We issued a challenge and five St. Louis-based designers rose to the occasion by redesigning a variety of bridesmaid and mother-of-the bride dresses. The outfits produced were unrecognizable and really managed to show off some unique designs. The only rule was to make something contemporary and wearable. The results could have been anything from lingerie to a ball gown.

See the slide show featuring before and after nomination gowns and a look at the designers. Scan all the images here.

The look at right is an obvious before look, take a look at what Miriam Coffey did for her finished product here. Our team of five judges voted her look as the best of bunch. Though she didn’t receive the best marks for her actual sewing ability, it was her ingenuity that put her score over the top. She used India ink to truly transform her garment and the judges unanimously agreed that her vision was not only unique, but her sense of style was above par.

Our judges: Jeigh Singleton, professor of fashion design at Washington University; Bonnie Kruger, senior lecturer of costume design at the performing arts department; Florence Dewan, program director and professor of fashion design at Lindenwood University; Jennifer Gray, owner of Time Boutique and a closet fashion designer; Lisa Manns, a former editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a 10-time bridesmaid who donated all of the gowns from this challenge, some of which once belonged to her mother.

Singleton, who championed the merits of another designer (Carmella Simpson), said that Coffey was able to successfully transform th gown.

Gray said that online, she looked at Coffey’s finished look and thought “yuck,” but in person she realized that there was a lot more going on than newsprint could show.

Singleton said that Coffey’s finished look reminded him of Jessica McClintock, and Dewan noted that the aesthetic of the finished garment also looked like a youthful Betsey Johnson dress.

Kruger said that Coffey’s look was hands down the best design, but it wasn’t the best sewn to which Dewan added that it was also not the worst.

But the judges don’t get the final word. You can still vote by clicking the link to the poll in the gray box here. The judges vote counts for 50 percent of the vote and so do yours.