Acorn

Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Arts and Leisure

Media Credit: groundcontrolouring.com The Felice Brothers

I am relieved to say that the Drew University Eco-Fashion show, sponsored by Residence Life & the Tolley-Brown staff, was a big hit. It was so much fun being one of the judges and getting to see what creative ideas my fellow Drew students came up with for creating an outfit made from recycled materials.

My personal favorite outfit-besides my own, of course-was made by Georgia Cruz ('10), one of Drew's best dressers, who took the runway by storm. The materials she used were coffee filters, pink and yellow tissue paper and a hidden burlap sack that provided structure to the overall piece.

I was impressed with the way she had managed to make a very cute and frilly skirt out of so many coffee filters. It was interesting how she used the natural ridges of the filters to serve as a pleating for the skirt.

She not only used the filters to create a skirt, but she allowed them to serve as a trim for the top of the bodice. It was sassy, romantic and something I can see rocking the red carpet this spring.

I also liked her use of color. She paired white coffee filters with a yellow tissue paper bodice. Clearly, she understands her color palette for this spring, but managed to take it to the next level by adding a fuchsia pink oversized bow on the back of the bodice as a cute accessory to complete this environmentally friendly and stylish outfit.

The dress was well-designed, well-executed and well-worn. I can definitely see Georgia working in the fashion industry in the future.

My favorite kinds of outfits are always the edgy and inventive ones, and the Eco-Fashion show was full of just that. People used materials like newspapers for dresses, cardboard boxes for skirts, soda tabs for accessories and even plastic bags for bow ties. Heck, I even used a lamp shade to create a space helmet reminiscent of the 1960's.

I am proud of everyone who took part in making an outfit for the show because it takes a lot of guts to create something out of uncanny materials

and display a piece in front of a large crowd.

The fashion show really made me think about different ways I can reuse things and turn them into something fashionable.

I am not saying for all of us to go around wearing newspaper dresses or suits made from candy wrappers, even though I would absolutely love to see that, but I challenge everyone to think about what we can do with our old clothes.

It's easy to turn a pair of old jeans into denim skirt for the summer, or even take an old T-shirt and convert it into a new purse, a mini skirt or a sexy off-the-shoulder piece.

For fashion's sake, don't "go green," which is such a lame trend, but go inventive. The more inventive you are, the less money you are likely to spend and the more likely you will stand out in a crowd for being fashion-forward and thrifty.

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