High school senior wows peers at prom with self-made ‘The Princess and the Frog’ dress

Layla Hildreth caused a stir at prom with her Disney royalty outfit. The Birmingham teen drew inspiration for her “Princess and the Frog” gown from the animated film, which stars a diligent princess named Tiana who overcomes great obstacles to realize her dream of running a restaurant.

Hildreth told WVTM, “When it was time to make my dress, I was like I want to be her, I want to keep going. I want to put in that work to get where I want to be.” 

“If I make something for prom, I want it to be memorable. I want people to look at it and think about where it came from.”

The talented girl spent five months creating the outfit, using roughly ten yards of satin and a lot of tulle that came to nearly $300, but she claims it was worth the expense.

Her efforts were recognized, and Hildreth received praise for her creativity at prom. “They were like, ‘Whoa, like wow, where did you get it? What happened?’ A lot of people knew I was making my dress, but it was mostly my friend group, so once everybody else saw it, they were like, ‘Girl, how did you do that?'” 

She stated that the additional remarks of “you did such a good job” and “I’m so proud of what you’ve done” made her feel special because she knew all of her hard work had paid off.

Hildreth encouraged others to, “Just never give up, let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. You can do anything you want to. Your art is your art and don’t let anybody tell you that it’s not.”

Hildreth will be attending Georgia State University in the fall to continue her creative resurgence, according to WBRC.