Spanx Creator Sara Blakely Wears Dress with Illustrations of All Her Patents for National Inventors Hall of Fame Gala
Spanx Creator Sara Blakely Wears Dress with Illustrations of All Her Patents for National Inventors Hall of Fame Gala
Kimberlee SpeakmanWed, May 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTC
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Spanx creator Sara Blakely shares look at her dress with designs of her patents.
Credit: Sara Blakely/Instagram
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Spanx creator Sara Blakely revealed on Instagram on May 12 that she wore a custom dress featuring illustrations of her patents to the National Inventors Hall of Fame gala
The dress, created by Anne Barge, showcased the illustrations of patents for her Spanx and footless pantyhose creations
Several fans praised the unique gown on Instagram, calling it "genius" and celebrated Blakely for her achievements
Spanx creator Sara Blakely is putting her creations out there — literally.
The businesswoman and philanthropist, 55, revealed the one-of-a-kind dress that she wore to the National Inventors Hall of Fame gala in an Instagram post on Tuesday, May 12.
Blakely kicked off her video post by sharing reactions from her husband, Jesse Itzler, and other friends prior to the gala. Itzler could be heard in the video saying, “This is freaking bonkerville. This dress is bananas. It’s insanity-ville,” while another commented, “It’s so cool. This is incredible.”
She then shared reactions from other entrepreneurs at the gala, including one who noted of her dress: “That is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen.” Another commented that the dress was “amazing” and asked who her “illustrator” was so they could hire him.
Spanx creator Sara Blakely poses in her patent dress on Instagram.
Credit: Sara Blakely/Instagram
The entrepreneur finally revealed the dress while walking into a hallway with her family and friends, who cheered and applauded. She twirled around to show the full design, a strapless white dress that featured illustrations on the lower half of all the patents that she applied for in connection to her creations, including Spanx and Sneex.
“I had all my patents put on the dress,” she told her loved ones as she continued to receive compliments. She concluded the video with a few shots of her on the red carpet as she also showed off her pantyhose.
“The dress reveal… Three weeks ago I had an idea, what if I walked into the National Inventors Hall of Fame gala literally wearing the patents that got me here?” she captioned the video.
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“Thank you to the incredible team at @annebarge for creating the most beautiful custom gown. So many years, so many ideas, all stitched into one dress. 🧵✨,” she added.
The video garnered over 380,000 views and over 15,000 likes within 24 hours, as fans shared their awe of the dress. One commenter wrote, “This is genius! Loveeee.” Another said, “You are such an incredible role model ❤️.”
“Wearing the patents into the hall is the cleanest receipts move there is >> proof being literally stitched in is the part most founder stories skip 🤍,” someone else commented under the post.
Sara Blakely shared a look at her patent dress hanging from her bed frame.
Credit: Sara Blakely/Instagram
On her Instagram Stories, she also shared a closeup of the dress, which was hanging next to pairs of Spanx on her bed frame. She wrote over the photo, "the dress with my patents embroidered onto it, hanging next to the invention that started it all.
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Blakely, who was named the world's youngest female self-made billionaire by Forbes in 2012, invented the concept for Spanx in 1998 and launched the company in 2000, revolutionizing the undergarment industry.
She eventually sold a majority stake of the company to Blackstone in 2021. However, she did not stop inventing and launched her footwear brand Sneex in August 2024.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
