Natalie Palter never cared who won while watching the Oscars but was instead interested in the beautiful gowns worn by the stars.
Palter’s love began with simple strapless dresses — the kind she could easily draw. Watching the red carpet inspired Palter, now 18, to design her own couture-inspired flowy numbers. That hobby turned into a possible profession for the San Mateo native who now studies fashion design at Marist College in New York. Now the 2011 Aragon High School grad has a chance to see one of her designs actually walk the red carpet since she’s one of five finalists in the "Adrianna Papell for E! Live from the Red Carpet” contest.
Palter’s design was one of about 700 entered. Palter learned of the contest at school but forgot about the due date. A friendly reminder from friends created a three-hour evening design session during with Palter did a number of sketches before finalizing her entry.
Now what stands between Palter and seeing her creation on the runway is votes. Starting Monday, Jan. 16, Facebook fans will have the chance to vote for their favorite of the five design options. Whoever has the most votes by Jan. 22 wins. Winning would mean receiving a $2,500 cash prize, a trip to Los Angeles to participate in a live reveal on E!’s "Countdown to the Red Carpet Academy Awards" on Feb. 26, and the design will be included in Adrianna Papell for E! Live From the Red Carpet collection, available at Lord & Taylor in the spring.
Getting to this point took support. The original field was narrowed to 25 thanks to online voters. Then the Adrianna Papell Group and E! worked together to pick the final choices. All five dresses are currently being made. While winning would be amazing, Palter is excited to see her dress actually made.
A beautiful draped dress with a little sparkle — that was Palter’s inspiration. She has spent years learning about fashion before explain her inspiration so simply.
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Palter was always happiest as a child when dressing herself — even when her creation include a tutu and an oven mitt. In first grade she started making simple designs. To be sure she was really interested, Palter took a sewing class then took classes at the Academy of Art for two summers studying figure drawing, fashion design and fashion construction.
It wasn’t all about fashion. Palter played soccer for the San Mateo Soccer Club, at Aragon, participated in theatre locally and at school, and enjoyed dancing.
Along the way, Palter was involved in a number of contests but never won. She entered this one thinking it would be fun, but like before, wouldn’t result in a win. Palter learned she was a finalist while in a philosophy class. Sitting through the class seemed to take forever as Palter was eager to share the news with, well, everyone. Getting to this point is exciting for Palter who aspires to have her own line someday.
"It would be a huge deal [to win],” she said. "Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the money at this point. Just to get my name out there, to have something made is just amazing. Even if I don’t win, I’ll still be able to see my made dress, which is amazing.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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