A passion for fashion

Earlier this month, models strutted, cameras blazed and the music played at Dalhousie’s second annual Vaudeville Fashion Show.

Not your average fashion show, Vaudeville boasts a blend of performance and couture, utilizing carefully choreographed acting and dancing along with music and lighting to create a unique and high-energy event. The evening was a showcase of student talent involving many aspect of creative expression — with all proceeds going to Halifax charity Dress for Success.

“It’s a chance for students who are interested in expressing themselves creatively to come together and put on a show that displays collections of their work that they’re proud of,” says Donelle Fraser, president of the Vaudeville Fashion Show Society and co-producer of the event. “It’s a fashion show, but it’s supposed to be more of a broad interpretation of fashion. I like to think of it as a wearable art show.”

Fashion in motion

“We like our designers to be really creative and experimental,” explains Fraser. “We try to break some of the standard norms of fashion and come up with something that’s really original. That’s our goal.”

Each designer was given their own segment to show off their creations. They worked with models and choreographers to come up with a display that is entertaining and fitting to the designer’s vision.

This year’s 17 designers put together 12 unique collections that explored a diverse variety of styles and themes. From variations in the traditional three-piece suit to visions of future fashion, complete with glowing edges and alien dancing.

“I think it’s an important platform of creative expression for students,” says Charlotte Cowan, society vice-president and co-producer of the show. “A lot of our students are in the Costume Studies program and I’ve heard from them that they appreciate it as a way to put the skills that they’re learning in class to practice,” as well as “To have a platform to display it and see what other people think.”

The variety of styles is reflective of the variety in designers. “We have people from so many different faculties,” says Cowan. With the exception of Costume Studies, she says, “people in most faculties don’t have the opportunity to sew, or choreograph or model. This is a way to do that, have fun, get involved and meet people.”

Dressing for success

Vaudeville isn’t just an outlet for creative expression. All proceeds go towards Halifax’s local chapter of Dress for Success, a charity organization that provides economically disadvantaged women with clothing and job training so that they can get back on their feet and become economically independent.

The Vaudeville society is also an outspoken advocate for healthy body image as well as representation of different cultures, genders and sexual orientations within fashion.

“We’re not looking for super tall and skinny stick people,” says Cowan about their models. “We want all genders and all shapes and sizes. Because it’s not about the model; it’s about the clothes, and the clothes are sewn to fit the models.”

“The only requirement we might have for people to enter the show is prior sewing ability,” says Cowan. “But we still encourage people who want to learn how to sew to join and be part of the society. We have one girl who did not know how to sew,” she reflects, “but she taught herself, made four pieces and put them in the show this year!”

In addition to designers, the society is also open to people who may want to get involved as models or choreographers.

Learn more on the society’s Facebook page.

The show's executive team (left to right): Donelle Fraser (president/co-producer), Emily Brown and Kristen Reid (marketing executives), Laura VanMeerveld (secretary and model coordinator), Charlotte Cowan (vice-president/co-producer) Courtney Edwards and Alex Merkel (fundraising executives).