Image Makers Club’s first show flaunts future looks from cosmetology

Three MHCC students made a fashion statement January 28th at the College Center when MHCC’s Image Makers Club held its 1st annual Winter Fantasy Fashion Show.

The 1st place winner, second year MHCC student Marc Crosse, was unavailable for an interview. He won a new pair of sheers as well as a load of other prizes.

The 2nd place winner was Melanie Palomo. Palomo, from Portland, is a 2nd year student at MHCC. The Winter Fantasy Fashion Show is Palomo’s first competition.

“I was never interested in Cosmetology at first,” said Palomo. But, she says that she’s now interested in cosmetology because, “I like to be creative and working in Cosmetology is flexible.”

Days before the runway show Palomo said, “I was nervous.” Palomo had an idea of what she wanted her model to look like on the runway. The day before the fashion show Palomo dyed her model’s hair. Palomo wanted to incorporate an orb to put in her models hair, but an accident occurred; “Originally the orb was supposed to be gold, but it turned out to be pink.” Even with the accident

Palomo’s overall look stood out and she earned the 2nd place position.

When asked about how she felt when the judges called her number Palomo says, “I was shocked. My friend was like, ‘they called your number!’ And I was shocked and excited!” She said her inspiration for style is Lady Gaga. Palomo incorporated the unique sense of style that Lady Gaga flaunts into her models’ look.

“I wanted the look to be different, but toned down.” She adds, “I also get inspired by vintage hair styles.”

The day of the runway show Palomo worked on her models’ hair and overall look from 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., half and hour before the event started. The black dress that was worn by the model was bought from the store Redlight on Hawthorne.

“It was black and sleek,” she said, but Palomo wanted to add something to it, to make it stand out on the runway. So, Palomo creatively attached some fabric that was found in the closet; it became the train of the dress. “I thought that it would look good on the runway.” Palomo says.

In the future, Palomo wants to be in more competitions; she also wants to do runway shows, photo shoots, editorials and work in a salon; but she first wants to get an apprenticeship to improve on her craft.

The 3rd place winner is Ramsey Yin. Yin is a first year student at MHCC and is from Cambodia. She has loved doing hair and makeup since she was a little girl. In high-school, she competed in competitions and won first place in Kansas for her nail designs. She says that her sisters like to do hair and makeup as well, with her older sister modeling the night of the show. It took Yin eight hours to complete her look.

She got the dress, and the look, from her sister’s closet. “I told her I wanted something with a train, because I thought it would look nice on the runway,” said Yin. Yin’s look was inspired by the theme, Winter Fantasy. “I love glitters, white and shiny stuff.”

The nails and makeup were supposed to be, “like a queen.” They were “edgy and sweet at the same time.” The nails took Yin the longest to do, but it was Yin’s favorite part.

The nails were long and had chains attached which portrayed the “edgy” part of the look, while the makeup was sparkly with silver and blue hues portraying the “sweet” part of the look. The dress pulled everything together, as well as the shoes, “The shoes were mine. I love shoes!” Yin said.

About the day of the runway show she said, “I wasn’t nervous at all to do the nails, hair and makeup. I felt good.”

Moments before the judges announced the winners, Yin was talking to her friends and didn’t realize that the judges called her number. She said, “when my friends told me that they called my number I was shocked–surprised!”

When the judges made their decision for Yin to take 3rd place, Yin said, “I was proud of myself, I also want to know what can I do better to improve.” Yin says that she would, “love to do it again, if they had it (the fashion show) again.”

In the future, Yin says that she would like to open up her own salon; hopefully working with her two older sisters; who also share an interest in cosmetology.

The event was well attended, with the College Center full of people 30 minutes prior to the event’s start time. At 7 p.m., when the event started, the College Center was filled with so many people, that there were no more seats available.

Half of the proceeds from the event went to Kiwanis Children’s Cancer Program.