Women helping women In its third year, VintageNOW continues to grow, aiming to raise $50,000 for Safe House for Women

In some ways, walking into Deb Maevers' antique store, Pastimes Antiques, is like stepping into your mom or grandmother's closet. There is an abundance of fabulous vintage clothing just waiting to help you make a fashion statement.

And that's what inspired the Vintage NOW fashion show, which takes vintage pieces and mixes them with modern clothing for a fresh look.

"I had an idea," Maevers says. "We have so much vintage clothing, I thought wouldn't it be great to have a fashion show?"

She credits her husband with finding the perfect name for the show. "I spent weeks coming up with some ideas," Maevers says. "It was a simple man thing. He asked me 'What are you trying to say with this show?' I said I wanted to show women how to wear vintage (clothes) now, and he looked at me and said 'You just found your name.'"

She also credits her husband with having the show benefit an organization. "I immediately thought of Safe House (for Women)," Maevers says. "It's women helping women."

Models line up before walking the runway during the second annual Vintage Now fashion show at The Venue in 2011. (Southeast Missourian file photo)

Now in its third year, Vintage NOW continues to grow.

"We had a really successful first year," Maevers says. "The same night we were cleaning up (after the first show), we were planning and starting on the next year."

This year's show, on Oct. 30, will be at the old Steve & Barry's store in West Park Mall. "We grew out of Buckners (the River View Room) and went to The Venue," Maevers says. "Last year, we had a packed house at The Venue."

That packed house was close to 900 people, prompting the move to the mall; this year's space is more than 50,000 square feet.

And with the move to a bigger space comes a bigger fundraising goal. "Last year we raised over $30,000," Maevers says. "I've got a number in my head of $50,000."

Vintage NOW is the largest local fundraiser for the Safe House for Women. "It's critical to have funding without, I would say, strings attached," says Safe House director Michelle Scherer. "We have a lot of services; some we can provide through grants, some we can't. It frees us up to provide services we wouldn't otherwise be able to."

Scherer says the non-dedicated funding pays for certain transportation costs or medical costs the Safe House provides for clients.

Planning for the fashion show takes months. Maevers and her team cast 40 models for this year's show. "We didn't have an open call," she says. "We used mostly the models from last year and added a few. We've had so much interest from ladies in the community wanting to model, we didn't have a need for an open casting."

With the models cast, Maevers and her stylists have two fittings with the them, photographing every outfit and every girl so the hair and makeup people can make plans for how to complete the look. There will be a dress rehearsal Oct. 29, where Maevers says any final tweaks will be made.

"There will be two fashion segments this year," she says. "The first is 'Just for Fun,' and you'll see a little bit of everything. The second is 'Fashion in Motion.' We have some huge fans, everything on runway will have movement. (There will be) lots of long flowy dresses or scarves. It's more of an evening/dressy look."

She says they're going for a '60s-mod look with the styles for this year's show.

But the event isn't all about fashion. There will also be a silent auction, a photo booth and a performance by students from the Academy of Dance Arts. And, as a reminder of the purpose of Vintage NOW, Karen Bolin will be a special guest speaker. "She's used both the (Safe House) shelter and outreach services and has a very touching story," Maevers says.

In addition to the fashion show, sales of a Vintage NOW calendar also benefit the Safe House. The calendars feature photos of local women channeling fashion icons from the past. The 2012 calendar featured stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn. Models for 2013 have portrayed Lucille Ball, Princess Diana and Barbra Streisand.

"During the show we'd have a 'Marilyn' moment when we realized someone looked like Marilyn Monroe," Maevers says. "It kind of started with seeing similarities when we were playing with vintage clothing."

Last year was the first year calendars were sold and, like the fashion show, Maevers expects it to become bigger each year. "This year we're going to get them in circulation sooner," she says.

The calendars, which are $10 each, will be available at the fasion show, Pastimes Antiques and the Safe House for Women Thrift Store.

"It's a lot of work, but it's fun," Maevers says. "Bottom line is we're helping women in our area who really need the help."

For more information, visit www.vintagenowfashionshow.com or look for Vintage NOW on Facebook.

Want to go?

The third annual Vintage NOW will be Oct. 30, at West Park Mall in the old Steve & Barry's location. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a cocktail and social hour; the runway show will begin at 7.