MANILA -- "I like trying as many things as possible, that's why I made my own gown."
These are the words of young artist Ciara Gan who recently captivated the attention and admiration of social media users for her creativity.
The 17-year-old shared on Twitter the photos of the gown she sewed and designed for her graduation ball. To make it more aesthetically pleasing and elegant, she embellished the garment by painting flowers on the skirt.
Since posting on April 8, her tweet has garnered more than 355,000 likes and 76,000 retweets as of writing, with a host of replies praising the student for her dress.
'Manifestation of things closest to heart'
Gan said she wanted the details of her creation to be an artistic representation of her personality and interests.
"I have been in love with lilies for the longest time," she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
"I wanted my gown to be a manifestation of who I am and the things that are closest to my heart, like the color green and the vibrant colors because that's who I am," she added.
The whole process of making the dress -- including the conceptualization and drafting of designs -- took about a month, she said. The sewing took about a week and a half while the painting took five days.
"I made the dress during our graduation practices so I was jumping between school and home," she said.
Gan recently graduated senior high school from Colegio San Agustin-Makati. She will be taking up BS Management Information Systems in Ateneo de Manila University.
"I really love the sciences as much as I love the arts," she said.
Graduation ball, homemade gown, senior high school, viral, arts, painting, Colegio San Agustin Makati