Real Housewives of Miami star Guerdy Abraira looked off-the-chain at the season 5 reunion of the Peacock series.
The event planner and mother of two , 45, turned heads in a skin-showing silver chain gown — one that she tells PEOPLE that she helped design herself.
"It came out of my mind," the reality star says of the look, in an exclusive chat about the stunning creation. "I'm an event designer and this was the ultimate event, honey."
She first got the inspiration for the garment when she was told the reunion's theme would be around a James Bond aesthetic. "I was Googling textures and fabrics and material," she recalls. "And then I got this idea and started searching 'chains' and 'chain dress.' "
Eventually, Abraira found the perfect material that matched her vision — only it was on another dress with a silhouette she didn't particularly like.
Her solution? Purchase the gown and upcycle it. "I liked the chains on it but I didn't like the way it was made and the way it looked, so I ended up buying this dress and cutting it apart," she says. "Actually, I bought two of those dresses, and then we reconstructed it into the look that I wanted."
Helping her do the work was Celestino Couture, the fashion brand founded by Project Runway star Sergio Guadarram. "They did an incredible job," she notes. "They really brought everything I could ever imagine perfectly to life."
The final result weighed a whopping 25 lbs. — something she certainly felt during her first one-hour fitting. "I was standing the whole time and afterwards, my clavicle was completely black and blue," Abriara says. "I couldn't believe it!"
Thankfully, because the house was sat down during the 14-hour reunion filming, she says she remained unmarked after the taping. They also built in a clever strap design to evenly distribute the weight. "It wasn't too bad," she says, of the final product's weight.
Abraira teamed her bespoke dress, which featured off-the-shoulder detailing, with silver heels from Stuart Weitzman and Diamonds On The Key jewelry.
Sharing video of her backstage at the reunion on Instagram, she wrote, "OFF THE ⛓️ CHAINZZZZ ⛓️ Dress courtesy of @celestinocouture — I think ppl didn't take into it factor that aside being almost 25lbs, it makes noise too so it was like 'guess whose coming, it's not Santa…it's Guerdy!!' 😂 THANKFUL TO MY 'G-UNIT' SQUAD!"
As for how she protected her modesty, Abraira tells PEOPLE she wore a custom illusion bodysuit, which was also created by Celestino Couture and featured a sheer middle with a matching nude bra and underwear area.
The bodysuit was also blended with Abraira's foundation to match her skin tone.
"If one thing popped...it would have been a Britney or Janet Jackson moment!" the star jokes to PEOPLE.
Viewers got to see the reactions from her costars when Abraira made her debut on part 1 of the RHOM reunion last week. Real Housewives reunion host Andy Cohen was particularly impressed.
"Andy walks in, he's like this, 'Oh my god'. I'm like, 'Andy, are you turning straight?' " she recalls to PEOPLE. "He died. He was obsessed with it. I was like, 'This is good.' "
"It's going to be hard setting the bar for next year, but I'm going to have so many ideas in my head, I can do this all day," Abraira adds.
Indeed, Cohen gushed about the dress during Abraira's appearance on What Watch Happens Live with Andy Cohen last month. "I feel like I've seen Guerdy's innards," the 56-year-old joked, adding [RHOM] is the best-dressed reunion group I've seen in a while."
Abraira's costar Dr. Nicole Matin was equally impressed. "I loved everybody's [reunion] look. But Guerdy's was my favorite," she said on the show.