AAA shows off its fashion sense

Author: Caitlin Taylor

On Friday April 15, the African American Alliance (AAA) Fashion Show transformed McCullough Social Space into an urban center. The walls were littered with newspapers, the lights were dim and a backdrop depicting a "Music Hall" with a sign advertising"Live Shows Daily" hung behind the stage. Colorful graffiti was scrawled across the newspapers with messages such as "NY Express" and "F- the World." To complete the scene, hip-hop beats were throbbing through the speakers on either side of the newly created city-center. An influx of people scrambled to find seats. As Alexis Zain '05 took center stage to introduce the show, the crowd went wild.

The annual show, directed by Zain, took on a city theme this year and was conseqently appropriately named "Faces of the City: Past, Present and Future Face of Urban Fashion." When asked about the décor, Zain explained, "the theme was the city and whatever inspiration [the choreographers] got from that they put forth. The newspaper resembles not just the trash in the city, but the beauty of the city, and what you can do with paper." By suggesting a $1 donation, the fashion show raised money for the Four Angels Award Fund, established in honor of four women of color who died in a car accident six years ago. Each year, Middlebury College presents the award to one sophomore woman of color who has made an impact on the Middlebury Community by demonstrating leadership and expressing some of the qualities that the four women embodied.

The show, which took about two weeks to plan, accepted everyone who wanted to participate in any of seven different fashion categories. The groups included "Grown and Sexy," "Urban meets Fifth Avenue," "Wicked Street Wear," "Take you Back," "Middlebury's Secret," "Encore: Future Fashion" and "Dance Hall Explosion." Each category was choreographed as an individual piece with various musical melodies blasting through the speakers.

The first couples that came onto the stage were part of the "Grown and Sexy" group. They were dressed in formal wear ranging from tight black dresses to elegant silk gowns on the women and black suits on the men. All of the couples strutted onto the runway and walked up and down the "T," doing twists and turns to show all off their gorgeous outfits. "Pop" exuded classiness in the "Grown and Sexy" category by strutting along the runway in his all-white jacket and pantsuit.

In the group that followed, the "Urban Meets Fifth Avenue" models were dressed in baggier clothing and looked more casual in their baseball caps, sneakers, fitted blazers and collared shirts. These models, and the models in the next few groups, spent much of their runway time getting the crowd excited. The cheers and shouts of encouragement that burst out of the audience emanated energy towards the stage. In "Take you Back," the music changed drastically from hip-hop to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." The music was accompanied by about 10 girls who ran out onto the stage in various forms of 80's dress including spandex, leotards, colorful streamers, beads and arm and leg warmers.

The most shocking moment of the fashion show came when the models of "Middlebury's Secret" emerged on the stage. These girls were scantily clad in high heels, corset tops, thongs, underwear, bras and various other forms of revealing lingerie.

The next two acts included "Future Fashion," with models dressed in tinfoil, newspaper, tape and other recyclable outfits and "Dance Hall Explosion," an act that seemed to imitate a Jamaican club scene. At the end of the show, all of the models burst onto the stage and the audience greeted them with an enthusiastic applause.