Members of the local Beta Sigma Phi sorority plan to make their first “fashion statement” when they model a century’s worth of clothing this spring at the Red Dog Inn.
“A Stroll Through the Century–Tea & Vintage Fashion Show” will take to the stage Saturday, April 15 at 2 and 7 p.m., with 10 tables of memorabilia also to be on display throughout the day.
“For a year, [sorority] has been gathering memorabilia and getting authentic fashions [and] we’ll have something from every period, every decade,” said Josie Schill, who is co-chairing the show with Marlene McQuarrie.
She had packed away fashions from bygone days, finally pulling them out for that rainy day she’d been storing them for.
“I was a collector because I knew something was going to happen but not knowing what I was saving them for,” said Schill. “I just don’t throw anything away, that’s my problem.”
Some sorority members will be as models for the show but expect to see others on the runway, including children, teens, and men.
“We don’t just need sorority models. We’ll have to take models from the community, too, because we need people of different sizes and different ages–the clothing is so diverse,” noted McQuarrie, president of Alpha Beta chapter and of the council that co-ordinates all five Beta Sigma Phi chapters here.
“We don’t just need six size 10s or six size 12s. We have every size and description of clothing you can imagine,” she stressed. “We have to fit the models to the clothing rather than the clothing to the models.”
Some specific fashion pieces also are still needed, including men’s and women’s clothes from the early 1900s, men’s knickers, a white pleated skirt, and armed forces uniforms.
Though the research on vintage fashions isn’t over yet, the work to pull the show together already has taught sorority members a thing or two.
“We’ve had a great deal of fun, laughter, and tears,” noted McQuarrie. “You start looking at different fashions from years ago and the memories start coming back and you remember your grandmother or a special aunt or uncle.
“The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that whatever goes around, comes around [in fashion]. It’s all been retro’ed,” she added.
Tickets, which will cost $10 each per show, will go on sale in mid-March. There will be seating for 160 at each of the two shows.