April 24, 2012 - To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the University of Wyoming's Women's Club will host a "Through the Ages Fashion Show," Saturday, April 28, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m at Hart's Alley (404 S. Second St).

It will include appetizers by Turtle Rock Cafe and drinks served in advance of the fashion show, which will begin at 7:15 p.m. Admission is $5 at the door.

The public event will include an authentic collection of women's apparel -- from vintage fashions to modern-day chic.

"This full-runway show will include a large collection of fashions though the decades -- dating back to 1912 when the club first began -- to 2012, our 100th anniversary," says Kati Hime, president of the University Women's Club, formerly the UW Faculty Women's Club.

"The collection represents a women's fashion retrospective," Hime says. "Models will show numerous vintage and authentic reproductions as they walk down the runway."

Each model was specially fitted in advance for this show, and many of the fashions were either donated for the event or provided by club member Carol Baalman, who is a collector and seamstress of such vintage clothing. Many of the models also will wear accessories with their fashion for that era. The program will include descriptions of the clothing, the period and major women's efforts, and influential people of that time in Laramie and the nation.

Fashions include a 1912 reproduction pink-stripe blouse and gray hobble skirt and an authentic 1910s Genuine Palm Beach Cloth women's jacket (with its original label), courtesy of Mimi's Consignment and Resale Shop downtown. The show also will feature a late 1950s Bernetti lavender satin beaded cocktail dress, an early 1950s navy taffeta swing coat, and a 1990s Carolina Herrera houndstooth dress (courtesy of Mimi's), among many other fashions.

Caroline Duniway, wife of the university's ninth president, Clyde A. Duniway, founded the University Women's Club in 1912. The club was created to promote friendship between faculty members and the wives of faculty. Today, any woman in the Laramie community is welcome to join. The club promotes social interaction among the members, welcomes women new to the community, and renders assistance to UW and to the surrounding community. A portion of the annual dues, as well as proceeds from the club's annual Holiday Home Tour, go toward UW scholarships given by the club for nontraditional women students.

Source: University of Wyoming