PREBLE COUNTY — The projects on display at the Style Revue are done at home and at 4-H meetings, as advisors and parents coach how to press a seam, how to sew a buttonhole, how to pick fabric and patterns, how to make material lie flat under the foot of a sewing machine. All these skills come into the light of the Toney building on Thursday evening of fair week, when models display the products in the annual Style Revue. To the applause of family, friends, and fellow 4-Hers, models show the garments constructed and selected after months of consideration.
On Aug. 6, this year’s competitors showed projects ranging from sundresses and skirts to formal dresses and casual shorts. Junior Fair board member Stephen Garrett announced each member, the pattern and details on the garment, and where the outfit would be appropriately worn. Judges were Linda Varner, a long-time judge of style revues, and Debbie Cina, a visiting extension agent with the Master Clothing Educator certification.
Varner and Cina awarded Outstanding of the Day awards to JP Marshall, who made a shirt and shorts in the Clothing for Middle School category, and Maria Kern, who did the Creative Costumes project and made a red-caped split skirt black costume.
After each category, Garrett announced places, and Nutrition, Textile, and Arts Queen Catie Millhouse handed prizes and ribbons to the craftswomen and men. This year’s fair court was the first to have a Nutrition and Textile Arts queen, and winner Millhouse is also a Food and Fashion Board member. Working the show, Millhouse said, was “less stress” than participating, and gave her “more chance to interact with participants.”
The event is staffed by Food and Fashion Board members, who coordinate nutrition and clothing education for the county throughout the year. Aryn Landes, who has been on the board for five years, participated in the Revue for the first time this year. “It was a good experience,” she said. “We were early, which was unusual, and it went really smooth.”
In addition to display and model of the garments, pre-fair awards were announced, with awards in design going to Kaitlyn Lake, fashion to Harlie Turpin, construction to Matthias Marshall, best interview to Hannah Lee, fit to Juli Couch, and Outstanding of the Day to Elliana Hurst and Maria Kern. Whether awarded in pre-fair judging, state fair awards, or the style revue, fashion winners represented a colorful side of Preble County.
