Local residents create chocolate dress celebrating America’s semi-quincentennial

Warwick resident Chef Vanessa Greeley and her team: sugar and cake artists, Carolina Lara and Silvina Barboza, and designer Finbar O’Connor, a senior at Warwick Valley High School created an edible dress that debuted on March 8 and 9 at the Salon du Chocolat Fashion Showcase in Manhattan. The showstopping chocolate design titled, “Lady Glory,” honors America’s 250th Anniversary.

The dress was designed to reflect the immersive history of the United States. There is a living timeline personified in the design from when Native Americans encompassed the entire land to when the Liberty Bell first cracked. The crown from the iconic Statue of Liberty demonstrates a beacon of hope, freedom and opportunity. All the while displaying a thick armor of copper, showcasing America’s resiliency in the face of change.

Chef Greeley and her team worked on the entire outfit for several weeks before it all came together at the show. For the design, a range of materials were used from the isomalt for the headpiece to the modeling chocolate for the roses. They also included edible images with chocolate and modeling chocolate for the panels of the dress, while the bells and chest plate are both white chocolate. The feathers bellowing out of the chest of the dress are made of wafer paper.

During the event, the team gave a demonstration on “Building the Chocolate Dress” at the Culinary Theater before an audience of spectators.

About the experience Chef Greeley said, “It’s always an honor getting invited to make a dress with edible mediums for the chocolate fashion show. It sets our imagination free, giving us an opportunity to showcase our skills in an unconventional way for everyone to enjoy.”