BOTANICAL COUTURE 2023 DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIESHA BLANCAS
TU TIEnES MI coRAzoN SLOW FLOWERS SOCIETY'S SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Niesha Blancas is not a florist or a grower, but she is a fashionista, having graduated from California State University Fresno with a B.S. degree in Fashion Merchandising. Niesha brings both talent and heart to her floral fashion this year, her third contribution to American Flowers Week's botanical couture collection. The strapless full-length gown, an upcycled Jessica McClintock prom dress that Niesha thrifted for $2, features a bodice covered in sunflower petals that flows into a flared skirt embellished with flower heads -- strawflowers, pincushion proteas, yarrows, sunflowers, and craspedia Billy balls. Pointed flames are outlined by deconstructed yarrow and yellow-orange sunflower petals. "This dress easily weighed 40 pounds," Niesha says, laughing. Fortunately, her friend Irys Jazmin Flores was up for the modeling assignment. Niesha's inspiration was highly personal, as she revisited childhood memories of growing up in a small Fresno community called Calwa. "I lived there until I was in sixth grade. My late father was born and raised in Calwa; my grandma had her house there." For the photography venue, Niesha chose the Calwa playground where she remembered
DESIGN + CONCEPT + PHOTOGRAPHY: Niesha Blancas, Fetching Social Media, fetchingsocialmedia.com, @fetchingsocial FLOWER SOURCES: CamFlor Inc., Watsonville, California, @camflorinc MODEL: Irys Jazmin Flores HAIR + MAKEUP: Irys Jazmin Flores VENUE: Calwa Park, Fresno, California, calwarecreation.org DESIGN ASSISTANCE: Ana Quinata, @anaquinata
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SUMMER 2023
