On the Catwalk

Miss St. Johns 1976 with sister Suzanne

Here's the frightening thing:  As I was thinking about my blog about modeling in Friday's fashion show at the Isles Yacht Club, several experiences from my past came back to haunt me.  My sister sent me a post card that reads, "Getting over the whole hideous thing by blogging about it", so I'm going to go with the Miss (never Ms.) St. John's pageant.

St. Johns was the Catholic school where I attended junior high.  There were probably 30 kids per class, and the pool for the annual pageant was the girls in 7th-9th grades.  So we're not talking a huge competition.  And yet -- inexplicably -- I didn't win the pageant until my third attempt.  (For the record, there was no swimsuit competition.)

My continued participation is sufficient cause in and of itself for embarrassment.  But what I most remember is the line of lunch room tables that were cobbled together to use as a runway.  I have never been accused of being light on my feet, and I can still remember clomping down that runway in platform shoes.  (Too bad I didn't save them since they are probably now back in style.)

Fast forward to the present day, and the Islettes Fashion Show at the Yacht Club.  I somehow got roped into participating one Saturday morning bike to breakfast.  I obviously hadn't had enough caffeine yet to come up with a polite way to decline.  Claudia Morrow, the organizer, knew me well enough to say, "We're asking Dorrit too."  So, I said, "If Dorrit will do it, so will I."   Sisterhood!

When I arrived at the Yacht Club, I was confused by the fact that the parking lot was filled to the brim.  "Hmm," I wondered.  "What event is going on?"  I honestly had no idea that the fashion show was such a big deal.  There were over 150 ladies in the audience, most of whom were dressed to the nines.  (Some ladies were even wearing hats!)

Wearing Joseph Ribkoff

 After a lovely lunch, the ten models trooped off to the Board room to change into our first of three outfits.  The clothes were provided by Nichole's Collections at Fishermen's Village. It was fun to get a chance to experiment with a different look than what's in my closet.  (One of the outfits even came home with me!)

I was the lead-off model, and basically raced down the runway, making a few turns along the way that I remembered from my days as a "teen board" model at Gayfers Department Store.  (I told you I had a few stories to choose from!)   I was down the runway and back and ready to take the two steps down to terra firma when I realized that Nichole was still talking about my outfit.  Oops!  I turned and faced the crowd, smiling gamely as I gave her time to finish her commentary.  (The other models learned from that to walk a bit more slowly.)

Dorrit was a natural

The rest of the show was a bit of a blur.  We had dressers to help us with our quick changes, and it turned out to be helpful to have someone to zip up our backs and clasp our necklaces for us.  (Thankfully, they were not hovering when we were mid-way between outfits!)

It was a fun afternoon, and I understand that approximately $4,000 was raised for the IYC Compass Fund (which is used to finance purchases outside the regular budget).  In addition, everyone who attended gets a discount for the next week at Nichole's and the sister stores of Palms on the Pier and Ruby Slippers.  If you see a lot of women around town who look a bit sharper than usual, you'll know where they've been shopping!