Gas Masks, Stilettos, and Designer Jeans: a story of fashion and our lives
This event was the culmination of my time at Seattle Pacific University. It turned into an un-required senior project. It started out when I took a political science class called 'International Peace and World Order,' which helped me realize how interconnected fashion is with globalization, social issues, and cultural identity. Part of the class was to create a project that related to the subject of the class. I decided to put together a fashion show to illustrate this concept. It took many months of brainstorming, collaboration, and research to the get the project going. Our final idea for the event was to show the roles, both positive and negative, that fashion plays in our lives through a show consisting of borrowed costumes, original student designs, music, and a video presentation. We showcased four collections: “Fashion as Military Power and Oppression,” “Fashion as Environment,” “Fashion as Cultural and Religious,” and “Fashion as Social Justice.” We titled the show ‘Gas Masks, Stilettos, and Designer Jeans: A Story of Fashion and Our Lives.’ I discovered that to hold an event on campus, it’s necessary to have campus support. After initial rejection from the Fashion department to sponsor the show, I finally sold the idea to the head of the department, under the condition that it would be completely student-driven and a fundraiser for local nonprofit agencies. Through an opportunity to be a part of “Project Red Dress,” (Seattle's version of Project Runway), I made connections with Seattle's industry association, the Fashion Group International (FGI). I took the fashion show idea and plan for implementation to a meeting with the board of FGI, and they decided to sponsor us for $2,000. This was a large enough sum to cover all the costs of the event. This meant we could donate all of the proceeds from the entry fees, raffles, and a percentage from vendor sales to our chosen charities, YWCA's Dress for Success and the Queen Anne Helpline. With a team of 12 dedicated students, the help of campus clubs Fashion Group and Sophia, the show turned out a great success and we raised $1,400 for charity. The whole thing was a difficult task to pull together. I questioned my sanity on multiple occasions as to why I took this on, with a full class schedule, working, and being in the Air Force Reserves, but I had an overwhelming sense that this was something I needed to do. The results were completely worth it.
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