Sun Star Arts & Entertainment Editor Lacie Grosvold recently participated in Theatre UAF's Wearable Art fashion show.

An actress dressed as Jezebel flashes the audience, revealing five breasts that squirt water while girls donning fur and metallic bikinis strut on stage. This spectacle was the drama department's wearable arts fashion show.

Professional actors and amateurs alike joined together this past weekend to show off costumes from the past 15 years of theater at UAF. The show had no congruent plotline, just sets of costumes that were themed together in mini skits set to music. A little runway jutted out of the front of the stage where the photographers gathered and their camera flashes popped like at a big fashion show.

The performance went together without a lot of preparation. All performers got together for the first time the Friday night before the show for rehearsal. The format of the fashion show gave a loose outline of what was to happen in every scene, which provided a lot of leeway for each actor's creativity. There was a skit that highlighted the exits and entrances of each actor. The director, Tara Maginnis, assured us that this performance was more about the costumes than the actors.

The show was perfect for those who love elaborate costumes but lack an attention span required for drama. The scenes go by quickly and chaotically. A slight plotline in each, but the costumes reigned as the stars of the show.

I was a little shy at first because I am not a performer but also excited about the idea when I did a story on the upcoming show a few weeks ago and volunteered. I felt better when I found out that a lot of people there were not seasoned actors either. I had two costumes; one that was a "Jane Austin" type of dress with funky trim, the other was called "The Fool." It was a joker's costume for a king's court, complete with bejeweled buttons and a multi colored codpiece. I was feeling a little self-conscious when I dressed in my first costume until I realized one of my amateur friends was donning a fur bikini.

When we arrived, a table of stage makeup was set up and we were advised to do our makeup in colors that even the tackiest junior high girl could only dream about. At first, I shyly applied a little blush, and then a more generous heaping of eyeliner than usual. The veterans of the theater department demonstrated that such conservative attempts would simply not do. A talented makeup artist applied orange and yellow eye shadow all over my eyes, complete with purple eyelashes and when the director walked by she took one look and suggested "more glitter."

The first show was held in the evening for "mature audiences." It included the Jezebel costume, as well as costumes of male and female genitalia. The audience was rather small, but they hooted and hollered and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Performing, even in a fashion show, is harder than it looks. We spent about five hours in rehearsal, and that was just to manage a rather chaotic performance. I don't know how it looked onstage for sure, but I know there were many moments backstage where actors due to appear in seconds could not be found, entrances and exits were forgot, and costume changes were more than a little rushed.

I admit to suffering from a little stage fright, as even a receptive audience can make a performer self-conscious. The most entertaining people were the ones who were not afraid to be wild and have fun.