Two Scarborough High School seniors are organizing a fashion show to help teenagers feel more comfortable about their bodies.

Matthew Hall and Carrie Chykaliuk are organizing a fashion show to raise money for the Uniquely ME! Program, which was created by the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Dove Self Esteem Fund to raise the self-esteem of girls between the ages of 8 and 17. The show will take place at 7 p.m. April 29 in the Scarborough High School auditorium.

“You should be confidant in who you are regardless” of the way you look, said Hall.

Hall and Chykaliuk sought student models with a variety of different body types and clothing styles for the show. Their hope is that their models will undermine images of models that often appear in fashion magazines, like Cosmopolitan, hurting the self-esteem of young men and women whose bodies don’t look like the bodies of stereotypical fashion models. According to the Dove Web site, www.campaignforrealbeauty.com, 92 percent of girls want to change at least one aspect of their appearance.

“High school is probably the worst time for kids who go through bad stages or good stages,” said Chykaliuk, who added that Principal Andrew Dolloff has done a good job of making all students feel comfortable at Scarborough High School.

Chykaliuk said they came up with the idea during study hall one day. Instead of doing schoolwork, she admitted they were online looking at Web sites for fashion designers, such as Gucci, Versace and Chanel.

“We just said why don’t we have a fashion show,” said Chykaliuk. She said they thought the show would be a good way to promote local stores, raise money and raise the self-esteem of students.

After that, the two students took a walk in the Old Port on a Saturday to see how willing stores would be to donate clothes for the show. They were surprised at the response they got. The students managed to convince 13 local stores to donate clothes to the show.

“Mr. Dolloff, the principal, has been really supportive,” said Hall. “He knows what an important issue this is.”

The students plan to raise money through ticket sales. Tickets to the show will cost $5 for students and $8 for members of the public.

Matthew Hall and Carrie Chykaliuk are organizing a fashion show to raise money and self-esteem.

Copy the Story Link