Fashion and business students host “Daisy Dukes and Cowboy Boots”
On Thursday the students of the Fashion 147 and Business 147 classes produced their annual fall project “Daisy Dukes and Cowboy Boots” in the Saddleback quad. This country western-themed event featured a fashion show, vendors, pie-eating contest, and dogs waiting for adoption.
Director of the event Jamie Cannon, 27, described the biggest challenge in creating this fall project: “One of the biggest things we had to incorporate was the adoption with the dogs. It was hard to find an agency that wanted to come on campus, but once we did, it ended up working out pretty cool,” Cannon stated.
All of the proceeds from the event benefited the Ark of San Juan Animal Rescue. The Ark brought four loving dogs ready for adoption to the event and the dogs were even able to waddle down the catwalk and participate in the fashion show.
“We are excited that we were able to come,” Ark volunteer Kathy Hamersley stated. “We’re glad that [the dogs] could be part of the fashion show.”
The Ark of San Juan is a non-profit, all-volunteer group aimed at rescuing animals and relocating them to loving homes.
“We make sure that the strays of San Juan get a second chance,” Hamersley stated.
“We don’t have a pro-humane facility in San Juan, so our animals go up to the Orange County animal shelter where they are euthanized for time and space. We make sure we pull them before their time is up so that they can get the second chance that they deserve.”
The students who helped organize the project dealt with a few minor mishaps that arrive with any event. One of them being that a dog fell off the stage when it was walking across.
Business marketing major Taylor Palitze, 18, helped organize the event and even narrated the fashion show. Palitze and her team dealt with an issue when a model participating in the fashion show called in sick.
“We handled the situation smoothly and were able to find Colton, who is in the make-up/hairdressing class, and he filled in as a model,” Palitze stated.
Despite the minor challenges, the team enjoyed watching the pie-eating contest which drew a large crowd.
Saddleback student Marco Lozano was stunned when he won the pie-eating contest and received a gift basket filled with movie tickets and other goodies.
“I thought I was losing the whole time!” Lozano stated.
The event also featured multiple vendors like Muse Boutique, Park Lane Jewelry, Cookie Lee Jewelry, C&K Kettle Corn, Sweet! Candy, Body & Soul Botanicals, and others.
Diane McGroarty, the professor who teaches the class that produced the show, looks forward to this fall project every year.
“I enjoy watching the students create the event from conception to completion,” McGroarty told Saddleback College. “Every semester we have a different group that bring new ideas to the table and it’s an excellent way for students to get hands-on experience producing and directing a fashion show.”
To find out more on how you can adopt an animal from Ark Animal Shelter, go to www.arkofsanjuan.org
A majority of the clothes featured in the fashion show were donated by JunQies Vintage Boutique in Dana Point-www.junqies.net
If you are interested in learning about the business and fashion classes offered at Saddleback College, visit www.saddleback.edu
