Ups and downs make 'Fashion Speaks' a catwalk to remember

But this fashion show, which benefited Autism Speaks and the Eden Institute, was more than just a showcase of toned bodies - it was an all-encompassing event with music, models, guest performers and, of course, great fashion.

Well, for the most part. With 10 collections from both local and student designers, "Fashion Speaks" had a lot of variety. While this was certainly exciting (there was everything from conservative daytime looks by J. McLaughlin to, ahem, a lot of bra exposure from Aritzia), it made it difficult to detect any sort of unifying theme that brought the collections together. Each collection was strikingly different from the last, and I had trouble adjusting from one line to the next. And when some of the smaller collections were grouped together, it became impossible to distinguish between the two lines.

That said, some collections got it just right, and had the aspiring fashionista in me drooling over the brilliant looks. The first collection of the show, from Niko Niko, a store in Princeton, was one of the highlights. The look was edgy casual wear, and the line featured great going-out pieces: A structured little black dress, a flowing white tulip skirt, and a pink- and white-striped micro-mini skirt - all perfect attention-grabbers. The collection was unified by certain recurring elements, especially lace details and black and white. The student models looked professional and put together, and the collection was a great success.

While there was not much representation in the show from student designers, Fika Tees - a line designed by twins Matt and Pete Callahan '11 - was another show hit. The unisex line featured T-shirts of all varieties with one common detail: a bright-colored pocket. These solid and patterned pockets made fun additions to otherwise simple T-shirts, T-shirt dresses and hooded tees. The line was wearable - I can envision any Princeton student wearing these looks - and were well-designed and creative. Furthermore, it was refreshing to see every piece in the collection pulled together by the one recurring detail.

Unfortunately, not every element of the show was as professional. There were some performance glitches that made Fashion Speaks seem less like New York Fashion Week and more obviously a student-run production. First of all, not all of the clothes were tailored properly, and some models had to awkwardly hold their pieces up as they walked down the runway. To be fair, this only occurred a few times, but I couldn't help thinking that a few safety pins could have prevented it from happening at all.

There was also a bit of an issue with the schedule due to a miscommunication with the guest performers. When the order went awry, the hosts, Casey Van de Walle '11 and John Wetenhall '11, who were caught off guard, reacted in a less-than-professional manner, and insulted the guest performer, Shere Khan. These comments, despite their joking tone, made me slightly uncomfortable. When the hosts did realize their mistake, they tried to be overly friendly afterwards. But needless to say, their initial attitude put a bit of a damper on the show's otherwise high energy. Wetenhall is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

But no worries - it didn't extinguish it completely. The rowdy audience, enthusiastic models and energetic music provided by DJ Jonathan Myers made the show an extremely fun spectacle overall. For a charity event, the turnout was also quite impressive: All of the seats were taken 20 minutes before the show began. This may have partially been because of the prospective students visiting for the Princeton Preview weekend. And I don't think President Tilghman could have asked for them to attend anything better. After the show, the prefrosh I was hosting told me she could add "gorgeous, shirtless men" to her list of reasons to attend Princeton. A fine selling point, indeed.