Dumpster diving for fashion
The entrance fee: a single canned good. The event: models showing clothes made out of recycled products.
“What’s so great about this is that we can use clothing to raise awareness about other social issues,” said Lindsey Shirley, coordinator of the semi-annual Recycle Fashion Show, slated to commence at 6:59 p.m., Sept. 19, in the TSC Ballroom.
Shirley, assistant professor in family and consumer sciences education, said the fashion show has raised over 1,000 canned goods each semester at USU.
“We’ve always focused on collecting food, because it has the fastest connection to people. The cans go directly to SNAC, the on-campus food bank located on the third floor of the TSC,” she said. “Plus, most people and students have at least one can of food that they could donate in order to see the show.”
The 114 designers, who double as students in Shirley’s dress and humanities class, use completely recyclable or recycled materials to create a wearable outfit, for a particular month of the year.
Shirley’s class is a general study depth course for the humanities department. She said this helps to generate a great variety of students participating in the fashion show, with an array of talents and strengths.
“It involves the art of creating a dress, along with learning about the entire process. They use elements of design,” Shirley said. “And it gives students an opportunity and incentive to get involved. Fashion gets people motivated, whether they are aware of it or not.”
Five awards will be granted among the designers: Best Dressed, for each of the four seasons of the year, and Best Dressed, of the year, also known as Best in Show. Winners will receive recycled trophies, “adding another depth to the show as whole,” Shirley said.
She said judges for the event include renowned fabric designer Joel Dewberry and his wife Laurie Dewberry, College of Agriculture Dean Noelle Cockett, and Bana Qashu and Amy Doane, from the National Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America.
Jeff Keller, owner of Sunrise Cyclery in Logan, and host of this semester’s Recycle Fashion Show, will be sporting a men’s suit made completely of old bicycle tubes “that looks awesome,” Shirley said.
More than 100 Utah high school students, who are involved with the National Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America, will also attend the show. They will participate in a Day of Leadership on the USU campus.
“We’re going to challenge the high school students to create a look while the judges are deliberating,” Shirley said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Shirley said the fashion show is a course assignment, a service learning experience and incorporates current sustainability initiatives in today’s society.
“The textile industry causes the most pollution,” she said, ” and my students use only recyclable materials to make their clothing.”
“It’s a very innovative project that engages our abilities,” said clothing and textile intern Melissa Judkins. “The end products — the grand finale — is what makes this whole project worth it.”
Whitney Carter, another intern, also expressed her appreciation for the class.
“I’ve learned not to judge people by what they wear. Now I am able see clothing and style as more of an expression of their personality,” she said.
— s.marcure@aggiemail.usu.edu