Sydenham High School fashion show

Wilma Kenny | Apr 26, 2012

Sydenham High’s annual fashion show, as always, was a glorious spring burst of energy, sound, colour and fun. The auditorium rocked with cheers, music and laughter throughout an hour-long, fast-paced show which featured skits, dancing and lots of great outfits loaned by a range of Kingston stores. Clothing lines featured everything from sleepwear, swimwear and general sportswear, through day clothes to prom outfits and a stunning bridal gown with a full sweeping skirt that could be transformed in a moment to a shorter dress for dancing.

At the beginning, the lights came up on a bare brick wall with the show theme, “Backbeat” painted across, flanked by a couple of stacks of smoking tires. The school to community students opened the show. Shy at first, they soon warmed to the enthusiastic audience. In between the fashion sets that followed, a running skit by senior drama students riffed on the “Oz” story, and the SHS dancers performed two sets. Members of the drama classes, in full costume, put in a tantalizing pitch for Arsenic and Old Lace (coming to SHS in May).

The fashion show is a huge production, with as many or more people working behind the scenes as there are on stage. Shelley Brooks has been the coordinator behind it all, for the past 20 years. “This will be the last year for such a big show,” Shelley says. “Next year, it will be much smaller, perhaps more an afternoon event in the cafeteria for Mother’s Day.”