All of the ensembles that sashayed down the Seattle RE Store’s Trash Fashion Show catwalk were remarkable in their own trashy way, but the one that took everyone’s breath away truly was this one:

A Marriage of Inconvenience by Alotta DeTritus aka Rebecca Maxim, modeled by Jaime Foster, photo by J McFoster

Unlike a love affair, marriage is a vow of commitment. An ordeal some may say. An adherence to your vows through thick or thin; in sickness and in health; till death do you part. This dress is about commitment to HIV medications. For those who rely on these medications to stay alive it can be like a marriage of inconvenience. This lovely bride is literally littered with the time stamped plastic packaging from the medication strips used at Bailey Boushay House for HIV sufferers, which you can see replicated in the streamers of her bouquet. In every way possible this dress is graphic reminder of the endless schedule of medication repeated ad nauseum week in week out, from head to toe. A verbose corset has been lit up by Swaroski-like broken safety glass from a car break-in last summer. The voluminous mattress cover skirt is embellished with paper pill cup flowerettes.  The headdress has more plastic packaging, condoms, and syringes, draped with netting from Christmas trees and hardware store packaging . Her bouquet is a redux in packaging and accented with lemon and tangerine net bags. The designer, a nurse herself, would like to thank all of the Bailey Boushay nurses she works with who helped with this dress, and a big thanks to Ann Schussler, willing diverter of plastic trash from worksite to petticoat.

A Marriage of Inconvenience by Alotta DeTritus aka Rebecca Maxim, modeled by Jaime Foster, photo by John Cornicello

For more info, read the Whatcom Magazine article that features designer Alotta DeTritus HERE

FYI: for Medical wastes – Do not dispose of leftover medicines in the garbage or down the drain. Some pharmacies have a medicine-take-back program. For other biomedical wastes, call your local health department

A Marriage of Inconvenience by Alotta DeTritus aka Rebecca Maxim, modeled by Jaime Foster, photo by John Cornicello