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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK Fourteen-year-old Talyne Rhodes sashayed down the runway lined with decorative jars and red lights, making great eye contact with the audience sitting on either side. Her wings festooned with buttons flapped behind her as she twisted from side to side showing off her belt made of bottle caps and a seatbelt buckle, the empty pocket she sold on the outside of her shorts and the jacket on which she had sewed a bunch of decals. The Richfield teen was one of five taking part in the second annual Earth Day thrift Store Fashion Show for teens held this past week at Hailey Town Center West.
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Scarlett Casey, a little reminiscent of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” shows off her country moves.
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“It thought it would be fun to be a collector fairy, that is a fairy creature that collects human objects, recycling them,” said Rhodes, who created her wings with wire and pillow cases. “It was either this or a mermaid out of plastic to spread the message that we shouldn’t be polluting our oceans.” Joining Rhodes on the runway was 12-year-old Jatziri Guzman wearing a dress and summer blouse over it that she had gotten at The Barkin’. The Hemingway Elementary student wore a necklace made from soda can pull tabs and cut out the tops of plastic bottles and the caps from applesauce containers for her braided hair. Eleven-year-old Scarlett Casey, a sixth grader at Syringa Mountain School, walked down the runway to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel like a Woman!” in a straw cowboy hat, plaid blouse, denim shorts and ankle-high boots she found at The Barkin’. “I chose a country style because I really like country music—it makes me happy,” she said.
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Eleanor Sirek was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
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Vinny Foudy, a seventh grader at Syringa Mountain School, created a look inspired by rosy maple moths in the spirit of Earth Day with the help of her sister Grace, a ninth grader at Wood River High School. And Eleanor Sirek, an eighth grader at Sun Valley Community School, walked down the runway in a lovely lavender gown to “A Million Dreams” sung by Hugh Jackman in “The Greatest Showman.” “I was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s elegant and wise elves in “The Lord of the Rings,” she said. The girls walked the runway under the watchful eye of three judges: Wood River Middle School librarian Samantha Mora, Aubrey Cravens of The Barkin’ thrift store and Brooke Vagias, a Sage School student who won last year’s fashion show.
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Jatziri Guzman took some creative measures with plastic bottles and the lids on plastic applesauce containers.
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In the spirit of Earth Day, participants were required to shop at local thrift stores upcycling, altering and styling their runway look “We’re looking for a few main things,” said Vagias: “Confidence—eye contact and smiling. How they keep pace with the music. How they combine pieces of clothing together. And we’re looking for the best example of upcycling. The girls were asked to keep receipts so we could see how much they spent on their creations.” The results: Most Frugal—Eleanor Sirek
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Vinny Foudy was inspired by the colorful pink and yellow rosy maple moths.
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Best Upcycling—Talyne Rhodes Most On Theme—Vinny Foudy and Scarlett Casey Best Runway Presence—Jatziri Guzman And did any of them see a career on the runway after their experience?
“I don’t know,” said Guzman. “It was scary because all those eyes were on me.”
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