You can’t buy the raw materials at any fabric store, not when the couture calls for several hundred aluminum pull tabs, used paper plates, dryer sheets, supermarket price tags, coffee bags, sushi trays, Gorilla tape, bubble wrap, dialysis tubing, turkey inseminators and eucalyptus bark.
Believe it or not, all those things have been used – and much, much more – in the production of unique attire for the Sonoma Community Center’s annual Trashion Fashion show. The 2025 event unraveled April 26 at the Sonoma Valley Veteran’s Auditorium while flights of recycled sartorial splendor paraded down the recently lengthened runway.
There were 43 models, from grade school to past retirement, wearing ensembles never seen in Milan, Paris or New York. And there were judges and prizes to recognize outstanding work. What might have been the grand prize – The Vickie Soulier “Most Theatrical” Award – resulted in a three-way tie between, “Hearts are Blind” designed and worn by husband-wife duo Eve and Logan De Ley, “April in Paris,” designed by Trashion godmother Margaret Hatcher and worn by Pam Gilberd, and “La Quinceañera” designed by Noemí Vázquez Romero, and worn by her granddaughter Kareli Vázquez.
The late Judge Patricia Herron “Ready to Wear Anywhere” Award went to Brittany Kunde, who designed and wore her shawl of water bottle lids over a multi-colored sheath.
The Republic of Thrift People’s Choice Award went to “Royal Reclamation,” designed by Robert Stickley and worn by Leslie Blankenship.
And the Janet Nusbaum “Best Use of Non-Recyclable Materials” Award went to Spencer DeSylva who designed and modeled “The Harpy.”
And while Wicked Witch Elphaba didn’t win an award, she stunned the crowd with her greenness, designed by Chris Bliss and Jane Rogan Dwight, who modeled it.
In all, some 800 Trashion fans filled the seats and left well-versed in new ways to use plastic spoons and toilet paper rolls.
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