Nicholas Moore, a rising senior at South Iredell High School, has turned his love for music and band into a standout creative achievement. Born and raised in Mooresville, Nicholas is now a national finalist in the Stuck at Prom scholarship contest, where students design and create full prom outfits entirely out of duct tape.
“Hello, I am Nicholas Moore, a rising senior at South Iredell High School,” he introduces himself. “I am very interested in concert band, marching band and pretty much anything musical. I am also interested in a lot of science, engineering, and technology. I have lived in Mooresville all my life, I was born and raised here.”
While many scholarships focus on essay writing, Nicholas was drawn to this one-of-a-kind opportunity for its creativity and hands-on nature. “I thought this was a really creative scholarship opportunity that allowed me to do something hands-on and design something that represents an activity that I love, which is band.” It was his sister, who had entered the contest during her own junior and senior years, who first told him about it.
Nicholas’s tuxedo design pays tribute to his passion for band and the instruments he plays including French horn, mellophone, and trumpet. He plays all of them in South Iredell’s marching, concert, and jazz bands, and most recently added baritone to his musical repertoire. “I wanted my design to incorporate all of these instruments in some way,” he says.
Over the course of a month, Nicholas spent more than 97 hours creating his tuxedo and a full-size duct tape French horn, using 42 rolls of tape. His color scheme was thoughtful and symbolic.
“I chose black as the base since it is the color of most formal prom wear. I chose gold for the instruments since they are in the brass family. I also used white to create the look of sheet music.”
Creating the tuxedo vest was the most challenging part of the process. “I wanted the vest to have all four instruments throughout the design. I had never used a Cricut before so there was a learning curve. I went through a lot of trial and error to find a way to make it work.” After experimenting with different methods, he found success layering duct tape onto wax paper before cutting, then used fabric glue to hand-paint each instrument onto the vest.
Though Nicholas designed the project himself, he had support behind the scenes. “My mom and my sister helped me with different parts of the overall tuxedo. Since my sister had entered the competition before, she knew the basics. She also drew the instruments for me to cut with the Cricut because I didn’t want to use already made clipart. My mom helped me take off all the instruments from the Cricut mat. She also did a lot of behind the scenes work like go buy more duct tape when I ran out and was still working!”
One of the most remarkable parts of his creation is a duct tape French horn. “It definitely took quite a bit of time, but now that I have done it once, doing it again would take less time,” he explains. “I used wire and molded it into the base shape of a French horn’s circular main body. Then I put pieces of paper coated in glue all around it, so that whenever the glue dried the base would be sturdy enough to tape on.” He constructed the instrument in sections including two main body pieces, five slides, and the bell, using duct tape and hot glue to bring it all together.
To make the tuxedo feel like a real marching band uniform, he added a duct tape version of a shako.
“It is such an iconic piece of a marching uniform. I felt my uniform would not be complete unless it had a shako.”
Nicholas’s bandmates and director didn’t know about the project until after it was finished. “Then I shared photographs with him. When I was announced as a finalist, I told everyone else. They all were so amazed at the amount of details and extremely supportive. This is what I love about band. Everyone in our band is so supportive to everyone inside of the program. No matter what you do, they are always willing to support you.”
He believes his years in band helped him stay focused and disciplined throughout the process.
“Preparing for marching band season and learning a new show takes a lot of work and discipline. We are out on the field during the heat of summer practicing for hours. To complete this project, I needed to have that kind of discipline to get each piece completed with the vision I had in mind.”
Now that he’s one of the top finalists in the national competition, the public can vote daily for his design until July 9. “The best way for people to support me is to go to the website and vote every day. They can also help by sharing my story (and the voting link) with others in the community.” Since Nicholas doesn’t use social media, a personal goal until he graduates, his mom has stepped in to help. “She even created a TikTok page (@BrassTape) for my tuxedo. That’s been a learning curve for her because she doesn’t really know much about making TikTok videos!”
Winning the contest would mean more than just a scholarship. “The scholarship money would definitely help towards college expenses. However, winning would mean a lot to me personally because I know I tried something different, inspired by an activity I love, and it will be a win for the whole band community. My band family will all share in the excitement of what a ‘band kid’ accomplished!”
While he hasn’t always been drawn to fine art or fashion, Nicholas has always embraced creativity especially in science. “I have participated in the science fair every year since second grade. I’ve competed at the county, regional, and state level many times and even went to the International Science and Engineering Fair in 9th grade!”
This project reminded him how much he enjoys hands-on work. “I realized that I like working with my hands, trying something new, learning from mistakes and trying again. In that way, it was similar to the science fair projects I’ve completed. I am not 100 percent sure what I want to major in at college, but I know that I want it to be a STEAM field in which I can combine creativity and research.”
His advice for other students is simple. “Definitely do it. It is a lot of hard work but you should never give up. Ask others for help because everyone has someone who cares about them and is willing to do whatever it takes to help and support!”
Rooted deeply in his hometown, Nicholas says, “I love the community. I have lived in the same neighborhood since I was born and I love the people.”
He credits his school, teachers, and family for their continued encouragement. “My band director, Mr. Alex Sipes, has been a huge support. He spends hours of his own time helping us develop as musicians and kind people. Ms. Dougherty and Ms. Cartelli, two science teachers at South, also give me a lot of support with my endless questions about science and science fair projects.”
Nicholas also extends a heartfelt thank you to Ms. Becknell, his middle school band teacher. “She took a chance and let me play the French horn as a sixth grader.” And of course, his family, especially his sister, “whose art work is inspirational to everyone and I couldn’t have completed this without her guidance and help.”
