I wore dress made from high-vis vests to swanky ceremony – everyone loved it

A woman turned heads at a construction industry awards ceremony – by wearing a gown made from high-vis vests.

Kelly Cartright, 31, is the boss of Norwich-based construction recruitment firm Core Recruiter. And recently she made quite the statement at a construction industry awards ceremony.

She wore an evening gown crafted from high-vis vests, designed by seamstress Hannah Wilde. Kelly felt more at home in her high-vis and steel toe caps than in fancy evening wear.

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She said: "I always struggle with anxiety and imposter syndrome but I think wearing something you're comfortable in, settles your nerves a little bit more."

She added: "When you are walking into an awards ceremony, you feel like you don't belong but I feel comfortable on a building site in my PPE."

Kelly joked about showing up in her PPE, but decided to take it to the next level with her unique dress. "I loved the dress and Hannah smashed the brief completely," she continued.

She was a finalist for the "Local Hero Eastern" category at the National Federation of Builders' Top 100 Influential Women in Construction Awards held on October 4.

The worker revealed people were "astounded" at how good the dress looked and everyone "got the message behind" her outfit.

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Kelly said: "Obviously everyone was astounded at what it looked like."

Seamstress Hannah, 48, who used six extra-large fluorescent orange vests to create her "construction worker" masterpiece, said: "Kelly asked me to make the dress for her earlier this year purely based on the fact she feels more comfortable in site gear than all glammed up.

"So I deconstructed a few high-vis vests and cut out new pattern shapes. Then I put those pattern shapes back as a dress which took just under a week."

Hannah started her business in 2013 and in January this year opened her own shop in Lakenham, Norfolk, specialising in bridal and evening wear. She enjoys making a wide variety of clothes including when she made headbands for NHS workers during Covid.

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The idea for the construction themed dress was born after Kelly made comments about the dress code ahead of an industry awards ceremony. She said she felt more comfortable in her hi-vis and steel toe-capped boots, which sparked the stereotype challenging dress.

And Hannah claimed seeing Kelly's dress receive so much praise has proved particularly satisfying. Hannah added: "The response has been amazing and so positive towards not just the dress and its design but the meaning behind it.

"I have had enquiries from across the country about making similar for other people and have had a lot of bookings coming in for next year's wedding season following the dress being seen online."

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