Figures and Icons

Abstract

“Settle down. Settle down!” Mrs. Frisch repeated for the third time. The fashion club was having its first official meeting of the year and everyone was excited to talk about designing and how the club worked and to learn more about their first competition of the year.

“Settle down. Settle down!” Mrs. Frisch repeated for the third time. The fashion club was having its first official meeting of the year and everyone was excited to talk about designing and how the club worked and to learn more about their first competition of the year.

“Now let’s see,” Mrs. Frisch started, looking at an index card she held in her perfectly manicured hand. Mrs. Frisch looked amazing, as usual.

For a middle school teacher, Missy thought Mrs. Frisch always looked ­glamorous and put together. Today, she wore navy cigarette pants, which were all clean lines, narrowing down to the ankle. The pants stopped right at the top of her ankles which peeked out above her bright red, canvas espadrilles. Mrs. Frisch sported a striped navy and white, three-quarters sleeve jersey shirt. To bring the whole look together, she topped it off with a nautical themed blue and red silk scarf with gold anchors on it. Très chic, Missy thought, wondering why this outfit made her want to speak French.

Navy and red plus gold anchors and white equal dy-no-mite. With her bobbed brown hair and golden highlights, Missy thought Mrs. Frisch might spend her summers acting in movies or posing for magazine covers.

Everyone settled in their seats at the raised draft tables. “First, we need a name for the fashion club,” Mrs. Frisch continued. “Second, we need to elect a few leaders. And, third, we need to do some planning.”

AJ’s hand shot into the air as she bounced up and down in her seat waiting for Mrs. Frisch to call on her. “Yes, Andrea?” Mrs. Frisch asked.

“What about our first competition?” AJ asked.

“Right. I’m so thrilled to see many of you have taken the initiative to get a head start! We will absolutely get to that!” Mrs. Frisch exclaimed. “Let’s get the administrivia out of the way—then we’ll jump into the fun!”

Everyone agreed to that and started brainstorming possible club names. This led to a heated discussion among all the club members, which included another four students from the seventh and eighth grades whom Missy had never met. They too must have heard the rumors about the upcoming event, as they had brought looks of their own. Missy was eager to hear about their inspiration and design process.

Finally, the students narrowed down their club name choices to two possibilities: Fashion Figures and Fashion Icons. Five against five is a standstill. And, when the matter could not be settled by a vote, Mrs. Frisch suggested a compromise taking terms from both name ideas. This new combination suited everyone perfectly and the vote to name their club “Figures and Icons” was unanimous.

“Loooove it!” Danny shouted puckering his face and walking like a model. Everyone laughed.

“Okay, designers. Time to elect our club leaders.” Mrs. Frisch explained that every club had special roles to help keep activities organized and to be sure everything was planned appropriately. She also explained that while not everyone could have a leadership role, everyone in the club was responsible for keeping it fun and making it a great experience.

“We need to elect a president to run our meetings and help lead the planning for activities. We also need a communications manager to coordinate our SocialMe page, write announcements, and blog about our competitions, and we need a treasurer to keep track of our fundraising and expenses.”

“If you are interested in one of these roles, please step to the front of the classroom.” A strange silence crept across the room as everyone considered the leadership roles and gauged their individual interest.

AJ and Missy made their way to the front of the room, stopping to whisper their preferences to Mrs. Frisch. Two eighth graders also stepped up. After a few minutes, there were still just four people standing with Mrs. Frisch at the head of the class, and the chatter resumed.

“Ahem!” Mrs. Frisch cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “It seems we have an unusual situation. We have two candidates interested in being president and two candidates interested in being communications manager. We still need a treasurer, which is a vital role for the fashion club! Who’s interested in that role? Come on up!”

“I’m terrible at math,” said Mahdavi.

“You are not,” Morgan insisted. Morgan had slipped into the meeting midway into the voting for the club.

Kate crossed her arms and scowled at Mahdavi’s comment, “You could be treasurer, if you wanted.”

Danny whispered to Morgan, “My mama says I’m only good at spending money. Not keeping track of it.”

AJ elbowed Missy who was standing beside her at the front of the room. “You should be treasurer. You’re so great at math. And you love it,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

Missy felt the heat rise up from her stomach to her head, and her cheeks turned bright red. The last thing she wanted to be known for were her math skills. “No way,” she whispered. “I’m running for president.”

Morgan raised her hand tentatively. “Um. Mrs. Frisch, I suppose I could give it a try. I’ve never been a treasurer before. It might be fun?” She said the last part like a question, and Mrs. Frisch winked at her.

“Excellent! Yes, it will be fun,” Mrs. Frisch reassured her, as she motioned for Morgan to come to the front of the classroom. “Congratulations, Morgan! Come on up. You are the club’s treasurer.” The students applauded, eager to finish the elections and move on to hear the details of the looming first competition.

Mrs. Frisch turned to the four other candidates standing with her. She spoke briefly to them, then she separated them into two groups. She announced, “Your candidates for president are Paula Teehan and Melissa Maker. Your ­candidates for communications manager are Andrea Jane Dupre and Yooni Park.” AJ tensed up and wrinkled her nose at the use of her full and proper name. It always sounded so strange to her ears.

“Each person will speak for two minutes to share their qualifications for the roles, and then we will vote!” Mrs. Frisch concluded.

Paula Teehan had been the club’s communications manager the year before, and she talked about her experience in the club and how she could lead Figures and Icons as club president this school year. Missy spoke about her love of fashion and her eagerness to help the club do well. In the end, Paula won by a single vote—Missy’s. Missy respected her experience and hoped that she could work closely with Paula and learn how to be a good leader. In the second vote, AJ won the communications manager position, as she was already well known for her social media skills and daily SocialMe postings, which had a tremendous following.

With the elections wrapped up and only a few minutes left in the meeting, Mrs. Frisch talked about the competitions ahead and how they would work. Each competition would have a theme to inspire original designs, and for most events, teams would show three to five looks, which meant that the club had to work as a team most of the time and not as individuals. There would be events later in the year where each participant could show their own designs, but that would come later. Each club was responsible for getting their own fabrics, notions, and supplies, though they could solicit donations from local businesses. Mrs. Frisch brought out the club’s stash—club leftovers and donations from previous years. To Missy’s eyes, it was a magic box, filled with mystery and potential. Mrs. Frisch continued to share that they would act as their own models. They would decide who would wear the looks for each competition so the models could be fitted properly. Everyone buzzed and shared their excitement.

“Finally,” Mrs. Frisch said, “next week we have our first competition. I see ­several of you have brought in designs. Work among yourselves to sort out who will model them and in our remaining time let’s work on fittings.”

They chose AJ, Kate, Mahdavi, a seventh grader named SallyAnn, and Yooni as models for the first competition. The girls quickly changed into the ­outfits, and Mrs. Frisch consulted on simple adjustments and fitting techniques to ­consider. She reminded them that accessories and finishing touches like shoes and jewelry and handbags would complete their looks. Everyone left the meeting excited and feeling ready for their first event.

The bus ride from CHAPS to New Milford Regional seemed to take forever. Seven miles never seemed so long as when a whole busload of students was eager to arrive. Thirty miles per hour means we should arrive in fourteen minutes plus stop lights plus loading and unloading. Will we ever get there, Missy wondered.

When they finally arrived, Mrs. Frisch, a few CHAPS teachers, and all ten members of Figures and Icons de-boarded. The club members carried vinyl zippered garment bags, make-up cases and boxes with shoes and other ­accessories. Mrs. Frisch pulled a large rolling suitcase behind her. It was the club’s show go-box, which held scissors, double-sided tape, a travel steam iron, needles, threads, buttons, zippers and a complete first aid kit.

Today, Mrs. Frisch had really outdone herself! She was dressed in a royal blue sheath dress and a smart cropped jacket that matched the dress perfectly. Her black heels click-click-clicked as she walked ahead of the students. Everyone marched in a line behind Mrs. Frisch. She led the students into the school and down a side hallway to the gym.

“Spectators proceed to the gymnasium bleachers. Figures and Icons, we are heading into the locker room. There are six teams competing today! We will share our locker room with two other teams. Please be courteous and respectful of our hosts and other competitors,” Mrs. Frisch reminded the students.

As she entered and looked around, Missy was confused. The locker room had been transformed. She never would have guessed that sports teams spent any time in here. Pipes with drapes hung along one side of the room ­creating individual nooks to give models some privacy while they changed clothes. Three raised platforms, several full-length mirrors and three clothing racks on wheels had been placed strategically around the room so that each team had a defined working area. As Figures and Icons set up in their designated space, students from the competing schools came by and introduced themselves. Everyone was nervous and excited. As the students began opening their ­garment bags, a hush came over the room. Teams concentrated on dressing their models and preparing them for the runway show.

Missy squeezed AJ’s hand. She carefully removed their dress from its ­garment bag. Missy and AJ had designed the dress and then constructed it using ­material from Molly’s high school prom dress, an old t-shirt from Mr. Maker, and a few neckties that AJ’s step-dad had contributed to the cause. It could have been a hot mess, but they kept it simple and tasteful while trying to reflect their personalities.

Missy had wanted the dress to be knee-length and AJ wanted it to be flowy, so they combined their visions and they loved their final creation. After two summers at her favorite maker camp, Camp Winnebago, where Missy took classes in machine sewing, Missy was an expert seamstress. Plus, G-ma had taught her a few hand sewing techniques for embellishment.

Everything Missy loved was coming together. The two-piece look she created with AJ combined black lace over a sleeveless, white jersey crop top with a printed black and white floral skirt with deep side pockets that poofed out. A textured black silk tie made up the waistline and tied at the side. The outfit shimmered when it moved under the fluorescent light in the locker room. It was sure to dazzle on the runway.

“Not bad for one weekend of work!” AJ bragged.

Missy nodded as she smoothed the lace with her hands. “Twelve hours, thirty-nine minutes, to be exact,” she said. “Now let’s put it on you!”

AJ carefully took the dress into one of the changing stalls to put on, while Missy unpacked five bracelets and two necklaces, two handbags, three pairs of black and one pair of nude shoes. They had not decided how they would accessorize or which shoes to wear, so AJ had packed all of her dress shoes and Missy had borrowed some jewelry from G-ma and a few bags to try.

When AJ stepped up on the platform in the dress, Mrs. Frisch stepped over. “Andrea, you look wonderful! Let’s get your hair up and put on a little blush.” She waved over Morgan who carried a small case that looked like a fishing tackle box and wore an apron holding multiple brushes and hair notions. Though she was not a model for this show, Morgan was made up, dressed in a stylish one-piece romper with frilly shorts, and she looked ready to walk the runway. “Can you help AJ with a touch of make-up?” Mrs. Frisch directed.

Morgan worked quickly, pinning up AJ’s curly red hair, leaving a few curls to frame her face, and swooped and swirled a brushful of blush on each cheek. “There you are,” Morgan said and flounced over to Kate who was just ­coming out of a changing stall.

Missy was amazed that Morgan could work so well and so quickly, especially as AJ was up and down trying on each of the shoes and teetering around on the platform. They settled on the nude shoes and added all the jewelry Missy had borrowed. They decided to skip a bag.

“I love it!” Missy declared and snapped a photo of AJ alone on the platform and another one posing with her. Then she posted them both with the hashtag TrueToYou.

The whole team scuttled silently between the clothing racks, go-bags, boxes, changing rooms and shared platform. It was like a choreographed dance; ­everyone somehow knew what to do. Whenever anyone needed help, ­someone appeared with the solution. Missy felt so grown up and proud to be showing off something she had designed and made with her very own hands!

“Okay. Two minutes to the runway models. Take your numbers as you exit and hold onto them. Everyone else, head out to chairs and bleachers,” Mrs. Frisch announced. “We’ll line up by the door and I’ll send the models out one at a time. Remember to smile and hold up your number for the judges to see.”

Figures and Icons was the first team to walk the runway. Danny sat next to Missy and commented on each outfit as the models showed them off. It was hard to hear him over the soundtrack playing over the loudspeaker. When his design partner, Mahdavi, emerged Danny nearly leapt out of his seat. “Hot dog!” he said. “She looks great!”

Mahdavi wore an outfit that looked like a sari shrunk to just above her knees. Layers of colorful fabric swayed around her as she walked. She winked at her teammates at the end of the runway, tossed her head back throwing her long, flowing brown hair over her shoulder, then quickly turned and walked back to the locker room.

Missy nodded. Everyone looked like a real model. She counted the steps each model took from the time she stepped out onto the runway until she turned to go back. She divided that number by the five models on her team. Twelve steps on average from door across floor.

When the Figures and Icons models finished on the runway, they came out and sat in another section of the gym opposite Missy and Danny. Missy was disappointed that AJ could not be next to her for the rest of the show. She waved across the runway and AJ waved back with her paddle number, “134.” Then they quickly became mesmerized by the remaining competition.

The schools’ few spectators whooped and whistled for their schools’ teams. In awe of the outfits marching down the runway, Missy’s mouth hung open.

“You catchin’ flies?” Danny asked Missy. He tapped Missy’s chin with his index finger, and she closed her mouth.

“I’m so impressed,” Missy said.

“And inspired,” she heard Paula say from right behind her. “Isn’t it great how everything comes together out of the chaos? I just love it!”

Missy and Danny nodded in agreement. This experience was so different from anything she had ever done before. Even at maker camp, though they had a show at the end of the two weeks of camp, the production did not measure up to this, plus the fashion was intermingled with so many of the campers’ other creations.

“Just wait till we get to state finals,” said SallyAnn enthusiastically. A normally reserved and very quiet seventh grader in the club, SallyAnn wore a gray CHAPS sweatshirt over her OOTD. Her skin was very pale, and she had ­delicate features. With the shirt pulled down over her knees, SallyAnn looked as if the sweatshirt had swallowed her whole, Missy thought.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Paula cautioned. “This is our first runway of the year. We’ve got a long, LONG way to go before we can even talk about that!”

Missy hit herself on the head with the butt of her hand. OMG, she thought. She had been so wrapped up in the production, she had forgotten to take any photos. She pulled out her smartphone and snapped pictures of the remaining looks, adding notes to remember how the outfits made her feel.

The music suddenly changed, and the remaining models took their seats. Missy leaned right and posed next to Danny for a selfie and then leaned left and posed with Morgan. As she reviewed the photos, she saw Paula had photo-bombed them both. Missy laughed and posted her pix with the TrueToYou hashtag.

The six school club advisors and another adult marched in a line to the end of the stage. Missy turned her attention back to the runway as the music quieted.

“Welcome, students and spectators. I am principal of New Milford Regional. We are so happy to host the first fashion club meet of the season. Congratulations to our teams for an amazing show. Let’s hear it for the fashion club teams.” The crowd applauded and whistled. For a small group, their squeals and cheers made it feel as if the gym was packed full. The students in the bleachers stomped their feet and shook the whole room.

“Yes! Yes!” Principal Edwards spoke over the crowd, and used his hands to mime, “Quiet down. Now I’m sure you are all eager to hear the results, but first let’s introduce the schools and their advisors.”

Missy tuned out a bit and looked around the room. She tried to spot G-ma or her father among the spectators. She knew her dad had to work, but G-ma promised to be there. And, there she was sitting in the bleachers. G-ma waved wildly when she noticed Missy looking in her direction, and Missy waved back, smiling.

Each advisor spent a few minutes introducing their school and having their teams stand up to be recognized. Then came the introduction of the judges, which included the owner of a local fabric store called Notions, Mrs. Kilpatrick, the art and design teacher at New Milford Regional, Mrs. Lopez, and finally a special guest judge, the real-life model and designer Sarah DeMott. They all waved from their seats at the end of the runway.

The audience cheered. Missy was practically dumbstruck to see Sarah DeMott. Here they were in a small New Jersey town and the world-famous, actual cover girl, Sarah DeMott, was judging their fashion meet. She had to pinch herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. “Ouch,” Missy said, reminding her that this was no dream.

“We’ll announce the winners by their numbers, so they can come up on the runway to hear critiques and feedback from our judges. If you designed in teams, the whole team should come up,” the principal explained as the team advisors stepped down from the runway. “As a reminder, advisors will receive written critiques for all looks to share with their teams.” He took an envelope from a student at the end of the runway. “Okay. Here we go,” he announced. “We have number one-oh-nine. One-zero-nine. Designers and models, come on up.”

Everyone scanned the model section as no one seemed to be moving. Then, one teammate from New Milford Regional elbowed her friend who had set her number on the floor. She popped up with a screech and ran to the runway. From Missy’s section, two students got up to join the model. The three of them danced in a circle on the runway.

“Okay. Next, we have one-thirty-four. One-three-four,” the principal read.

Missy didn’t hesitate, she was out of her seat and up on the stage before AJ could get there. They hugged each other tightly jumping up and down.

The principal paused, turned to smile at the group on stage then said, “And, finally, please join us on the stage, number one-eighteen. One-one-eight!”

A loud whistle emanated from the crowd and someone shouted, “Go IVY!”

“Judges, teachers, students and spectators, I present the winners of the True To You fashion competition,” the principal said gesturing toward the group that had gathered on the runway behind him.

Everyone clapped and cheered, while Mrs. Frisch and another advisor came out and organized the teams on the stage at the top of the runway, so they could be seen by everyone.

When the crowd settled down, the principal left the stage and handed his microphone to the judges seated at the head of the runway. Mrs. Kilpatrick spoke first, “Let me start by saying that you are all winners. Each look we saw on the runway wowed us. I am so knocked out by what you have accomplished at your age. We judges had a tough time picking only three finalists.”

Missy fidgeted with her ponytail. She tugged it upward, imagining it was shooting to the moon. AJ touched her arm and Missy brought it down from her head back down to her side.

AJ whispered. “I totally cannot believe we are here. This is awesome.” AJ swayed slightly, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“Before we make our final selections, we would like to hear from each team about your inspiration and about how your look reflects the True To You theme,” Mrs. Kilpatrick continued.

The same student who had delivered the envelope to the principal, appeared on the stage with three hand-held microphones. He showed each team where the “on” switch was and then disappeared.

“Let’s start with one-eighteen,” supermodel designer Sarah DeMott said. “Tell us the name of your school, your team and share your inspiration.”

Ivy fumbled with her microphone, so Missy reached over and helped her switch it on.

“Oh. Got it. My name is Ivy,” she started. “I go to Fairmount Prep and our team is called the Fashionanimas.” She paused as her team stood up and cheered.

Ivy was wearing an all-white minidress with a backless halter top that showed off her shoulders. It was belted by a funky sculpture made of black paper clips intertwined with red paracord. Missy had never seen anything like this dress and she was fascinated by the fabric draping that seemed so effortless.

“Uh. It’s my design, and I am modeling too,” Ivy said. “My inspiration came to me as I was thinking about who was my muse—and I started thinking about mythology and the Greek and Roman goddesses—I thought, ‘How can I turn that into something that reflects my personality?’ and this is what I came up with?” Ivy ended her statement like a question, which always caught Missy off guard. She had been drilled by G-ma and her father specifically not to do that, because it sounds like you don’t believe what you are saying. So, she tried hard not to speak in questions when she was making statements.

Sarah DeMott said, “Well, I just love it. I would wear this on the red carpet. Tell me more about your belt. That’s so unusual and interesting.”

Ivy thought for a moment and then spoke, “Actually, engineering is my first love. I love to put things together in interesting ways and I was playing around with some paper clips and before I knew it, I had a whole chain of them and I asked myself what more could I do to make that chain functional.”

Missy was stunned. She had never thought of using something like a paperclip in her fashions before. She wondered what other office supplies and trinkets she could make use of in some innovative way.

“Thank you, Ivy,” said Mrs. Lopez. “I think you did a great job, too. Let’s hear from one-thirty-four, next.”

AJ grasped Missy’s hand and squeezed hard. Missy used her thumb to switch on the microphone. “Hi, I’m Missy Maker,” she passed the microphone to AJ, “And I’m AJ Dupre. We’re from Cherry Hill.”

AJ passed the microphone back to Missy. “Our team is Figures and Icons,” she said and her schoolmates and team answered with whoops and chants of “Go CHAPS! Go CHAPS!”

“We were inspired by our school’s recycling campaign,” Missy said. She heard a loud whistle and looked up. G-ma was standing in the bleachers smiling widely. Missy continued, “We loved the idea of taking something old and remaking it into something completely new. Plus, our club got a late start this year and we had no money for materials,” she said and the audience laughed.

“I enjoyed the mixture of textures and patterns,” Sarah DeMott commented.

“I really liked the styling,” Mrs. Kilpatrick added.

“Yes.” The art teacher judge, Mrs. Lopez agreed, “This look is so modern and funky.”

AJ’s excitement overwhelmed her. Her sway became a full-on hop from one foot to the other. Missy shook her hand and arm and AJ slowed her jig back into a slow and steady sway.

“Good job. Okay. Team one-zero-nine, there are so many of you,” Mrs. Kilpatrick announced.

The last team was huddled together, with their model in the middle holding the microphone. “We’re the Gazingers from St. Mark’s Academy. I’m Amy,” said the model. “I’m Anthony,” Anthony said dipping his head to the microphone. “And I am Lola.”

Amy wore a two-piece outfit. The top was a blue square, which, to Missy, looked like a pillowcase with a head hole and arm holes cut out of it. The blue top was layered over a long pencil skirt that stayed narrow all the way to the floor. Missy wondered how Amy had walked down the runway without tripping on the dress.

Amy held the microphone while Lola continued, “We were inspired by sewing simplicity. We wanted to make a look using only straight lines and only sewing where it was absolutely needed. So you can see we have raw edges and really only one nearly continuous seam in each garment. We think it’s True To You because we each added one element to the project while keeping the simplicity and straight line idea at the center.”

“That’s so cool,” Sarah DeMott said.

“I agree,” said Mrs. Lopez. “That’s really a unique perspective!”

Mrs. Kilpatrick wrapped up, “Yes. I love your concept, though that skirt could probably be executed a little better so your model can get around more easily.”

After the teams’ remarks, the principal hopped up on the runway. “Let’s hear it for our finalists one more time.” The cheers and stomping came up and quickly died down as everyone was eager to hear the results.

The envelope boy appeared again passing a new envelope on. The ­principal pulled out a card and read from it. In third place, Gazingers!” St. Mark’s Academy fashion club advisor came up on the stage with a small trophy. The designers each held a part of it and posed for a picture.

Missy and AJ and Ivy were shaking with excitement and holding hands.

“In first place in the True to You event is Fashionanimas!”

Missy’s stomach dropped and she thought she would cry right on the spot. AJ pulled her in and gave her a hug. Then AJ cheered. “Great job, Ivy!” Missy liked that about AJ. She guessed it was AJ’s good-sportsman’s nature from all her years as an athlete that taught her to always cheer on the winner even in the face of defeat.

Mrs. Frisch joined them on stage carrying the second-place trophy. She held it high in the air as the team joined in and gathered close for a photo. That professional photo was followed by a series of selfies that were texted far and wide to social networks and beyond.

The Fairmount Prep advisor hopped onto the runway with a huge trophy. Ivy posed with her advisor, and that completed the event.

The competitors all headed back to the locker room to change into their normal clothes and to pack up for the bus ride back to CHAPS. Missy followed her teammates back to the locker room. She focused on cleaning up their area, picking up bobby pins, socks and random notions to pack away or throw away, the whole time calculating probabilities, wondering what she could have done differently to bring home the first-place trophy.

FormalPara Math Hack: What is a Probability?

Statistics is an area of math that focuses on probability. A probability is the likelihood of something occurring. It can be calculated using a ratio between all possibilities and likely occurrences. It is often represented as a fraction or as a percent. Percent means per one hundred.

Here’s a hack for you: Figure out the probability of getting a blue gumball from a jar of 30 gumballs where there are 10 each of red, blue and yellow gumballs. Looking at the whole jar, you know that 10 out of 30 will be blue gumballs. So, your chance of getting a blue one is 10/30 or 1/3. The probability is 1 in 3 chances or 33% that you will receive a blue gumball.

FormalPara Fun Fact

Weather newscasters use probabilities to report on the weather. There is no way to know exactly what the weather will be on any given day, so they use trends and data to determine the most likely scenarios.