Wedding dresses donated to hospice inspire student arts project

Students from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) have transformed 10 vintage wedding dresses into new works of art.

The Woven Memories: Stories in Stitch project made use of dresses donated by the Highland Hospice to tell new stories of love, hope and history.

The gowns spanned decades of changing fashion, from post war elegance, to 1980s grandeur and contemporary minimalism.

Among the new works of arts created are a stitched fabric book and a memory teddy bear.

The project, led by UHI North, West and Hebrides, brought together students from several campuses, including Inverness, Fort William and Auchtertyre.

It included those studying art, textiles, design and photography.

They researched the social and cultural context of each garment, exploring how attitudes towards marriage, gender roles, economy and celebration have evolved over time.

At a time when fast fashion dominates, the project aimed to show how donated items could continue to generate meaning and beauty long after their original moment has passed.

Exhibitions of the art works will be held in May and June.

Oliwia Palika, a textiles student at Fort William, made a fabric book from the donated wedding dresses.

She said it had made her see textiles in a "new light, not just as materials, but as something that holds emotion and history".

Palika added: "Knowing the dresses came from Highland Hospice made the process feel even more meaningful, as it felt like we were honouring special memories while giving the fabric a new purpose."

Fellow textiles student Fi Austin created a memory bear made from wedding dress fabric for the project.

She said: "It felt like such an experience being able to see these dresses that held so many emotions and picking apart the endless memories that weren't my own but felt so close.

"Carefully putting the pieces back together felt like repairing fragments of what used to be present."