Wedding Guest Puts a Unique Spin on Black-Tie Dress Code with Homemade Hamburger Jewelry: See the Bling! (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ali Tobia shows off rhinestone burger bracelet stack; Ali Tobia shows off Moschino soda cup purse.Photo:Ali Tobia

Ali Tobia

When Ali Tobia, 47, was trying to figure out what to wear for a friend’s black tie wedding in New York last month, she found inspiration from a “prized possession” already in her closet — a Moschino handbag that’s shaped and styled like a largeMcDonald’ssoda or shake. Nothing goes better with a fast food drink than a hamburger, so Tobia set out to DIY her own burger bangle bracelet stack to compliment the Happy Meal-influenced accessory on the big day.

Considering she recently spent $550 on the designer bag from Moschino’s Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear collection, Tobia knew she had to find more places to wear it in order to justify the purchase.

“I’ve always had an eclectic fashion sense and love pop culture and crossover designs,” Tobia explains to PEOPLE, before adding of the bag, “I know that might seem expensive if you’re thinking about it in practical terms, but to me it’s like a little bit of an art collection.”

Over the summer, Tobia also happened to be on the hunt for viral stools styled as hamburgers. This prompted her social media algorithm to show her more burger-related content.

“I must have been getting served all the quirky burger content myself, and when I saw the casual version of the burger bangle bracelet stack it was like a light bulb popped up in my head,” she tells PEOPLE. “I immediately saw an opportunity to glam up the bracelet and give myself an excuse to wear the bag!”

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She continues, “Incidentally, one of my hamburger stool videos also went viral withmore than 5 million views, so I wonder if people just think of me as the kooky hamburger lady from TikTok!”

Before and after Tobia shared her completed bedazzled braceletson TikTok— which consisted of seven bangles to represent the buns, meat, cheese, lettuce, mustard and ketchup, and took a week of late-nights learning how to rhinestone  — some people commented that it was tacky for a black tie wedding.

“Super fun idea! Inappropriate for a black tie wedding however…” someone commented onone of Tobia’s TikTok videos. Similarly, the top comment with more than 11,800 likes read, “Horrible idea for a black tie wedding.”

But other commenters who were skeptical ended up loving the final result. “Okay fine… I should have trusted the process. It’s perfect,” one person wrote.

Ali Tobia shows off rhinestone burger bracelet stack.Ali Tobia

“I was honestly shocked at how strict some people’s adherence was to, what I assume are, very traditional and conservative views of black tie attire,” Tobia tells PEOPLE. “Ultimately, I was wearing an evening gown with a designer purse and crystallized jewelry as an accessory. By most definitions, that’s clearly black tie attire.”

She added, “In this case, the bride and groom are both friends of mine and I knew both would appreciate the fun of the ensemble. Also, if at the end of the DIY, those bracelets had come out anything less than exactly what I wanted them to be, I would have ditched it. I was never going to wear them to the wedding unless they looked perfect.”

Tobia attended the wedding with her boyfriend, Adam, who wore suspenders with burgers on them. He also planned to wear cufflinks with french fries, but they didn’t come in time. Despite some online criticism, Tobia says everyone at the wedding enjoyed their chic fast food-like looks.

She continues, “Everybody loved the bracelets, but surprisingly, I had a hard time convincing people I made them myself! Everyone wanted to know where I bought them. To be honest, it was exactly the outcome I was hoping for because I knew the bag was really on the nose so my goal with the bracelets was for them to be more subtle.”

source: people.com