4-H kids walk the runway and showcase projects at Larimer County Fashion Revue

More than 30 4-H members showed off their clothing projects at the Larimer County Fashion Revue at the Thomas M. McKee 4-H Youth and Community Building on Wednesday.

The youths had worked on their projects from up to a year in advance and showcased the hard work they have been putting in, which will also be on display during the county fair on Aug. 2-5.

Hanna Copeland was one of this year’s superintendents for the fashion revue and has been involved with fashion revues since she was a little girl. She said 4-H members don’t have to showcase their clothing projects at the revue but should take advantage of the fun opportunity.

“They aren’t required to do it,” said Copeland. “But it’s a fun event to get out and model and see your personality come out so I encourage everyone to do it. Whether it’s Unit 1 members who have just started sewing or Unit 3 and above, it’s fun to do it.”

The excitement of the young members was apparent as they fixed their outfits and got ready to step in front of the judges in the morning session. Michelle Little said one of her four daughters, Maddison, has really enjoyed being a part of it for the last two years.

“The construction part of the garment is a little bit more stressful for her,” said Little. “Her favorite part is showing it and having her family and friends coming to see it.”

The fashion revue is an annual preview of the members’ projects split up into sessions.

The first session was a morning judging portion where the members modeled their projects in front of two judges. The other session was an evening public show where friends and family were invited to see the members strut across a decorated runway.

Sarah Sawyer was one of the judges and has also been involved with fashion revues during most of her life. She said she has been judging for 15 years and has enjoyed seeing recurring participants improve over the years.

“You’ll see the little 8-year-olds scared to death that first year and then the next year they’re like ‘Oh yeah this is fun, we’re gonna have a blast,’” said Sawyer.

Juniors aged 8 to 10 and intermediates aged 11 to 13 competed to be the two top winners as the grand champion and reserve grand champion. Seniors aged 14 to 18 competed to be one of three grand champions who will be moving on to participate in the state fair competition in Pueblo later in August.

The youngest group of members called Cloverbuds aged 5-7 did not participate in the judging portion but did participate in the public show.

Members chose to base their outfits around different methods of crafting clothing, depending on what they wanted to do and their level of expertise. Methods included leathercraft, sewing, patch ironing and using recycled materials differentiated by fabrics, materials and different components such as zippers, collars, set in-sleeves and buttons. Another method was buymanship, which teaches 4-H members how to be comprehensive about buying clothes that not only fit a budget but also fit a person stylistically.

Selah Blum is a senior 4-H member who has been a part of the program for seven years. She made a buymanship project and two upcycled sewing projects for this year’s revue, and said she has enjoyed coming back and participating.

“I like the friends that I make here, it’s fun to do it,” said Blum. “And the last three years, when I was an intermediate, I have been a reserve or grand champion, so it’s something that I was good at.”

The two contest judges, Sawyer and Sarah Lillis, did not judge on the actual construction of the outfit but rather the overall fit, style and look of the outfit. They also took in consideration the modeling presentation and how the members walked and kept their heads up toward the judges.

Sawyer said she sees most fair visitors taking advantage of the rodeo, concert and carnival but not the 4-H projects and open classes in the McKee and First National Bank of Omaha buildings.

Copeland agreed and hopes visitors of this year’s county fair will take advantage of seeing the projects on display.

“A lot of people don’t know that these two buildings are actually here and people spend a whole lot of time on them. These kids work really hard and people in the open classes work hard on their projects,” said Copeland.

Originally Published: July 24, 2024 at 8:11 p.m.