High heels, distinctive clothing, and banging music are what made the Winter Wonder Glam Fashion Show at Eleanor Roosevelt memorable. Hosted by the school’s Sophisticated Modeling Club, the show incorporated high fashion and elegance with the models’ individual style. To spice things up a bit, they invited special guests such as the school’s break-dancing group, The B-Boys, and other modeling groups, such as Duval Elite. To make the night even more extraordinary, they invited Models Envied, a professional modeling group in the D.C. area. Show hours were from 7- 9 p.m., and in those two hours, the students were able to put on a sophisticated yet creative fashion show.
The show included 13 scenes, which all had individual themes that the clothes and the music were based upon. Some themes revolved around grace and elegance, such as “New Years’ Glam”, which included sophisticated clothes like tuxes and party dresses. Other themes were fiercer, such as the “Rise-Wing Scene”, in which the models were dressed as a white or black angel, demonstrating their angelic or demonic struts along the runway. The scenes were also accompanied by carefully choreographed dance moves that the female models had to do in heels. Even through these obstacles, the models managed to put on full-faced smiles and stride down the runway with absolute confidence.
A model in the show, senior Temi Akinyemi, was asked how they were able to pull it off.
“It was hard,” said Akinyemi. “Four months of hard work and arguing. But we pulled it off.”
Like some of the models, Akinyemi was already modeling before she joined Sophisticated Models. The experience helped her in building her confidence as she strutted in her high pumps.
Freshman Anthony Matthews, another model, offered some up their recipe.
Matthews said the reason for their success came down to two things: cooperation and hard work. “It was hard to cooperate at first, because we kept fighting with each other. But eventually we sat down and agreed to work together. In the end, it was a big success.”
Matthews also included how they got the clothing pieces together for the show.
“What most people don’t know is that we picked out the clothes ourselves. We wanted to spin our own individual styles on the clothes, yet also manage to incorporate it into each of the scenes and themes,” he said. “We even used a little bit of our own money to put the clothes together. But in the end, it was worth it.”
Their hard work was repaid through the cheering audiences and the standing ovations the models received. The audiences roared when the models would strike different poses. One model even fell on her back purposely to catch the audience’s attention. The audience gasped and cheered.
Freshman Bradley Agyei attended the show and gave his opinion on how it went.
“The show was very entertaining because all the performances were exciting to watch,” commented Agyei. “The models showed amazing skill in their technique and walk.”
Even though they just completed a show, the Sophisticate Models are still looking for new members to join.
“You meet beautiful people, and it builds your confidence,” says junior Greg Brown, one of the male models. “Plus, it’s a lot of fun!”
