Fashion Show Weekend

Eric (L) and Gabby (R) posing.

First things first, putting on a fashion show is a lot of time, effort, and manual labor. There's a lot more than you think that goes into running a fashion show. It takes our whole major (about 80 -90 students) plus some extras to be able to put everything up and running. This year we held the fashion show at Purdue's Ross-Ade Pavilion in the Shively Club. It was great because we basically had a really long, rectangular room to work with for the runway. It was the perfect set up compared to last year's show held in Mackey arena. Last year it was too much space and the seats were too far away from the runway. This year, in Shivley, the front row was basically at the end of the stage. It was amazing and perfect for taking pictures!

On Thursday we had a dress rehearsal for the underclassmen in Shively without the stage and everything. Then on Friday we set up the entire area. We did staging, lights (lanterns), drapery, and more. It was a lot of hard work but actually a little fun. I was there after my 8:30 class, so about 9:30am until 6:30pm. Granted I had an hour lunch break around noon, but I was there doing a lot of the manual labor aspect. I worked a lot on our flower panels we put at the beginning and end of the runway.

The day of, Saturday, started early for me. I woke up around 7:30 am and got ready. I had to pack my huge H&M bag for the day. For a glimpse into what a designer carries around with them here is what I took:

• A can of hairspray
• 2 pairs of heels: Snakeskin black & white, and then maroon, suede ankle booties
• fray check, little scissors, and safety pins
• mints, pens, hand lotion, body spray, hand sanitizer, chap stick
• phone charger, wallet, keys, planner, and small notebook
• little bag of makeup including different lipsticks for my model to try
• tights, other shorts, and a black blazer my friend was going to borrow but then didn't wear
• jewelry for my model in Tupperware containers, 2 different pairs of gloves for her to chose from

There was also probably some other things that I can't think of now, but I probably threw in there at the last second. 

Before the 7pm show, my models relaxing.

Now more about the day of, my models' hair and makeup times were 9am-10am. For Gabby I chose natural makeup but with a cat eye and then the faux-mohawk up do. It turned out really well, definitely more sophisticated than I expected, which was great! Then poor Eric had to go through being doted on by all the girls because they were super excited to have a guy in their chair. They put foundation and powder on him, did stuff to his hair & eyebrows, put mascara and eyeliner on and to top it all off, put lip gloss on him. He looked great, it was just weird to see him with makeup on. I laughed and told him he was wearing way more makeup than I ever do. We had to wait a while until they could dress & get ready for the show.

Gabby on the runway.

Finally, at 1pm the show started. It was great because I got to sit front row with my parents since there was an open seat. I loved being really close to all the designs. Plus, since the major is small I was basically narrating the whole show to my parents pointing out designers and fabric choices. They didn't even need the program.

After the show my models changed and I took them out to lunch with my grandmother. Since we weren't allowed to have food or drinks in the facility food was very much needed. We all went to Potbelly's and then afterwards went back to the stadium because our picture time was scheduled at 5:24pm, a very specific time. However, it was very chill and we didn't do pictures until after 5:30. Then we just hung around and tried to not be bored. We were all very exhausted. Then the show started, it went more smoothly than the first and was faster. I sat 2nd row and definitely wish I could have sat in the first row again. I couldn't get a lot of decent pictures of my models walking down the runway. It was still great to see it a second time.

Me (L) and Gabby (R)
behind the scenes.

After the 7pm show I went to dinner with my boyfriend and grandmother, it was a lot of fun. Then Sunday morning I went in to help take down everything. I helped with the runway and with the chairs. Then went to the lab to unload the truck of everything we took up to Ross-Ade from our lab/rooms in Mathews Hall.

I had an amazing experience this weekend, it was a lot of work but worth all my time. I am hopefully going to London College of Fashion next spring and will not be participating and the fashion show next spring. If I was here at Purdue I would be making 3 designs for the runway and 2 art pieces for the art gallery. 

I'll keep you posted on my plans, I won't be applying to London till the fall around October.