     Environmental Club presents fabulous Fashion ShowPosted on May 20, 2006On April 28 the Lauralton student body gathered in the auditorium and seated themselves along a “runway” to watch 45 of their fellow classmates put on Lauralton’s first-ever fashion show. But...this was a fashion show with a “twist” since the models were not wearing new clothes! All of the fashion entries were old clothes that had been redesigned. Most were tee shirts that students refashioned in some unique way. Some students just had fun with the idea of redecorating and created either clever or funny tee shirts; others created tee shirts that were so fashionable they could be sold in boutiques anywhere. The idea of a fashion show from “recycled” tee shirts was created when the environmental club was awarded a mini-grant by Student Activists for Service-Learning (SASL), whose mission is “to promote learning as a teaching method in New Haven County secondary schools.” The fashion show featured tee shirts for a reason - most are made from cotton. The club wanted to raise awareness about the environmental impact of conventionally grown cotton. Despite its reputation as a “natural” fiber, conventionally grown cotton is treated with more chemicals - including known carcinogens - than nearly any other crop. Amazingly, it takes about one-third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.The environmental club officers - Sara Brennan, ’06, President; Nicole Bouley, ’06, B Club Co-President; Colleen Kerrisk, ’06, Vice President; Andrea Archer, ’06, Secretary and Ashley Blau, ’07, Treasurer - worked tirelessly promoting the idea of a fashion show for their classmates and putting the show together. As always, Club Moderator Donna DiMassa encouraged and supported club members in their efforts. As the student models strode down the runway in their innovative tee shirts, Colleen Kerrisk, ’06, master of ceremonies, gave a short bio on each. Some samples of what Colleen had to say about her fellow classmates… Andrea Archer is our Environmental Club secretary, and is modeling an environment-inspired design. She will be attending Notre Dame in the fall and enjoys rock climbing, mountain biking, scuba diving, bungee jumping, cliff-diving, and spelunking - all at the same time. All in all, everyone had a great time; the girls at Lauralton are just naturals when it comes to modeling. And their friends cheered them on as they came down the runway. Michelle O’Rourke, ’08 designed several different tee shirts for others to wear and also modeled one of her own creations. Michelle “loved the fashion show because it helps the environment; it is a way to express your creativity and to show off your runway skills. I loved making the shirts, and I thought everyone’s looked great. It goes to show you that you can make original clothes that look fabulous instead of going to high priced stores and buying a shirt that everyone already has."
|