The Steiner girls, Cosma, Astaria, Antonia, Tui and Janine, model the op shop clothes they recycled

All ages contribute to spectacular fashion show

September 9th, 2013
[by David Armstrong]

The organisers at the end of the show wearing their own modified op shop clothes: Val Armstrong (left), Rankeillor Arnott and Liz Salt

A packed audience at Memorial Hall clapped and cheered their way through an entertaining evening on Saturday as local models of all ages strode the catwalk for the St Andrews Op Shop fashion parade.

Organisers were thrilled with the walk-up crowd, adding to the 120 or so who had bought tickets to make over 200 attending, and contributing a good sum to the fund to restore the historic St Andrews Uniting Church building closed due to earthquake risks.

Apart from fund-raising, the main aim of the show was to demonstrate that you can buy and perhaps remodel perfectly good and appealing clothes from Motueka's three op shops - the Hospice shop, Salvation Army and Red Cross.

For the enthusiastic crowd, the main attraction of the show was seeing people of such a wide range of ages, and including three popular male models, taking to the catwalk with such confidence and good humour.

As well, two groups of High School students entertained with a vigorous hip-hop routine and a mind-bending "black and white" dance using optical illusion to great effect.

All outfits modelled through the show were obtained from the local op shops, and some of them were further embellished or recycled to make strikingly inventive and attractive outfits that doubtless stirred the imagination of many amateur designers.

Five students at the Rudolf Steiner school had created outfits as a school project and finished hours of learning how to walk the floor with polished performances. A few really young models also drew appreciative "aaahs" as they mimicked adult flair.

Not to be outdone, a few of the ... ahem, older ... models also grabbed attention, appreciation and sometimes mirth. Rev Peter Norman, a tall man already, strode high on the stage in a variety of outfits, one while leading the obedient dog Max.

Samuel Rubie had all the right moves, particularly wearing the evening/party outfit. He was certainly ready to boogie. And Jim Fry put on a suave performance ending in an eye-popping appearance (see the photo below).

Stella Bogdanoff showed her fashion design skills and creativity with two of her high school friends to display some wonderful way-out costumes in an item titled "Stella Designer" to the tune "Kill of the Night".

The evening was the culmination of months of work and co-ordination by Rankeillor Arnott and her offsiders Val Armstrong (backstage) and compere Liz Salt.

Liz kept the performance humming along with her informative chats about each outfit, and had to fill in seriously only once when a group of models were not yet ready for their turn.

A big part of the spectacle was the stage backdrop of giant cardboard and tulle fabric flowers which were fashioned over the past month by Val's craft group, Crafty Tarts.

Kathryn VIveen	Jim Fry
Peter Norman and Lynn Crossland	Pat Moses
Dansoa	Peter Norman

Some of the young models at the final parade. Hayley Garlick and Stella Bogdanoff are at right.

Comment by Lynda & Terry Frater, in Europe:
[Posted 10 September 2013]

This is brilliant. Great report David. Well done Val and Rankeillor and all your helpers. Hooray for Rev. Peter, Jim and Sam. So great to be able to check up on local news on the other side of the world.

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