Once upon a time, in a land enlivened by bandits and chimerical gardens, enchanted by star-speckled scenery, and enthralled by a royal ball, there strutted the trendiest of them all in this year’s fairy tale-themed fashion show.
With the determination and diligence of nearly 250 students and faculty, “Once Upon A Runway” proved a success despite the two missed practices caused by the reoccurring snow days.
“We had some great scenes by models who had worked really hard to put on a fantastic show,” said junior and co-director Alicia Underhill. “I really don’t think we had a bad scene this year and that’s because we had such amazing models.”
The show included commentary by juniors Samantha Sterling and Kelsey Costellia, who narrated the journey of a fictional princess through a fashion-forward world of forests, gingerbread houses and palaces.
In this modern fairy tale, Langley’s fashion virtuosos flaunted various designs, from sailor and military attire to sequin-adorned blouses and prom dresses. Despite having only five practices before dress rehearsal, the shortened time did not stop the event from serving as a school bonding experience.
“The show unifies the students because every year we have a good mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the show so it really isn’t dominated by one class,” said Underhill. “Also, many of my teachers modeled in the teacher’s scene and of course the male faculty did a great job as our escorts in the prom scene.”
Along with the many crafty looks assembled in the previous scenes, two additional ones were designated to the work of the student design team. It featured 40 girls who modeled original outfits made by the students themselves.
“Most of the girls had started designing and sewing the summer before the show, and bulk of the work was done over break,” said Nicole Zaccack, junior and co-director of Langley’s Student Design. “On average, it takes a designer up to twenty hours to fit, sew and buy the fabrics for a single outfit.” However, the hard work was graciously rewarded with the assistance of Paul Mitchell stylists.
“People may not know that all the models, boys, teachers get their hair and makeup professionally done the day of the show by Paul Mitchell,” said Zaccack. “It’s a whole day process—from 9:00 a.m. right up to the first scene, the stylists are there helping the models look amazing.”
With the assistance of over 200 students, teachers and parents, the fashion show concluded with the princess finding her perfect dress—the most fashionable happy ending of all.