March 24, 2004
Fashion show stitches in time
Way We Wore features garments from 1800s through 1970s
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With dresses reflecting an era's mores and shoes illuminating roles, The Way We Wore fashion show provided a living history lesson.
Held Saturday afternoon at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center, the fashion revue and luncheon showcased women's fashions from the late 1800s through the 1970s. The 65 attendees enjoyed a range of clothing and accessories from the collection of Traverse City resident Nancy Bordine.
The show began with a market dress and sunbonnet a farm wife from the 1880s might have worn to Traverse City to shop. Next, models showed antique bathing suits from the late 1800s and early 1900s as well as a wedding dress from 1937 and wedding suits from the 1940s. These outfits tied into the Heritage Center's current exhibit, First the Altar, Then the Honeymoon, which runs through April 24.
As an added plus to the event, The Way We Wore also raised $500 for the non-profit Grand Traverse Heritage Center, though that was not the mission of the event.
"The main thing was to do something in conjunction with the fashion exhibit," said Dan Truckey, executive director of the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. "We've done this for seven years and it is really more of a public event than a fund-raiser."
Bordine recruited a dozen volunteer models for the show - including three mother-daughter pairs - who led attendees on a trip down fashion history lane. These women paraded flapper dresses from the 1920s, dressing gowns from the 1930s, dancing dresses from the 1940s, a prom dress from the 1950s and Jackie Kennedy-inspired outfits from the early 1960s.
Each outfit had accompanying shoes or other accessories that highlighted a woman's expected role during that era.
"To understand some of the differences between the decades, I like to show them with the shoes because the shoes say something about the era," Bordine said. "Some shoes are very specific to some of the dancing dresses and in the '50s, they couldn't have the spike heels until certain changes in metallurgy, which made shoes kind of like shackles for women."
"In the '40s women started wearing pants and flat shoes and were working out of the home," she added. "After the war, it was unpatriotic for women to want to work so Hollywood made it unpopular to want to wear practical clothes."
Former professional model Judith Murray showcased a number of outfits during the show. Now a nurse at Munson Medical Center, Murray modeled a gorilla fur coat, a '60s-style mod dress and an early 20th century suit.
"It's very fun, everyone has that little girl inside her that likes to play dress up," said Murray, whose daughter, Laura, nine, modeled a 1950s outfit. "It's really neat to see a lot of the older women and how much they enjoy this."
Narrating in her warm and informative style, Bordine also created an interactive program during the show. She handed out a dozen mysterious hat boxes to audience members, sprinkling their opening throughout the show. She prompted audience members to reveal shoes, gloves, antique undergarments and sun glasses at strategic points during the show.
"Before, I always had a script, a 2,000-3,000 word script, and had a local celebrity read it," Bordine said. "People enjoy things more and remember it more if they can interact with it so I thought, what can I do to make it more interesting? That's when I started handing out the boxes."
An RN at Munson Medical Center, working in staff education, Bordine has shared parts of her collection with the community in an annual fashion show since 1996.
"My collection keeps growing, I do end up having to thin the herd once in a while, which is painful," Bordine noted. "If I get several of something, I'll keep the best one and I do keep upgrading."
Bordine houses her collection - which numbers more than 250 pairs of shoes and more than 300 dresses, suits and outfits - in a large storage closet in her home. She keeps the clothing and accessories meticulously arranged like puzzle pieces in the closet.
"It is filled literally to the ceiling," she said. "If you want to get something out you have to open the door and remove something to get in, find what you want, then put everything back in."