We consider ourselves beadaholics.  But Gail Be of Edina, Minnesota has got us all beat.  She owns the largest private collection of beads ever amassed.  This amazing bead work artist who specializes in "fabric free" dresses recently completed what is the world's largest beaded wedding dress!



Fantasy is what she calls this incredible work of art. It took Gail and 20 other women almost THREE years to complete the gown!  It weighs almost 400 pounds, consists of nearly 1 million beads sourced from around the world, 7 miles of beading wire and fills an entire room! Watch the video and gasp!


It's not really intended for a bride - who could possibly move with the weight and the 20 foot train? But Gail hopes the design will end up at a museum or be featured on a film.



Gail first got hooked on beading when a friend gifted her with beading classes.  Then she was diagnosed with keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, which robbed her of most of her sight. Unable to bead, she started collecting beads from around the world. But eventually her sight returned after corneal transplants and Lasik surgery. She considers her art form, the result of a "spiritual blessing."

What is simply astonishing about her amazing beaded dresses is that Gail does not draw any sketches or make any calculations when planning them.  Nor does she have any formal training in fashion design.  She said, "I make it up as I go. I don't know how to read beading patterns, which is unheard of. I do everything on faith and believe it's going to come out the way it should. "

Gail has never actually tried selling any of her beaded dresses before. But celebrities like Lady Gaga are now wearing her designs. The media is going crazy with her talkworthy wedding dress. Gail Be is definitely on her way to fame and hopefully fortune!

Check out her 30 piece dress collection here.  I picked the following designs because they are simply divine.

Her Garden of Eden beaded gown is spectacular. The details can be seen on the video here. This dress consists of over 750,000 beads including rare and vintage Swarovski crystals, sequins and metal findings. It took 9 women approximately 7,800 hours to complete the dress over 4 years. The model endured 250 hours of fittings! It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to keep the dress together!





This exquisite Hollywood glamor dress is her Aqua Majesty design. The video shows it being modeled at a fashion show.  Over 250,000 beads were used.  It took more than 4 people 7 months to complete this dress with over 85 hours of fitting to the model.





Via Daily Mail and Star Tribune

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