What happened when I gave ChatGPT the same brief I got to design Coral’s bee-inspired prom dress
“Create a prom dress for a girl who loves bees.”
That was the prompt I gave ChatGPT, essentially the brief I myself had from my daughter Coral, AFTER I’d already designed her dress, just to see what it would come up with.
It’s not bad, but it’s not groundbreakingly creative either.
🐝 We both went for similar golden honey shades BUT AI stuck with the trending monotone, while we layered in some ivory, orange and burgundy to create an ombre effect;
🐝 We (briefly) considered embroidering or beading bees onto the dress but decided they too readily resemble flies at a distance or under disco lighting;
🐝 Although it was relevant in this case, I’ve yet to see AI show someone who’s not white in its generative renderings unless specifically prompted. This even happened when Coral once asked what our two black cats would look like as humans, and ChatGPT rendered them white teenagers.
🐝 Had I been stuck for ideas, it might have proven a useful starting point, but I think that’s about it.
BTS
Here’s a bit of behind the scenes on the making of Coral’s bee-inspired prom dress:
🐝 It was originally going to be a TARDIS-inspired dark blue;
🍯 It used nine different fabrics including two types of glitter tulle, several organzas and silk satin I dyed myself;
🐝 I made 48 anatomically correct, individually embroidered bee wings which took nearly two weeks on their own;
🍯 I made the embroidered honeycomb fabric for the bodice myself because we couldn’t find anything quite right;
🐝 It was the only multicoloured dress I saw at the prom;
🍯 It took around two months’ full-time work spread over six months;
🐝 It would therefore cost around £4,000 to make bespoke for a client (which is why I don’t generally make prom dresses);
🍯 There are several things we’d change if we were starting again, including cutting the bodice lower, making it an actual corset (rather than a corset-style top) for better bust support, and we’d probably have to make the bodice opaque as the tulle we lined it with – although superfine – caused some sensory issues.
🐝 Coral is my favourite girl in the entire world. Put her in charge of it. Please.
🍯🐝🍯🐝🍯🐝🍯🐝🍯🐝🍯🐝
