Fashion show provides more than dapper attire

The fashion was in the 2020s, but the atmosphere was in the 1920s as the Shawano Woman’s Club held its first fashion show since the coronavirus pandemic ground everything to a halt two years ago.

Even though the event, which started 16 years ago, gave female volunteers a chance to show off modern fashions from local retailers May 5 at The Gathering, the main purpose for the show was to raise money for the club to help nonprofit organizations and provide scholarships for secondary education.

“We do this for our philanthropy,” said Cindy Holewinski, the chairwoman for the fashion show. “This is to benefit our community.”

The 1920s were known as the Roaring Twenties and, with COVID-19 sidelining the woman’s club’s main fundraiser, Holewinski said it made sense to commemorate such a liberating time for women.

“We had the suffrage (movement),” Holewinski said. “It was so fitting to use the ‘Women Roaring Back’ theme, because it meant we were back generating the money for our philanthropy. The second reason we chose to do this type of event is to bring women together. They become partners and sisters in our mission.”

Many in attendance decided to don 1920s attire, wearing sequin fringe dresses and other items that looked like they came out of “The Great Gatsby.”

More than $16,000 in items were donated by local businesses and organizations for raffles and auctions, and over 250 people packed the dining hall to check out the goodies and watch their fellow women strut the runway. The showcased fashion items are for sale at Body Essentials, Dreier’s Pharmacy, Tumbleweed, Thornberry Cottage Baby and Gifts and B&H.

“This event celebrates the woman, the power of the woman,” Holewinski said. “This looks at our heritage and the organization of this club.”

The club is one of Shawano’s oldest, with roots dating back to the 1800s, and Holewinski said it was important to continue its mission of goodwill by holding events like the fashion show.

“Their mission was to support the staples of the community — the library, Heritage Park and the cemetery,” Holewinski said. “We are following what they started.”