An LED dress that is a tribute to the Hunger Games

Leslie Birch of Adafruit was recently nominated for “Geek of the Year” in Philadelphia and figured she needed an outfit to woo the tech-savvy crowd at the event. So what immediately came to mind? Recreating the show-stopping flaming dress from The Hunger Games, of course.

Just like Katniss Everdeen, Birch’s goal was to wow her fellow geeks at the gala. She got her hands on a used wedding dress and a petticoat and got to work. With 7-meters of NeoPixel 30 strips at her disposal, the Maker fashionista “removed the weatherproof casing and then soldered the strips together with tiny pieces of Adafruit’s new silicone wire.”

In her post, Birch notes that she slid the NeoPixel strips into the long casing on the petticoat, which not only allowed for illumination, but also created the modern day ‘hoop’ feeling which is perfect for a ball gown. Leslie knew that she wanted her dress to be motion-activated just as the one in the film. In order for the dress to react to a spin, the Maker needed a gyrosensor. After soldering up the wires and attaching it to the back of the ATmega32u4 based FLORA with foam adhesive tape.

To complete the outfit, she cut out a set of wings from craft foam and then covered them in a series of glue, chrome acrylic, and poly. They were not as stiff as she desired, but would be fully functional for her fiery outfit. Imagine combining this dress with the Luciferin necklace from last week? Whoever donned these creations would undoubtedly be mistaken for an extra from the next Hunger Games sequel!

Unfortunately, Leslie didn’t win “Geek of the Year,” but this design is still award winning in our minds!