25/04/2026
Elżbieta Klonowska from St Louis Community School, Mayo County Council has taken home the National Overall Award for her upcycled outfit, Rock them, Madonna!
This outfit really stood out to the judges for the amount of work and repurposing in each element. From the harvested bra cups covered with shirt fabric, the layers of frills on the underskirt, and the hundreds of hand made tulle roses creating such dramatic designs features in the skirt and the bolero.
➡️➡️➡️ Read About the Award Winning Outfit
🧵 Inspiration & Sourcing 🧵
Elzbieta had a very clear vision for her entry this year, inspired by the style of Monster High’s Operetta doll, she was sure she wanted to create a rockabilly style dress with a rose underskirt and a strong twirl factor.
Elzbieta sourced items for her design from her local charity shop, her own wardrobe and home, as well as from Vinted.
🧵 Design & Creation🧵
The skirt of the dress is made from a jumpsuit and an old skirt of similar material. Elzbieta made a pattern based off another skirt, and cut the fabric into strips. She also patched some holes that were in the items (of course!).
Elzbieta harvested the cups from an old bra, and covered them with fabric harvested from an unwanted shirt. Using the boning from the bra for structure, she attached the cups to the top of a dress sourced from a charity shop, and created a signature two-tone bustier top, which she then attached to the skirt. She used fabric from the same shirt to sew a decorative strip along the bottom of the skirt, and when she didn’t have enough she filled the gap with an embroidered name tag as her logo.
The zip at the back of Elzbieta's dress was harvested from the same unwanted dress. She attached halterneck style straps using leftover fabric from the dress.
The petticoat was made from old curtains. Elzbieta cut the curtains into strips and sewed them together to create the base of the skirt. She then cut and gathered straight 13 strips and attached them as ruffles the petticoat to give more volume.
Elzbieta hand made over 400 tulle roses from second hand tulle skirts and fabric to create the design feature at the bottom of her petticoat, as well as her signature bolero. Lastly she dyed the petticoat a rose coloured pink and put it through the wash several times to test its durability.
See more photos of the outfit: https://www.relovefashion.ie/rock-them-madonna-mayo
Last year Elzbieta took home a regional prize, for Best Evening in Connaught-Ulster. Huge congratulations to her for her national win!
The National winners are on display at the Rediscovery Centre, pop in to see them in person!
St. Louis CS Mayo County Council
