Walking into the Gavle Rooms Sunday, March 16, music hyped up the crowd, sleek decorations were hung and a runway carpet was laid ready for the show. Held during Women’s History Month, “Shades of Beauty” is an annual event to celebrate and empower the women of the Augustana community. This year, the theme was “Fashion Unfiltered: Own It, Wear It, Be It,” and the women of Augustana delivered it.
New this year, “Shades of Beauty” was a student-led event for the first time. Ashley Allen, founder of “Shades of Beauty” and executive director of inclusion and intercultural experiences, said that she initially created this event for the women of the Augustana campus. This year, she wanted to allow students to create a day they knew their peers would love.
“I started this event about six or seven years ago,” Allen said. “It really came from hearing from a woman on our campus [say that they] didn’t feel like they were enough. And so for me, I asked, ‘How can I solve this problem?’ So, I created an opportunity that I felt was [a way] to empower women. This year, I really wanted to share this vision with other women and give them the opportunity to lead an event like this, to really envision how they want to put this on for their peers across campus.”
Creating “Shades of Beauty” is no easy task, and it took long months of planning to pull off the spectacular event. All this had to start with an idea, and this year’s idea was fashion.
Fashion Unfiltered encompasses the wide range of styles that Augustana students take up. Everyone was encouraged to dress how they liked and in what made them feel the most confident.
From streetwear to quinceanera dresses to leather and sparkles, everywhere you looked in the room showed a unique taste in style.
Junior Diya Adhikari, an ambassador for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OSID) and this year’s student lead for Shades of Beauty planning, said that they wanted to have fashion as this year’s theme because it’s a part of everyone’s lives.
“We had to ask: ‘How can we diversify fashion?’” Adhikari said. “How can we make it into something that everybody could visit? But we realized that whatever you’re wearing, that’s fashion to you. And that’s what makes you you.”
Unlike previous years, the “Shades of Beauty” committee purposely left out a dress code for the event to further emphasize their message of own it, wear it and be it.
“We usually have dress codes, like wear pink for Barbie,” Adhikari said. “But this year, we wanted to keep it very open-ended for everyone. People can go as extreme or as casual as they want. We just wanted everyone to be comfortable, confident and show up as your true self.”
A few of this year’s highlights included guest speaker Tanaja Ross, founder of AJA Styles Fashion & Accessories Boutique, the highly anticipated fashion show and the Bling It Up Station, where attendees could bedazzle hair accessories and make jewelry.
One of the most exciting parts of the day was the rocking runway, where fourteen Augustana women took to the red carpet in their signature style. Hosted by Lanette Turner from Dress For Success, a collaborator for this year’s “Shades of Beauty,” the crowd was on their feet and clapping for their fellow Augie students as they showed off their fits.
Sophomore Amiyah Woods, one of the models who owned the catwalk during the event, said that her friend asked her to participate in the fashion show.
“I was pretty nervous,” Woods said. “I’ve never done anything like this before, so it was kinda nerve-wracking to go out there even though I rehearsed a bunch of times. But it ended up being a lot of fun, and I got so much support from everyone!”
As the event started to wind down, with the participants leaving with a new perk in their step and their own DIY blinged-out accessory, it was easy to see the smiles on everyone’s faces at another “Shades of Beauty.”