THAT A TALKING dress made of Bubble Wrap embedded with tiny speakers was not the strangest entry in Friday’s wearable art fashion show speaks volumes about the power of imagination.
The show, “From Beautiful Apparel to Beyond Belief,” drew a sold-out crowd to the Madrona MindBody Institute at Fort Worden State Park.
A benefit for the Jefferson County Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls, it showcased 28 designs from local and regional designers.
Some, like Judith Bird’s felted fuchsia jacket, were truly beautiful.
Some, outside of a science fiction movie, were beyond belief.
In the beautiful apparel category: silk, bias-striped vests created from recycled ties and Japanese obi by Marsha Weiner.
Asymmetrical jackets by Joyce Wilkerson from fabric by the artist and woven at ColorWaves in Quilcene were also in the category, as was Linda Abott-Roe’s dramatic Africana jacket.
Beyond belief: Port Townsend artist Margie McDonald’s creation, “Under the Sea,” which resembled a creature that had escaped from Davy Jones’ locker.
Show stoppers included Susan Hazard’s wedding dress No. 1, a thrift-store purchase the artist recycled by hand-painting the fabric with multicolored poppies.
The dress was modeled by Mary Lynn Maloney with Katie Ballard holding the train.
Hazard’s second entry, a wedding dress covered with pink and lavender flowers, was modeled by Kimberly MacIntosh, who wore a high crown of pink netting in a cage of black ribbons.
$3,000 price tag
Priced at $3,000 each, the dresses guarantee the bride will be the center of attention at her wedding.
“White is so boring,” emcee Shelly Randall commented.
The show opened with Stormy, a local belly dancer, undulating down the runway in an outfit called “Steampunk Belly Dancer” by Teri Nomura that combined a coin-trimmed top and rumba skirt over pantaloons, striped socks and boots.
Teresa Hoffman modeled a sparkly white dress created by Jean Bartos for the 2010 Wearable Art Show in Ketchikan, Alaska. The outfit included a tiara with a fan of silver spikes.
Other exotic headgear: the swan hat worn by Kate Bast, who modeled Paula Lalish’s “Swan on a Leaf Strewn Lake” entry, an ankle-length wool cape with felt leaves that Lalish used to cover moth holes in the fabric.
Wendie Dyson, modeling a silk kimono reconstructed by Lalish, wore a yellow plastic disk topped with the Eiffel Tower flying yellow netting on her head and a metal colander with tea-ball pendant as a necklace.
Adding a note of folk fantasy was Anita Edward’s “Neptune’s daughter,” a blue and gold corset top over a hoop skirt with fish-net overskirt.
Beverly Michaelsen’s blue lace dress, created from pieces of vintage clothing, had a doily bustle.
Nancy Van Allen’s orange-tulle costume with ruffled sleeves and leggings was inspired by the movie “Mama Mia,” Randall said.
Making her debut as a fabric artist was Nikhi Aum of Seattle, who had three saris in the show. Two were named for Hindu goddesses; the third was a bridal sari.
Members of Aum’s family came from Bombay to attend the show, Randall said.
Show judge Anna Nasset, owner of Artisans on Taylor, awarded Best in Show to McDonald’s second entry, a tenuous creation made of metallic blue and silver “Caution: Water Line Below” tape.
The People’s Choice Award, voted on by the audience, went to Judith Bird’s Slide Dress, created from 450 slides tied with strips of fabric to the bodice and skirt to create a sophisticated feathered look.
The slides, Randall said, were of apparel Bird had submitted to juried shows since she began her career as a fashion designer.
Student award
The student award went to Hanna McAdam, one of four Port Townsend High School ninth-graders who were chosen to enter designs in the show.
Most of the models danced to music down the runway. Hannah Albert, wearing an anime costume she designed, performed martial arts moves with a samurai sword.
While the votes for People’s Choice were being counted, PTHS students in Kathleen Burgett’s art classes modeled outfits they had made, including “Material Girl,” and “Candy Queen.”
Althea Westlund modeled a dress made from beach trash collected and assembled by students in the Girls In Real-Life Science Project at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
The talking dress, created and modeled by Magdalena Hall, consisted of a plastic Bubble Wrap skirt over a silver body suit, with gray acoustic foam for a hat.
As she walked down the runway, tiny speakers in the skirt emitted squeaks of Morse code, which spelled out “space is information,” Randall told the audience.
The idea behind the design, she said: If a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane halfway around the world, why can’t a talking dress do the same?
Considering the amount of buzz the show created, it can.
Raised $3,700
The inaugural Beautiful Apparel/Beyond Belief fashion show was put on by volunteers led by Debbi Steele, fund chairwoman, and raised $3,700 in ticket sales.
The winning outfits are now on display at Northwind Gallery in Port Townsend, and the show was taped by PTTV.
Except for the Best in Show winner, which will be entered in a national wearable art show, all of the clothing is for sale, with part of the proceeds going to the fund.
In addition, Stormy, the belly dancer, volunteered to donate her fee for a performance at “a respectable event,” Randall announced.
Nomura also is donating her fee to create a hat similar to the one her daughter, Sumiko Vandenberg, modeled in the show.
Russ Hoover of Edward Jones Investments, Akamai Glass and Art Supply, Wandering Wardrobe and the Clothes Horse donated cash and gift certificates for the awards.
For more information about the Fund for Women & Girls, visit www.jccfgives.org.
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Jennifer Jackson writes about Port Townsend and Jefferson County every Wednesday. To contact her with items for this column, phone 360-379-5688 or email jjackson@olypen.com.
