Morristown seniors show off their model behavior at fashion show

Getting ready before the big show. Sharon Sheridan photo
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By Sharon Sheridan    

“Can someone tie this in a bow?”    

“Who needed a tag tucked?”    

“Anybody have lip gloss?”    

Getting ready before the big show. Sharon Sheridan photo

Backstage at Whippany’s Birchwood Manor, 14 Morristown High School girls were making last-minute adjustments to their attire as they prepared to pair up with 14 male classmates to model the latest casual fashions before an audience of 500. Later, they’d change into formal wear and, finally, appear for the “finale” wearing T-shirts with this year’s theme: Peace, Love, MHS.    

Lacross player and fashion model for a night Kyle Goss shows off this year's theme T-shirt backstage. Sharon Sheridan photo

The annual dinner and fashion show aimed to raise $30,000 to fund Project Graduation, an all-night alcohol-free party on graduation night. Local businesses provided clothes, hair styling, food, flowers, makeup and jewelry for the evening.    

The student models, all seniors, attended fittings at sponsoring stores and chose clothing “based on personality,” said LeeAnn Barone, who coordinated the models and show.    

“We picked what the kids felt comfortable in,” said her co-coordinator, Nancy Colvin.    

Despite the “peace and love theme,” she said, “They’re not walking out in tie-dyes.”    

Ellisa Davis wore '70s-style wedgies shoes, fitting in with the theme. Sharon Sheridan photo

Added Barone, “They don’t want to walk out in ’70s clothes.”    

The students seemed to like the clothes they did wear.    

“I just tried on a lot of stuff that’s out of my price range,” recounted Craig Barone, who plans to major in international business at the University of South Carolina. “My mom bought a lot of it.”    

For the formal wear, “they gave you a bunch of different options,” said Leah Horowitz, who will attend Penn State. For the casual outfit, “we were able to just walk around the store and pick what we wanted.”    

And she liked what she found. “I would wear that to school,” she said.    

Ellisa Davis’ formal outfit was a purple-, green- and pink-splattered dress. “Purple’s my favorite color,” she said.   

Jack Klocksin and Ellisa Davis pose in their formal wear, while emcees Patricia Mattos and Chris Hull give the play by play. Sharon Sheridan photo

Davis arrived with experience, having modeled in fashion shows twice at Calvary Baptist Church in Morristown. “I’m still nervous about it,” said the senior, who will attend Penn State-Altoona to major in international business and minor in Japanese, with an eye toward studying abroad.    

Other students had no modeling experience but appeared undaunted.    

Parading arm-in-arm down the runway with Viviana Novello, David Levine plays to the crowd at the Birchwood Manor. Sharon Sheridan photo

“It’s my first time,” said David Levine, who’s headed to Penn State next year and was among two sets of triplets modeling. “I’m kind of ready to strike a pose.”    

Horowitz said she expected be nervous “the first second when I walk on stage.”    

“Once I get out there, I’ll be fine,” she predicted. “We practiced a couple of times.”    

Also new to performing in the show were the emcees for the evening, special-education teacher and head football coach Chris Hull and health and physical education teacher plus tennis coach Patricia Mattos, who is retiring after 38 years at the high school.    

Doug Goss and Sarah Needle model at the end of the runway. Sharon Sheridan photo

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” predicted Mattos, who chaperones Project Graduation each year.    

“You never get a rush like a fashion show,” Hull said.    

Onstage, Hull and Mattos bantered a bit before introducing the models, relaying details about the students’ accomplishments and college plans as well as their fashionable attire. The seniors arrived onstage in couples, matched by height, to pose in the center of a star formed of red balloons. They then walked together down a runway shaped like an upside down T, splitting at the bottom to pose at either end and coming together in the center – often with a little pantomime, including one mock wedding proposal – before strolling back to the star.    

“It was a lot of fun,” Kyle Goss said afterward.  

Leah Horowitz and Alec Schunk show off their casual attire. Sharon Sheridan photo

“I was a little nervous,” said Goss, who will attend the University of Salisbury in Maryland next year. “We just all came to have a good time.”  

Pat Lia strikes a cool pose at the end of the runway. Sharon Sheridan photo

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David Garrett and Paige DiAntonio leave the runway after modeling their casual outfits. Sharon Sheridan photo

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