Fashion Show Ideas for Men in the Church

A few years ago, I struck upwardly an online friendship with Wendy Shalit, author of A Return to Modesty, the book that Jessica Valenti of Feministing was at least in function responding to with The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women.

Wendy and I traded several long, thoughtful emails almost problems we agreed and disagreed on — for instance, whether nosotros should all withhold sexual practice so every bit to create a "cartel of virtue." She'due south very squeamish. (She did in one case reject to answer the question, "What if you're a nice girl looking for a husband and you have an ugly face but a actually hot torso? Wouldn't modest dressing piece of work confronting you?")

In any case, someone posted a question on her blog that began equally such:

I've offered to put on a Modest Dressing Fashion Show at my church this spring, and I have no idea (notwithstanding) how to run it! Help!! Information technology'due south geared towards junior high school and high school girls and their moms.

Equally I wrote in Bullish Life Fashion Week Edition: What Modeling Taught Me About Men, Money, and Life, I've been in a few manner shows. Non large, fancy ones. Really DIY ones, which is kind of exactly what this person needed.

Here was my response, which I've edited to take out references to modesty and to add a few how-to notes.

How to Hold a DIY Way Show

I'm assuming that if y'all want to hold a fashion testify, you've already got the wearing apparel, because yous are a fashion designer, or you lot sell vintage clothing, or you knit clever pasties and sell them on Etsy. Then that part isn't covered here.

Let's kickoff with location. I've been in fashion shows in bars, restaurants, and upwardly the centre aisle of a Williamsburg, Brooklyn mini-mall (it'due south important to accept control over the lighting if you're trying to make a mini-mall look expert).

A expert rule of thumb is that if you lot have to make all the magic yourself, selection a location that's already a nice identify to be when you're non holding an result in that location. And then, restaurants and art galleries, yep; warehouses, no. You don't want to discover at the last minute that, while the old biscuit factory is really cool, there'southward no manner to heat it above 50 degrees.

You likewise don't want people feeling like lameasses for standing around after you're done; if you're inviting people out, invite them to someplace where people inherently like to linger.

It'southward truthful that this is emphatically not the example at Fashion Week, where many shows take place, late, in freezing cold tents. Only if you are an up-and-coming designer, I doubt that anyone wants to sit on a frigid folding chair on your behalf. Also, different Marc Jacobs, who does not want to talk to the hoi polloi later his show, you lot volition probably want people to stick around and buy things or Tweet or talk to you about their retail outlets and whatnot, so pick a location where people volition actually savor schmoozing after the show is over.

For a DIY fashion evidence, half-dozen-8 models usually works out well-nigh right. Unremarkably they do at least one outfit change, so two outfits per model is 12-sixteen outfits. Some models might walk more than others — for instance, if you but have 1 plus-size model, she might get three times and someone else might only go once. This is okay. You lot simply work out alee of time who walks, in what gild, wearing what, and post the listing on a wall riiiight in the place that the models come across before they walk downwards the "rail."

For instance:

Melissa – red apparel
Megan – blue tunic w/suede skirt
Et cetera (so, make certain nobody's name is repeated without enough time for that person to change)

Suit things and so that the hardest outfits to get into come early in the show, so that a model's switch from first to second outfit can be done very speedily.

You don't need a real "rail" or anything on the flooring. But practice with the models where they should walk then everyone sees every angle of their outfits. For instance, each model might walk from a back room, down an imaginary alley — pausing halfway to do a pose with hand on hip, smiling — walk to the end, pause and smile, plow halfway around, pause and smiling, turn and walk back.

The difficult thing is always getting the models to walk SLOWLY plenty, or the whole show is over in 5 minutes. Go them to practice, and tell them that they need to walk slowly, and besides, when they stop to pose, they demand to stay there a minute — imagine they have to become their pictures taken ii or three different times on each walk down the rail. To facilitate this, you might take an actual photographer at the cease of the "track" — each model walks to the end of the rail and everyone watches every bit a lensman catches a few shots — this looks kind of official and glamorous, and of form everyone will want photos.

The second before each model steps backstage, the adjacent model starts (recall of this like a very dull relay race).

Funny Magnets

Music could be anything; simply put someone in charge of it so that there'southward no uncomfortable "moment of silence" in between songs when someone's on the runway. (For a modesty show in a church, I suggested something like Doris Solar day or Edith Piaf for a retro, 1940s experience. If I can forestall even one fashion show from taking place to evangelical praise music, I call back I will take done a good deed.)

Make the models bring their ain shoes — inquire each model to bring black heels (no chunk heels) and also something neutral (usually strappy heeled sandals that are camouflaged and could go with anything).

There should be an announcer — that person says something like "Melissa is wearing a cowl-neck wool winter clothes from Name OF Shop, with round-toed pumps from Store and Melissa's own vintage earrings."

The journalist should be someone who tin ad-lib a bit, and so perchance later while the model's walking, the announcer might say "Wool is a great winter fabric…" or "This style of dress looks great with or without a belt," etc. The idea is to sloooow each model downwardly (what seems similar an eternity to her is by and large nearly ten seconds in reality, so the more talking is happening, the more reminder she has that she has to stay out there).

Sometimes professional makeup artists and hair stylists volition do fashion shows for costless to get credits, photos for their portfolios, and publicity. These people will be much more likely to work for free if there actually is publicity, of class, as well as the promise of professional photography. (Anyone working for free will at very least want fabulous photos, and will probably also look free drinks. Please brand certain that anyone working for free gets something useful out of it.)

Accept a staging/irresolute area prepare upwardly, with mirrors and electric outlets (and a clear marker somewhere of "No men beyond this point!", at least if the models care about that sort of affair) and make everybody get at that place a solid iv hours ahead of time.

So, hither's how the overall prove might become:

An announcer at a microphone says some opening words, thanks everyone, etc. Someone else starts the music. Announcer announces each outfit as each model comes out and does a wearisome walk through the runway surface area and dorsum. When all the models are washed, y'all can bring all the models back out to exist seen at once, which everyone always likes (and which is great for photos).

Doing a fashion show brunch provides the added promise of a pretty splendid fourth dimension fifty-fifty if the clothes are questionable (and even if people are paying for their own brunch). If you do brunch, you might want to start the prove later people consume (much the manner a speaker at a business concern event commonly begin somewhere effectually the dessert and coffee portion of the evening), or simply accept a buffet table bachelor for after the show is over. Because I tin tell you from experience that it'southward super weird to walk downwards a makeshift catwalk in your underwear while people are plowing French toast into their mouths.

Oh, and finally — of grade I would personally invite bloggers to nourish, webcast the whole thing, and get some peculiarly narcissistic models who will spread the photos all over the entire Internet then everyone knows that they are SO PRETTY and besides that yous totally had a way evidence.

That's it — good luck!

(Read more about seat-of-the-pants event planning on The Grindstone in Bullish: How to Sell Without Selling.)