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MARCH 19, 2020

The annual fashion show to highlight the Fashion Arts Programme graduate student designers, took place in April 1977. The first year designers exhibited one work per student. The second year designers were well on their way with more work to exhibit that included seven to eight garments each.

I received a phone call on the residence phone where I lived. There was one phone for everyone’s use on the floor. A girl came running to my room to tell me that there was a call for me. My mother had called; we were waiting for test results because she found a lump in her breast. She called to say she needed a mastectomy. I went home to be with her. My family was  in shock over her diagnosis.

I wasn’t able to attend the final dress rehearsal on the weekend before the show.

I was in attendance for the night of the show to take a bow on stage. My parents were there; mum would not have missed it. Her surgery came later.

Here are the themes for each group of designs that was assigned to the class during our second year.

LOUNGEWEAR

The designs included baseball shorts, boxing outfit, hockey jumpsuit, two hitchhiking outfits, jumpsuit, umpire gear and jodhpurs. A sports theme was obviously the brief. What does hitchhiking loungewear look like? Not sure, but there were two students that showed them.

 

 

RAINCOATS

Raincoats included cape coat, wrap and jacket, navy coat, reversible coat, khaki coat, tunic, rose coat with green vest, green coat and a yellow suit. Mine was the wrap and jacket shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMER (Red & White)

Red and white fabric was the theme. It was an exciting assignment, quite a flurry in the classroom because we were getting free fabric donated by a fabric manufacturer! Everyone received the same amount of yardage. It was either two or three prints. We were to create anything we wanted but had to work within the limits assigned. No more fabric could be added.

 

GARDEN PARTY

The descriptions are sumptuous, just to list them is enough: white blouson lace dress, yellow handkerchief print dress, blue floral dress, white ruffled dress, cotton strapless dress, beige chiffon covered dress, blue chiffon covered dress. See what I mean?

The blue chiffon covered dress was mine. Elastic thread was used to sew all those lines, to create a tube-top bodice on an ankle-length knit dress.  The hem was finished with a narrow zigzag stitch.

 

 

 

 

SWIMWEAR

Swimwear was mostly described by colour for the show, copper, blue green, blue and print, peach and turquoise, a Tankini and another fashion-forward cowboy swimsuit.

TAILORED WOOLS

Tailored wool . . . I can’t believe I made this complex suit as a second year student. But to a great extent, some of the students that were in my year came to college already well versed in design and had been sewing and drawing for years. There were things that we learned like pattern making and draping. But the point was made by the instructors that when an early interest is demonstrated, some students have ‘an inherent design sense’ something special that can’t be taught. It’s just there.

The line up for the show included a man’s charcoal coat, knickers and vest, blue and grey stripe suit, brown gauchos, burgundy suit, cape and kilt, tailored suit.

 

 

FANTASY

Fantasy was an under-the-sea assignment. We had an octopus, jelly fish, fish, turtle, nymph, shell and of course a mermaid! I has a lot of fun creating my design. I still have all the patterns pieces. There was a great deal of them for the knapsack “turtle-shell”.