When Tom Duchnicki of Fort Frances caught a glimpse of the wedding dress his wife, Rochelle, was wearing when he married her in 1965, the sight whisked him back in time.
But many of the other fashions that were modelled during Beta Sigma Phi’s “A Stroll Through the Century” show Saturday afternoon and evening at the Red Dog Inn also were a castback for Duchnicki, manager of the McTaggart’s store here.
“Having been in the clothing business for over 40 years, I remembered the eras of when these clothes went by,” he said earlier this week.
“[The wedding dress] took me back to the day we got married,” he noted. “It brought back memories of a wonderful evening–just like it was yesterday.”
Duchnicki was one of more than 300 people who watched as 213 authentic styles and accessories from the past 100 years were showcased.
The two shows also included elaborate displays of memorabilia for each of the 10 decades of the 1900s.
Among the 58 models to wear the vogue clothing were Dorothy Poperechny and Jana Gushulak, who found their own memories sewn up in the fabrics.
“We had a ball!” Poperechny enthused Monday morning. “It brought you back to the days when you played dress-up in your mother’s closet,” she chuckled. “I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.”
“It was almost like being a little kid again playing with dress-up clothes–it really was,” agreed Gushulak.
The unique event also marked the culmination of a dream for co-convener Josie Schill, who had spearheaded the idea behind the vintage fashion show.
“It was an awesome experience–I can’t quite fathom it all,” she noted. “I was overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone. The help was unbelievable.”
“You couldn’t do this show any other year [and] you can’t repeat it, no matter how hard you try,” she reasoned.
“The big thing is this. Even though somebody has a dream, you still need a lot of volunteers to make it happen,” stressed fashion co-ordinator Susan Sieders, lauding the behind-the-scenes crew who put on the finishing touch.
“It takes so many people to pull it off [and] the hair dressers and make-up people. Their work completed the outfit–hats off to them,” she noted.
Among the many fashions on the runway was a century-old wedding gown once worn by Anna (Lohman) Golnick, the grandmother of Patty Christian and Susie Freeman of Fort Frances.
An original riding habit modelled at the show also once belonged to Golnick.
“The wedding dress was my favourite–it was so delicate,” said Gushulak, who modelled the gown. “I felt honoured to wear it [and] I got a tear in my eye because there I was in this beautiful dress and I’m getting married in September.”
“My favourite was when I was dressed like the banker’s wife in the blue dress with the blue felt fedora,” Poperechny noted. “If I’d have had a charge card, I’d have been out spending.”
Proceeds from the vintage fashion show will be donated to the Fort Frances Museum although the total won’t be confirmed by the sorority until next week.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
