Dressing Festive: PRSSA Winter Fashion Show

‘Tis the season of mixing and matching fur-lined vests, boots and a touch of sparkle for holiday magic. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) hosted a winter fashion show to get us all in the mood for festive outfits.

“This is the first fashion show we threw together,”  says McKenzie Millward, the show’s executive director. “It was an idea thrown out by one of our girls and we just went with it.”

Originally, the fashion show was going to be a trunk show but Millward and the rest of the event’s planning committee thought a fashion show would be a better fit. The event involved downtown businesses and even had an a cappella group, The Coda Conduct, who performed a crowd-pleasing “Ignition” by R. Kelly among other songs. 

Models wore a range of looks, from casual and everyday outfits to glitzy New Year’s attire. All the clothes the models wore were provided by Macy’s at the Nittany Mall.

“We went out there and Macy’s was our first stop,” Millward says. “And they were so excited to help out. Meghan [an employee at Macy’s] ran right over to the grandma section and found us the ugly Christmas sweaters.”

Ugly or not, the models made the reindeer and snowflake-adorned sweaters look good enough to actually wear in a non-ironic sense. Imagine the thrift store sweater you wished you actually found at a thrift store. The rest of the show featured neutral tones with an occasional burst of color from some pumpkin-colored pants and enough glitter to make Tinkerbell proud.

After the show, Millward invited the audience to donate to the event’s charity, Toys for Tots. She said it was a way to give back during the holiday season and make a difference in a family’s holiday season.

“It was a lot of work and a lot of time from organizing the charity donation to picking the clothes and getting everything ready right after break,” Millward says. “But it was a great team and it was totally worth it.”

Photo by Jessica Korch