Advice for putting on a vintage fashion show

Stormy said:

Great advice I know of a few venues that would welcome such an event. I just need to plan everything else.

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I'm glad I could help. I'd love to hear about the details of your event, as it unfolds.

A new day, a new detail to ponder. I feel I have the fashion show portion under control, so now I'm turning my attention to the tea portion. After the fashion show, we're holding a sit down tea in a separate hall. I was thinking to have the models in their final looks lead the audience down to the hall, having some stop at important locations (like the hallway leading to the bathrooms) to act as guides. But I'm pondering how to seat the throng...
As I see it, I have 3 options. 1- Free for all. I let them seat themselves as we usually do with church suppers and picnics. Pro- It isn't labor intensive. People get to sit with who they want. Con- It could be an awful mess. It's likely to lead to inefficient use of seating, leaving empty spaces when seating will be at a premium. 2- Hostess seating. I have a few church ladies seat guests as they would at a restaurant. Pro- Efficient use of seating. All seats could be filled. More professional looking. Con- Very labor and detail intensive. These ladies haven't been trained in food service. Could be time consuming and stressful. 3- Assigned seating a la wedding reception seating. We use placecards and seating charts and people seat themselves. Pro- Efficient use of seating. Hopefully quicker than hostess seating. Con- Heavy on preparation. People may or may not get to sit where they want. (I'd plan on seating blocks of tickets together.)
So, does anybody have any thoughts? Any experience with something like this? I'd LOVE input. Thanks!

Nobody has an opinion? I'll let you know what the Fellowship committee decides at their meeting in a week.

Oh, and I have a loaned item that I'm not sure about. I'll try to get a pic posted into "Help me date this" soon. It's emerald green satin cuffed pants (metal zip, very roomy below the waist, kinda bell-bottomy, old time satin), and a crop top (kind of a wide bandeau, with shoulder straps. Buttons up the front.) and a loooong sash. I swear this thing is almost 10 feet long, and ends in golden tassles.

I learned a couple new things with interpersonal relationships and fashion shows recently.

#1- Think out carefully how long the models will need to change clothes. This is impacted by a number of things, from experience of models, to distance from runway to dressing room, to complexity of clothing. For example if you want a model to change clothes hair and makeup (from period to period), it would take longer than if they were just to change clothes. I would say it's insanity to try to do a full change (including hair and makeup) in less than 10-15 minutes. That means, for a half hour show, a model might only have 2 or 3 outfits. Be ready and willing to explain this, and do not let a model convince you out of your better judgement. It's better that the model has fewer outfits and has to wait for a couple minutes rather than to have a model run late, and cause a weird pause in your show or force the MC to have to announce outfits out of order.

#2 Don't feed the drama queens. The chances are, in working this kind of event, you will end up with at least one drama queen or prima donna. It's the nature of the beast. Do not let them engage you in a power struggle. Do not seek to scold rude behavior, or look for an apology. This "feeds the drama queen" and will in all likelihood, generate a power struggle, or make the offender worse. Decide if the problem person is worth dealing with. If not, simply thank them for their interest and say that you don't think that you require their services at this time. If you do need them, it's harder, but my advice is to not feed the beast. As much as possible, let them be, give them as much space as possible, and don't give them openings to create a power struggle.

#3 Don't be a prima donna or a drama queen. It isn't pretty.

A long, long time ago I appeared in a fashion-show event put on by the radio station where I was working at the time, and the thing I remember most about the experience is that the models needed to put their personal egos aside and realize that the only reason they were there was to exhibit the clothes. It didn't matter if they "didn't like the look" or not -- and that was the hardest thing for most of them to overcome. If someone is thinking of participating in any kind of a fashion show, that's the first thing they have to get thru their heads: it's not about them, it's about the clothes. People who can't get past that are best left out of the production.

Fantastic point!

The show went absolutely beautifully. The models were lovely, the MC was great, a good time was had by all. It was definitely important to have two rehearsals; one to work on walking and timing, and the second, a dress rehearsal. I found the most important thing was to slow everyone (the models, the narrator, etc.) down. You can run through 30 outfits in 30 minutes otherwise, and not have enough time to change. It's vital to schedule models with enough time between them to change. I found a minimum of 5 girls in between changes worked, but it was better to have more like 7 or 8. It's important for your dressers and hair and makeup to know who has the most difficult looks, or who has the most trouble changing, so they can help them first. You find a lot of that out in the dress rehearsal. I found it best to schedule the most time intensive looks in the first set of outfits, and to have the girls come an hour or more early to get them ready. It was also best to simplify hair and make up changes during the show. Just a change of lipstick can do wonders, and takes less time than changing eye makep.
I'm waiting on pictures from our photographer, and look forward to sharing them!

Great! I'd love to see the photos.

I'd love to see the photos as well!