Recycled clothing fashion show just one feature of Energy Fair
If you go
What: Seventh Annual Evansville Earth Day Energy Fair
When: 4:30 to 8 p.m. Friday.
Where: Evansville Field House, parking at 320 Fair St., or 420 S. 4th St.
Cost: Free
Events: Dozens of energy exhibitors; computer, TV and cell phone recycling; free document shredding up to 50 pounds; free trees from the state Department of Natural Resources; light bulb exchange; student science fair, Larson Acres tour; school forest treasure hunt; water and light utility electric car; Milwaukee's Discovery World booth; Go Green Buy Local farmer's market; green car show featuring hybrid, electric and biofuel vehicles.
Performing: 4:30 p.m., middle school jazz band; 5 p.m., Steve Hoffenberg; 5:30 p.m., Discovery World; 6 p.m., second grade singers; 6:30 p.m., "recycled" fashion show/speeches; 7 p.m., Lego Lords, Ken Lonnquist and Kenland Band.
For more information: Call Robin at Evansville Community Partnership at (608) 882-0598, e-mail ecpi@litewire.net, or visit www.evansville-wi.net.
EVANSVILLE — Senior Kelsey Wunderlich carefully cut slits in a black garbage bag.
"Oh, that's going to look neat!" Sandi Konkel said.
They were transforming the garbage bag into a dress for the "Recycled Trash to Fashion Show" at the Seventh Annual Evansville Earth Day Energy Fair on Friday.
Konkel and Diane Bump, both children's library clerks at Eager Free Public Library, organized the show with a handful of middle and high school students. They settled on doing a fashion show while looking for ideas in magazines for their summer reading program.
"That's the one that just jumped out at me," Bump said. "I'm like, 'Yes, yes, yes!'"
The library is working with Discovering Youth Arts to have another recycled-clothing fashion show with younger kids this summer.
"This was one of the programs we decided we would try to do," Konkel said, "and the Energy Fair is the perfect time to do it."
The group met last week at the library, where Wunderlich, 17, cut fringes in three layers of a garbage bag skirt. She started with a sketch for a basic strapless dress but decided to "add a little something" with duct tape around the middle.
The girls will take the stage to model their creations at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Energy Fair. Other materials include duct tape, bubble wrap and newspaper.
Emily Conn, 12, heard of a girl who went to prom in a duct tape dress, so she thought she'd give that a try.
But plans changed when she found it took a whole roll just to make a 1-foot skirt. She used a garbage bag to make the top half of the dress.
"I was a little worried about how it would turn out considering I had a limited amount of duct tape," she said. "But in the end, after three or four hours, I managed to get something semi-pretty, or usable, or wearable."
May 2, 2009 at 12:45 a.m.
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These fashions are more about the art than function. UW Stout had a show recently called fashion without fabric. There are some great pictures of the designs at VolumeOne website.
http://volumeone.org/photos/albums/4/132...
Apr 20, 2009 at 12:05 p.m.
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As always, the greenest product you can get is the one you don't buy. Reuse and recycle. Of course things like duct tape dresses are fun and silly, but it helps make the point that creativity is half of the hurdle. We live in such a wasteful consumer culture that it's hard to see how even small changes add up.
Apr 20, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.
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Another great idea using alternative materials: Instead of taking your old VCR cassettes to the landfill, break open those plastic cases and use the video tape within to knit or crochet ...a farmer's market bag, a door mat, or endless other items that need to be very durable. "Downside"?...it makes a lot of noise crinkling as you work and you have no choice of colors. "Upside?" - indestructable!
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