On March 27 Elizabethtown College’s Black Student Union, NOIR, hosted a fashion event with the BSUs from Millersville University and Franklin & Marshall College.

Thrift to Impress was a competition fashion show based on the Roblox game “Dress to Impress.” Students and staff were given the opportunity to comb through thrifted clothing, strut the runway, and bring style to life. 

The event was held in the Jay Lounge, but upstairs in the Blue Bean, vendors had set up with hundreds of pieces to choose from. Of the vendors were Persian Cat Vintage, FitsWithEm, DFP, Cat Queen Vintage, Blëächëd Outfittërs, and Afrobaby. Check out their vendor spotlights on @etownnoir Instagram for more information. 

Thanks to the vendors who provided pieces for the runway and for students’ personal collections, this event was made possible. There were three rounds of competition. 

The theme is dress like you are about to perform a concert. Round one was booming with musical magnificence. Twelve students from Etown, Millersville and Franklin & Marshall rocked the runway and looked amazing doing it. However, only one student could walk away a star. Elliot Morris, an Etown student, was awarded the crown.

The theme is dress like a day in Paris, old money edition. Round two was eloquent and sophisticated. Twelve students from Etown, Millersville and Franklin & Marshall put on their own Paris Fashion Week. Everyone worked the runway with elegance and grace, but one student qu’ils mangent de la brioche. Johana Almonte, the president of Millersville’s BSU, walked away as royalty.

The theme is 90s vs. 2000s. Round three took us back in time and brought Y2K back to life. Five students from Etown went up against five members of Etown faculty and staff. Students were to dress like the early 2000s, while faculty and staff were taken back to their childhoods and dressed to the nineties. This round had two winners, Etown student Bella King and Etown faculty Asia Lewis were the best of their decades. 

The idea for this event came from a student who has actually never played “Dress to Impress,” NOIR president, Kalen Tendo.

“The craziest thing about this is I’ve never played Dress to Impress before,” Tendo said. “People have been asking me to play it as we’ve been coming up to the event but I decided I’m not going to touch the game until after the show.”

Tendo wanted to put on more than a fashion show, he wanted to create a competition.

“I didn’t want to just put on a fashion show,” Tendo said. “Everybody does fashion shows, but if we can have a fashion competition, people going back and forth and dressing based on a theme. I think it would be intriguing enough and I think people would be more engaged.” 

For Tendo, this wasn’t just a fashion show, this was an opportunity to create a stronger community and support one another.

“The main purpose of my event at the end of the day was, besides the fashion, besides the thrifting, was to build a larger community,” Tendo said. “I want Etown to work with these other schools. The thing is there’s a lot of diversity in this event. That was a big thing because yes, I went to the black student unions but I wasn’t trying to recruit solely black students, I wanted every single person, every single identity, this was looking at every person.”

Tendo succeeded in his goals as he had an excellent turnout from Etown and Franklin & Marshall, however bus issues made it difficult for Millersville students to attend. Free transportation was organized for Franklin & Marshall and Millersville students who wished to attend. However, the bus driver got lost and failed to pick up Millersville students.

“We started calling Ubers for people,” Tendo said. “I really wanted to be able to get people access to affordable pieces of clothing and a great show. We had a lot of love from people who wanted to see the event so I had to find a way to make sure that these people couldcan attend.”

Despite the bus issues, the event had a great turnout and received the love it deserved. This event would not have been made possible without the countless students and staff who donated their time and offered grants and resources.

If you enjoyed Thrift to Impress, check out El Rodeo being put on by the Society of Latin Affairs at Millersville University on April 17. Join NOIR in building a stronger community and showing others some support.