Recycled From Film Slides, Emily Steel’s LED Dress Will Light Up Your Night

Need the perfect frock for your next movie premiere? Emily Steel’s “Little Slide Dress” is positively cinematic. The Victoria University of Wellington student constructed her little black dress using individual film slides, which she backed with light-sensitive LEDs. By day, the dress is a gloss-black number with subtle hints of its true provenance. At night, the LEDs flicker to life, pulsing gently to reveal the captured images.Like the real thing, Steel’s dress requires the perfect balance of ambient and projected light to work its magic. “With film, light is so important in the creation and viewing of images,” she says. “We only see what really is going on once the lights go out.”

The sensor “reads” how much light is in the environment, using this value to turn the lights on or off.

To control the brightness of the LEDs, Steel connected a light sensor to an Arduino Lilypad controller. The sensor “reads” how much light is in the environment, using this value to turn the LEDs on or off in response. The result is a light show that captures the awe and excitement of Hollywood’s golden age. Pass the Milk Duds, Mr. DeMille; we’re ready for our close-up.