‘HB’ Fashion Show

With a team of four girls, fuelled with vision, creativity and perseverance, the somewhat amusing task of running a college fashion show seemed an appealing project- tarting up our CV with managerial terms (de jure attaching ribbon to VIP bags) and providing a justifiable excuse to ‘scout’ fresher talent- in the street/on facebook/boys changing rooms- all was legitimate. This was appealing in October 2011…

The gradual ebb of such excitement began in late November when it became clear that competing with Rihanna's ‘we found love’ in Lloyds when demanding pretty fresher boys’ participation in the show was a futile course of action. Our persuasive act that the show was to be a hit was compromised by the rugby team threatening fines for team participants and fresher girls concerned that they may be ruthlessly judged by a bunch of drunk Hild Bede boys- reassurance in this case challenging.

Head Offices of various brands were skeptical of lending clothes, uncertain of what they would receive in return, and remained highly unconvinced by our assurance that their clothes would be modeled by some ‘handsome’ Durham Students.

Spurred on, however, by an abundance of volunteers from Hild Bede- we started to see the light. What we didn’t see was the support of Hild Bede College in our choice of venue- in fact, the lack of enthusiasm on the part of certain few within the Hild Bede Bureaucracy for a charitable event left us somewhat bewildered.

Thus, for legal purposes we must respect their decision. I urge you all to advertise the event (through word of mouth obviously) as the ‘HB’ fashion show or ‘Hilde Bede’ fashion show. Remain diligent, don’t mention the show’s real name in public conversation and refrain from taking this opportunity to publicly denounce individuals involved…refrain.

For those considering a part-time career in college fashion show planning, you may appreciate the following:

Pros:
1) Procrastination from your degree
2) Scheduling an unnecessary number of boys underwear dress rehearsals
3) Useful excuse for sacking off exercise/house chores/friends
4) Playing Mussolini can be fun- especially when people listen
5) Awkward conversation can be substituted with organisation complaints.

Cons
1) Word vomit: no one cares about why you couldn’t get Anne Summers
2) Rancid clothing delegation can lead to friend loss
3) The line ‘it’s not personal’ is unconvincing in a fashion show
4) The moment you mention charity in most shops, you are treated like a carol singer and shown the door
5) People running fashion shows have model agencies to contact- Durham’s a small University…enough said

With the VIP bags swelling, the models gymming and the tables sold out- we’re hoping for a great night. We have a tough few days ahead but visiting the children at Great Ormond Street Hospital to hand over our profits will put it all in perspective. Nevertheless the exec will be taking full advantage of the abundance of champagne on the evening. See you there!!