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Aiden Mattauszek, a 2026 graduate of Hayfield Secondary School in Fairfax County, was named one of the top 10 finalists in Duck Tape’s annual Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest.
The contest awards a $10,000 cash scholarship to the student whose duct-tape prom tuxedo or dress is voted best. As of July 9, finalist voting was scheduled to remain open through July 13, with the winning dress and tuxedo expected to be announced later in July.
Mattauszek’s entry took more than 100 hours to make and used 27 rolls of duct tape. The outfit included black baggy pants, a ruffled button-up undershirt and an exaggerated long letterman jacket with patches on the sleeves, chest and back.
The design combined letterman-jacket styling with hip-hop apparel influences. “I wanted to make it feel like me, so I mixed hip-hop apparel,” Mattauszek said.
The jacket and hat included symbols tied to his interests and identity, including music-related patches and sound waves, a soccer reference, his birth year in Roman numerals and “VA,” an abbreviation for his Virginia roots.
Mattauszek said his mother helped design the patches, establish the base outline and apply the duct tape. “It was mostly me and my mom working together with designing the patches, and especially the base outline, and getting the tape on there, because it’s hard to do as one man,” he said.
He wore a traditional suit to Hayfield’s prom but brought the duct-tape outfit to show his friends. The construction process presented its own challenges, including the outfit’s weight and fit and the difficulty of undoing mistakes made with strong adhesive.
“A lot of times when you messed up and you tried to take it back, it was just not going, so it was very hard seeing how strong the tape actually was,” Mattauszek said.
Mattauszek expected to attend George Mason University in fall 2026 and was competing for the scholarship money to help pay tuition. “It’s insane, honestly. I didn’t fully expect to become a finalist, and everybody else has pretty good suits too,” he said.