Unfinished Wings: Utah County woman creates dresses to battle depression and spread mental health awareness
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- Mandy Anderson poses with her homemade wings in an undated photo.
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- Mandy Anderson poses with one of her hand-sewn dresses in an undated photo.
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- Mandy Anderson poses while wearing her Mrs. America United Nations 2025 sash in a photo shoot near the Bonneville Salt Flats on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
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- Mandy Anderson poses with three of her children in an undated photo.
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- Mandy Anderson poses with one of her hand-sewn dresses in an undated photo.
Mandy Anderson has dealt with a lifelong battle with depression, passive and active suicidal ideation. But it wasn’t until about a year ago that the Eagle Mountain mother of eight decided to transform her pain into a passion for creativity.
Anderson, 45, has taken on an ambitious venture of making unfinished dresses as a way to cope with her own mental health challenges while bringing hope and awareness to others with similar struggles.
Anderson said it all started one day while she was having thoughts about not wanting to be alive anymore.
“I had an image of beautiful wings come to my mind,” she explained. “An image I couldn’t get out of my thoughts, and I knew I had to create them.”
Anderson said she worked for days, sewing and creating a sparkling set of golden-feathered wings. An experience that offered some sense of healing.
“I just felt light and like a lifting of the depression that was just overshadowing me throughout this whole time, and I felt just a strong desire to share that light with other people,” she described.
Anderson, who is also a professional photographer, shared the creation on social media to help uplift others amidst their challenges with mental illness.
She never finished the back of the wings, but there’s a symbolic reason for that.
“I left them unfinished, kind of like the semicolon that people get tattooed on their wrist to remind them that they’re not finished, that there’s something to come,” Anderson explained. “And as a reminder to myself that I have other things that I still want to do on this earth.”
The creation sparked the Unfinished Wings Dress Project. As other dark thoughts arrive in her mind, Anderson copes by creating a collection of what she called “impractical and imperfect” hand-sewn dresses as a way to survive suicidal episodes.
Just like the wings, the dresses are left incomplete.
“Some of them have unfinished seams or just imperfections that I would love to finish, but I leave (as is) as a reminder to myself and others as I share them (that) I make each dress as another symbolic way to share, talk about suicide awareness,” Anderson told the Daily Herald.
Anderson said her dresses are meant to inspire resilience and hope, encouraging others to continue their own journeys.
And she’s expanding her message beyond Utah.
In March, Anderson showcased her designs at Fashion Week in Geneva, Switzerland. She’s also gearing up for the Utah Fashion Show in Ogden on June 14, as well as trips to participate in shows in Paris and New York this summer.
“Each fashion show, each speaking opportunity, and each event I attend brings the opportunity to reach one more person who feels alone…or who feels like they are on the edge of giving up and ‘finishing’,” she explained.
Anderson, who was recently crowned Mrs. America United Nations 2025, believes her story resonates with people whose battles with depression and mental health persists.
“I have a different perspective than a lot of people have about mental health,” she said. “Where most people share their stories when they’ve overcome, when they are on the other side and they’re triumphant, I’m sharing my story when I’m still in the middle of it, and I think, in fact I know that resonates with a lot of people.”
While Anderson has found an outlet to help subdue her extreme thoughts of self-harm, health experts say suicidal thoughts and behaviors aren’t uncommon.
According to Intermountain Health, it’s normal for some people to have thoughts of suicide at some point in their lives who may be looking for a way to escape of deal with an unbearable pain or solve an issue where they feel there is no alternative solution.
“Lots of people go through that, and people get through it okay, and they get help. And as long as you get the proper professional help, it’s definitely something that can be addressed and treated,” said Tim Fowles, a clinical psychologist at Intermountain Health, who is not Anderson’s care physician.
In cases where an individual is seeking ways to maintain a good mental well-being, Fowles said activities that lend themselves to creativity like art, music or literature can be beneficial.
“You know, all the general healthy eating, healthy exercise, anything that helps your body also helps your brain and therefore your mental health,” he said.
Spending time outdoors getting a good amount of sunlight and significant amount of sleep also helps, Fowles added.
As for Anderson, she admits to initially being reluctant to seek help or talk about her struggles.
“I’m trying to reach people like me who would normally never talk about their stories,” she said. “The most common thing I am told when sharing my story is ‘I never would have thought that you were struggling just by looking at you.’ The second most common thing I hear is ‘I’ve never told anyone this in my life, but I have struggled with suicidality as well.’
That’s why Anderson is trying to raise enough funds to continue carrying her message as far as her wings will take them.
Individual donors or businesses interested in helping Anderson attend future events can visit her crowdfunding account or unfinishedwings.com.
“I want to inspire others to find their ‘Unfinished Wings’, the light inside of them that helps them keep moving when it’s the most dark,” she said.
Suicide prevention resources
If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts or suicide, help is available.
You can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
To reach the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, text TALK to 741741.
Intermountain Health has listed various resources available and can be found at intermountainhealthcare.org.
Wasatch Behavioral Health — 801-373-4760
Safe UT crisis line — 833-372-3388
