Check Out Sarah Bender’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Bender. 

Hi Sarah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Pressed to Impress began during my career as a florist! There is a lot of waste in the floral industry and when I started this project, I was working in an event-focused floral studio. High event volume equals a lot of flowers being used for a single night event and then disposed of. 

I got tired of seeing so many still-good flowers in the dumpster so I began pressing them and making things with them. 

As an artist and creator outside of the floral world I have always drawn a lot of inspiration from fetish wear and fashion, so that inspired my combination of pressed flowers with PVC harnesses and collars. There is a lot of back leather and severity in fetish wear so the combination of floral and fetish provided a fresh alternative to that! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There was definitely a steep learning curve and I didn’t actually start selling products for over a year while I refined my process. While there is a lot of exciting opportunity in creating a product that hasn’t been done before, there isn’t a guidebook to follow from those who came before me either. I had to learn via trial and error. 

From material choice to construction methods, to the best way to press flowers, everything had to be figured out from scratch. When it comes to working with organic material like pressed flowers there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Different blooms react differently to pressing, both long term and how well they press at all. Some promising and beautiful flowers don’t hold up over time and I have been able to narrow down my florals to those that last and hold their color. Even the material I use is specifically UV reflective to help my pieces keep their color! 

It was a long road to get to a product I could feel confident in actually selling and it feels rewarding to look back on everything I learned along the way. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What makes me so proud of the work I create with Pressed to Impress is how perfectly this concept came together as an amalgamation of things I am passionate about. During my floristry career, I have always been obsessed with creating wearable creations out of flowers. From constructing huge headdresses to creating the most delicate little fresh flower tattoos, working with wearable flowers has always been my jam. I do not think that this project would have been possible without my background in floral design and am really grateful for that experience. 

I also love that I am able to take something as fleeting as a flower and create long-term art. The ability to take such a temporary thing as a fresh floral piece and instead create something that can be enjoyed for years to come is really special for me. It’s capturing the transient beauty of nature in a way that honors and preserves it. It feels like an honor to be able to do that! 

What do you think about happiness?
A lot of things bring me joy for different reasons. When I work hard on a project and feel a sense of victory and accomplishment that is a big high for me. Living a life filled with purpose and pushing towards goals and growth is a huge deal to me and my happiness in life on a larger scale. 

On a more cozy and personal scale; spending time with my cat Murder Muffin, spending time stretching, dancing and moving my body, and watching the snowfall are my favorite things. 

Contact Info:

• Email: wear.pressed@gmail.com
• Website: www.pressedtoimpress.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pressed.to.impress/ 

Image Credits
Jeffery Everard
Austin’s Cool Bananas
Kenny Eyellison