Proudly displaying her treasures for a good cause, Nancy Bordine once again captivated her audience at the 11th Annual Vintage Fashion Show.
Held Saturday at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center, the show raised $900 for the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
Bordine, a board member of the Heritage Center and avid student of fashion history, tapped her extensive collection of vintage clothing for the event. She noted that everything in this year's show was new, with one exception.
"I had a dress last year on a mannequin, under a sheet, but I forgot to expose it," she said and this year made sure that one of the eight models displayed it.
The show included 36 outfits — including hats, shoes, jewelry, purses and other appropriate accessories — worn by the models. Most pieces came from Bordine's inventory with a few pieces donated for the day. Fashions from the 1860s through the 1970s were showcased in the program subtitled: What's Old is New Again.
"It's always good to see all the things she's collected," said Nancy Doughty, president of the Women's History Project.
Bordine, a great believe in audience participation, again sprinkled a number of vintage boxes throughout the audience. During pauses for costume changes by the models or just for a change of pace, she had an audience member open the box and reveal the item inside. These included black patent leather baby shoes, a veiled hat, a mod belt from the 1960s and an oversized silk scarf.
Two audience members also helped Bordine assemble an outfit from the 1800s on a mannequin. This multi-layered creation had six pieces, corset cover, bloomers, petticoat, blouse, skirt and velvet belt, all with a distinctive matching lace pattern.
"She probably would have needed assistance to dress because there are a lot of complicated pieces to it," said Bordine, who also noted that ribbons and a drawstring replaced buttons and elastic on two of the pieces. "I thought we could have fun building it together."
Bordine showcased many treasures in her collection, like a sparkling purple silk gown from 1910, which she found at a garage sale. The dress had been stapled together and Ann Hoopfer and Bordine spent many hours painstakingly taking it apart to restore and reassemble the pieces.
She also found a black velvet jumper from 1916 at another garage sale and found that the dress reflected the era.
"When we were prepping for the show, we discovered that the hemline had been taken up several times," Bordine said. "As the century progressed, hemlines came up."
Models for the show included newcomers Lauren Scrogin and Courtney Firman, both sophomores at Traverse City Central High School. Pressed into service at the last minute, the girls enjoyed their moment in the lime light.
"I thought it was absolutely awesome to go through all the clothes, they have so much history behind them," said Firman, who modeled dresses from the 1920s, 1940s and 1970s.
Winding up the show in her favorite piece, a 1970s beige knit dress that Marcia Brady might have worn on the Brady Bunch TV show, Scrogin likened the experience to a women's history lesson.
"The changes in fashion have been so dramatic," she noted. "You just feel like you look almost ridiculous, they're just so different from what you're used to wearing."
"It reflects how far women have come, you see the evolution of their clothing," Scrogin added.