Few entries, so no Trashion Fashion

Event canceled; was scheduled for Thursday night at the fair

The Fairly Outrageous Trashion Fashion Show has been canceled this year because of a lack of entries.

The event was scheduled for Thursday night at the San Juan County Fair and was expected to be a fair highlight. “A lack of entries has forced us to cancel the event,” Fair Manager Rev Shannon reported.

The first Fair-ly Outrageous Trashion Fashion Show and Design Contest, at the 2007 fair, was a big hit. Entries consisted of clothing made from recycled materials — what some people might call “junk” or “trash.”

Event creator and organizer Francie Hansen came up with the idea as a way to encourage people to find innovative ways to make use of cast-off materials. “I’m still amazed by the response to last year’s event,” she said in an earlier interview. “We had 18 entries and more than 300 people came out to watch the show.”

Despite the rain that began falling just before curtain time, it was standing-room-only at the outdoor event, and the attendees were not disappointed.

“We had such an amazing variety of people enter their creations, and that’s one of the best things about the contest,” Hansen recalled. “Anyone can enter. No design experience is necessary, and you don’t need to be an artist to enter. You just need imagination and the desire to turn something ‘useless’ into something wearable.”

This year, cash prizes of $50 were to be awarded in each of the following categories: Best use of recycled and found materials; best redesign and/or repurposing of already-made, used clothing; best Friday Harbor centennial theme design; and “most outrageous.”

“This is really all about people having fun turning trash into fashion,” Hansen said in the earlier interview. “I just want people to have a great time letting their imaginations run wild, letting themselves think outside of the recycle bin.”

Editor’s note: The Journal received word from the San Juan County Fair on Monday that the Trashion Fashion Show was canceled.

Cancellation notice was received after the San Juan County Fair Guide, produced by The Journal, was printed.

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