Annual fashion event showcases student designers

Lynn Plummer said she is pleased with herself.\nThe junior apparel merchandising major won a $1,500 Vera Wang gown during the raffle just before Wednesday night's fashion show in the Frangipani room of the Indiana Memorial Union. The show is an annual event held by the Apparel Merchandising Organization to raise money and showcase the work of student designers. \nIt is no small event, featuring clothes from retailers such as the Gap and Urban Outfitters, as well as local names such as Cha Cha and outfits made by students. The raffle consisted of $4,000 in merchandise to benefit the Kimberly Schriener Scholarship, an award given each year to an apparel merchandising student. \nBecause of the way the raffle was set up, speed alone determined who got the gown and who ended up with a dinette set. Plummer said she didn't have much use for the dress, but said she still felt lucky to have gotten it. \n"I really don't have anywhere to wear it to, but I've never owned anything that costs $1,500," Plummer said. "I can't wait to try it on." \nWith the exception of a tube top here and a spaghetti strap there, the outfits presented in the business-wear portion of the show looked like something college students might wear. During the '80s punk portion, model Katie Colvin, a senior, appeared on the runway in an army skirt, cracking a whip to order four men, all in raggedy, punk-style clothing, around the stage.\nSophomore Sheri Staff, a choreographer, said the whip was her idea. \n"I was a little concerned about what the teachers might think, but I was hoping it would add to the overall effect we were going for in that part of the show," Staff said.\nStaff said the choreography was one aspect of the show that made it different from previous years, when models occasionally struck Charlie's Angel's poses or, during the formalwear segment, rejected roses from their "dates." \n"They wanted it a little more interesting this year," Staff said. "Last year it was just people walking out in clothes, so we kind of added some cute little moves in."\nStaff said a record number of male models -- four -- helped to make things interesting.\n"I think that having that many guys this year really got the audience's attention," Staff said. "The audience always likes to see guys up there; maybe they just don't expect it because people think girls are more likely to want to do that sort of thing, but definitely the guys got their attention."\nStaff said she was pleased with the way the models handled various hitches, such as ignoring the music when it went out at odd moments. Another, larger setback was the lack of a dressing room for the models.\n"The Frangipani Room is the worst possible place for us to ever have this show, because there's no backstage," said director Nicole Byers, a senior. "But we have it there every year." \nWithout a backstage, models had to run through a darkened part of the Frangipani Room out a side door and across the lobby to the Hoosier Room to change outfits, which provided another difficulty.\n"The Hoosier Room doesn't have curtains or anything," director Katie Koebbe, a senior, warned about 20 female models and four male models before the show. "You might want to bring a towel or something."\nStaff said the combination of music, clothes and choreography made it easy to overlook the minor rough spots in the show, especially for those watching who were involved.\n"It was a lot of fun," Staff said. "I didn't realize until (Wednesday) night how it was all going to come together, but it did, and it was great"