their technique with paper was so convincing that people would feel compelled to touch, which is a no-no of course, so they had a table set up with samples the public could actually handle. i was in 7th heaven!
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Lesley Dill uses the dress form often. Here’s one of my favorites: http://www.newpaltz.edu/artsnews/news.cfm?id=2755But also do a Google Image Search on “Lesley Dill dress” and you’ll find her Poem Dress and other works. Another artist who has recently making dresses, out of ceramic elements, is Gulf Coast artist Lee Renninger. She hasn’t posted the new work on her website, but you can see a sample on my blog: http://yoredux.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.htmlif you scroll down to the 1/22/07 post.
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Arabella Tattershall makes exquisite, life-size dresses of metals and meshes. Denise Perreault (www.deniseperreault.com) is a bead artist who creates dresses and curtain fabric from tiny glass seed beads, and Shelly Hamill (www.shallyhamil.com) uses mosaic to create stunning dresses. All artists are from Colorado, USA.
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