A woman’s decision to upcycle a 1970s gown into her birthday dress has ignited an intense debate on the internet about whether preserving or repurposing vintage fashion is better.

This month, Kelley Heyer showcased to her 157,000 TikTok followers how she transformed a light blue gown into a Pisces-themed birthday dress in two videos. Heyer told Insider that she bought the $55 gown on eBay, believing it was likely an old prom gown or theater costume.

The first video, shared on March 2, showed her cutting, re-stitching, and beading the fabric.

@kelley.heyer – Birthday part 1! Attempting to turn this already special vintage 70s dress into something even more special. #vintage #1970s #thriftflip #birthday #pisces

The next day, she uploaded a second video showing the finished design, but the caption addressed brewing opinions criticizing her dress.

@kelley.heyer – Replying to @harrriiiet part 2 as promised! Please remember that this is my birthday dress and I’m really happy with the results. Happy Pisces season! #pisces #vintage #1970s #thriftflip #birthday

Heyer told Insider she worked on the dress from February 20 to March 3, drawing inspiration from various aesthetics, including the dress in Drew Barrymore’s “Ever After” and Italian Renaissance era fashion.

Some users suggested Heyer “ruined” the dress with her adjustments.

As the videos gained traction, even being shared on Twitter without Heyer’s knowledge, some users commented that she should have left the dress alone.

“Humans really have the audacity to take something that’s been ushered through time and destroy it,” one person wrote.

Another person commented that the dress went from “beautiful vintage work of art to something you’d find at Shein.”

However, many applauded Heyer’s birthday dress and praised her for showcasing sustainable fashion.

“The original dress was pretty, but I’m so happy it is getting a new life,” one user wrote. “Reduce, reuse, recycle.”

Heyer addressed the debate in two videos shared on TikTok.

“Some of y’all are acting like I personally went into your home and burned your grandmother’s wedding dress,” Heyer said in one of her responses. “Or I took the original Betsy Ross flag and turned it into a Y2K crop top for Coachella.”

She added: “All of you are getting worked up over a dress that you didn’t know existed until 24 hours ago.”

In a separate video, Heyer clarified her opinion on reworking vintage gowns by saying it’s on a case-by-case basis.

“When it comes to altering vintage, look at how it was made, the fabric that was used, and when it was made,” Heyer said. “And then the answers to those questions will determine whether it’s okay to entirely rework a vintage garment or not.”

Heyer told Insider that she found the response “hilarious” but also a bit “scary.”

While she loves her dress – noting that the billowy skirt and hand-sewn beads are stand-out features – Heyer said the response was both “hilarious” and “scary.”

“There comes a point though when something goes so viral that it fully leaves the hands of the creator and that felt scary,” Heyer said, adding, “the small digital footprint I had made suddenly became so much bigger and that really hit me.”

Heyer told Insider that online users were quick to judge without recognizing her passion for sustainable fashion.

“People online will never know the nuance behind every story. That’s just the nature of the internet. Only so much can fit into a one-minute video,” she said. “Vintage and sustainable fashion is a huge passion of mine, but the commenters don’t know that.”

Ultimately, Heyer is proud of her work and doesn’t let the critics bother her.

“It’s okay if you don’t like it because, thankfully, it’s in my closet, not yours,” she said.