Dec. 15, 1952: Sixty-six students in Marywood College’s home economics department showed why fashion is hard work.
The freshmen and sophomores in the clothing course had to select outfit patterns, shop for material and construct items. They produced an array of coats, suits and dresses for holiday gatherings, while juniors in the course had to design and construct a gown.
All of the creations were modeled at a pre-holiday fashion show held in the Marywood Theater with the theme “Christmas in New York.” The stage was dressed with decorated Christmas trees and a black velvet backdrop.

Some of the coursework that hit the runway that day included a cinnamon sueded wool coat dress from Jeanne Mullaney of Scranton; a tailored charcoal gray flannel jacket and a gray skirt from Mary Lou Roe of Olyphant; a poodle cloth princess coat from Mary Blewitt of Scranton; and a wine-colored wool dress from Alice Murray of Elmira, New York, that had a crinoline to give the outfit a “great swoosh of skirt designed to flirt merrily through holiday gatherings.”
The purpose of the clothing course was to teach the young women “that fashion is one part scientific construction, one part skilled hands that have painstaking acquired a way with the cloth and one part individuality.”

Working it for the camera

Using the app Deep Nostalgia (https://www.myheritage.com/deep-nostalgia) I was able to animate our four models. Here are the images –

Mary Lou Roe, of Olyphant, models an outfit she made for her clothing course at Marywood College in the fall of 1952. TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES/Animation by Deep Nostalgia

 

Mary Blewitt, of Scranton, models an outfit she made for her clothing course at Marywood College in the fall of 1952. TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES/Animation by Deep Nostalgia

 

Alice Murrary, of Elmira, New York, models an outfit she made for her clothing course at Marywood College in the fall of 1952. TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES/Animation by Deep Nostalgia

 

Jeanne Mullaney, of Scranton, models an outfit she made for her clothing course at Marywood College in the fall of 1952. TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES/Animation by Deep Nostalgia