Garden club meeting gets into fashion

Sixteen of Harlem High School's Young Women of Excellence will sport some fresh new fashions, some straight from the garden and biodegradable, at the Harlem Garden Club meeting Tuesday.

The ecofriendly fashion show will be part of the entertainment for the club's tea party, which starts at 4:30 p.m. in the city's Memory Garden, located behind City Hall.

Carolann Webster, youth coordinator for Columbia County Family Connection, was tapped to design the 16 frocks.

She said it was her first attempt at high fashion.

"The only thing I have ever designed was curtains for my house," she said.

The dresses come in eight styles, which touch thematically on different aspects of gardening.

One dress, simply called the Garden Dress, features corn husks, chili peppers, onions and garlic and has accessories of onion bracelets and Spanish moss.

Other materials of choice include newspapers, grocery sacks, feathers and straw. Another dress is designed strictly from office supplies such as envelopes, duct tape, paper clips and computer labels.

"I didn't think I was the kind of girl who would design dresses out of office supplies, so I guess my creative side is coming out," Webster said.

She has been rehearsing the show with the Harlem teens, showing them the proper fashion runway walk and how to twirl props, she said.

Club President Ann Blalock said she had seen something similar at other garden clubs and wanted some entertainment for the meeting.

"There's not a single new idea in the world. It's just how you decide to put it together," she said.