This Teen Decided To Make Her Own Hand-Painted Graduation Dress And It Is Stunning

Graduation is one of the most anticipated events of a teenager's life. It officially marks the end of childhood and taking your first tentative steps into the adult world. For most, the pictures from the event are something they'll look back on for the rest of their lives, which is why everyone does everything they can to dress to impress.

For me, this involved buying a seriously old vintage dress from the 50s and paying a hairdresser to do my hair. Now, looking back almost a decade later, I still think I nailed it. The last thing I'd have wanted would have been to look less than my best in my graduation pictures, but my efforts were nothing compared to this 17-year-olds.

Credit: Ciara Gan

Meet Ciara Gan from the Philippines. The talented teen made and painted her gorgeous graduation gown entirely from scratch (with a little help from her mom). Needless to say, she has a passion for art, and she and her mom decided to join forces for her graduation dress to create something that's truly one of a kind.

The pleated dress is the most beautiful shade of emerald green and covered in hand-painted flowers.

Credit: Ciara Gan

In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the 17-year-old said: "My inspiration came from my mom, who pushed me to make the dress. Because I love to try new things, I thought why not? It was my last big event for school and I had about a month of graduation practices, so I'd be able to focus more on making my gown without worrying about schoolwork."

Prior to making the dress, Gan had hired a seamstress to make it, but they weren't able to bring her idea to life the way she'd imagined it.

Credit: Ciara Gan

When Gan and her mom set about making the dress themselves, they had to buy 13 yards of fabric, crinoline, boning, and Swarovski crystals.

"My mom and I sewed each panel of the skirt one by one," she said.

Credit: Ciara Gan

The talented teenager said that it took five days to hand paint the flowers.

Credit: Ciara Gan

"I recently reread the book Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (which touched my heart) and then decided to paint the orange florals," Gan said. "I strayed away from basic roses and dainty florals because although they're pretty, they don't reflect my personality. I love the vibrancy of loud colors like orange and green - they speak more about who I am."11

"My inspiration for the design are the things that make me happy. As nerdy as it may sound, I chose emerald green because I’m an avid Potterhead and a proud Slytherin," the 17-year-old explained.

Credit: Ciara Gan

Gan shared her creation on Twitter, and understandably, the post went viral, attracting over 385K likes and almost 83K retweets.

Credit: Twitter / @ciaragan

Gan said that the dress took around a month to make and that she didn't tell anyone she was doing it, so it was a huge surprise on the day.

"When I first showed up at the event place, my one classmate took a double take to make sure what he was seeing was right! He told me, 'I thought it was printed!'" she said.

The creation was so admired that one Twitter user even created fan art of it!

Credit: Twitter / @ninazambo

Reacting to the attention the dress has received, the 17-year-old said, "I still really can't believe it. When the numbers increase I realize that so many people have seen my gown."

"What I appreciate the most about this whole thing is the requests for commissions and artworks. It really warms my heart to see people appreciating my art."