Jasmine - A Reinvention of Disney Princesses
A Redesign of Jasmine, Handmade with Love
My latest project was completed in the middle of August the year: within two and a half months, I redesigned Princess Jasmine from Disney’s Aladdin, and hand-made the costume. As a young girl, I idolized this princess above all others because I related to her - I, too, had a large and crooked nose. I, too, stayed in my home that I called a palace, to conduct mundane tasks assigned to me as a woman. I, too, wanted to explore the world, if I only had the resources and freedom to do so.
This garment took eight hours in total to design, and I spent countless hours applying over 2,000 individual swarovski gems with tweezers, hand dying a 6-layer and 3-tiered skirt, crafting bead appliques and jewelry, and styling Jasmine’s massive 50” wig.
I used my family as inspiration for this costume: I took Maltese themes from my mother's side of the family through the integration of hair pieces, jewelry and trims. On the other hand, I also took much inspiration from my father’s family in China including the fabric choices of silk and brocade, the personally-designed patterns that each swarovski gem wove into, the dangling and secured fabric accessories, and more. For this costume, i had my mother select the earrings for me, and my father and I scoured markets in Shanghai for the perfect turquoise chopsticks to fit in my hair and on the garment. Dangling on my hips are loops of keys and locks, each set from a different home we used to live in: from Melbourne, Australia, my birthplace, to several places in Maryland and New Jersey. Each part of this costume is laden with sentimental and significant materials, and I am proud to be able to weave parts of my mixed immigrant identity in an entirely unique and rigorous creative project.
All photos on this page done by Moojig B. Chimid; Edited by Elyzia Zhang
Positive Impact & Service
Being able to debut this costume in New York was an amazing experience, and I found myself in the company of many children who seemingly knew Jasmine on a more personal level. I was able to meet many kids in New York, and many had gotten to talking with me - or Jasmine - about the issues they struggle with. Due to privacy reasons, I have not supplied any photos of the kids or myself with these children. As a female, mixed immigrant from a low income family, I understood many of these children on a much deeper level, and was able to be more present in each conversation. And in this sense, I was able to serve as a distraction that some children needed that day - dancing, singing, laughing and talking about Disney was just what some of the kids needed to keep their resiliency high. This experience resonated with me, not only because of the shared identities I had with these kids, but also because I often work with children as a hospital leader and the media manager of Project Sunshine NYU. Project Sunshine is a nonprofit organization focused on bringing visitors and volunteers to hospital clinics in order to brighten each child’s day. Whether the child is staying in the clinic for a visit or for a prolonged period of time, it is the volunteers’ responsibilities to keep these children company, engage them in conversation, go through activities with them, and distract them from the hospital environment that they are in. In this sense, my hospital leader training for neutralizing sensitive situations with children - coupled with my experiences as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies minor - I was able to traverse a neutral and positive path as Jasmine when confronted with sensitive information from a child. My role was to give service to this community and its children by hearing them out, letting them vent, and offering a sense of comfort and positivity.
