White Marsh Mall Fashion Show a Blast From the Past

Find a complete schedule of White Marsh Mall's 30th anniversary activities in the article, .

If you’re having trouble recalling what people were wearing 30 years ago, take a look around at some of today’s styles. At least that was the suggestion from coordinators of Saturday afternoon’s “’80s and Today” fashion show at White Marsh Mall.

During the show, two dozen ocal community members wore the latest apparel from mall retailers such as JCPenney, Lane Bryant, Dress Barn, Rue 21, Francesca's Collections, PS from Aeropostale, The Limited and Torrid. Yet the looks were noticeably reminiscent of the 1980s.

“Everything in the show, it is all today’s fashion, so you can see how heavily influenced it is by the ’80s,” said Vicki Tamburo of Dress To Impress. Tamburo served as emcee of the show, which was held as part of the .

The models, all of whom received a mall gift card for participating in the show, were selected from among 75 community members during an open casting call in early August.

“We came to the mall just to go to Buffalo Wild Wings,” said 18-year-old Porshua Manning, remembering how she and fellow Dundalk resident Katie Triplett got involved. “We heard some music and came over to check it out. That’s when we saw the try-outs taking place.”

As the first two models to hit the runway, Manning wore a peplum denim skirt, teal top and graphic flyaway vest while Triplett sported a zip-front dress with a tube top and embellished jean jacket. Both outfits came from Macy’s. “It was exciting,” said Triplett, who has had some previous modeling experience.

“I was scared,” Manning quickly added with a smile.

Cockeysville resident Michelle Hughes modeled an INC tunic dress from Macy’s while carrying her 10-month-old daughter, Camden. “I saw this as a nice, little mommy and daughter thing to do,” said Hughes, acknowledging that Camden just recently learned how to wave—a skill that she used frequently during the show, much to the delight of the more than 100 audience members.

“We had a lot of fun,” Hughes added. “I’m glad we participated.”

The last model on the runway, 5-year-old Cine Stevenson of Baltimore, wore a two-piece legging set with a sparkle cap and peace bag. Cine said she had a good time during the show and enjoyed perfecting her wave.

“We have always wanted to do something like this,” said Cine’s mother, Francine Grayson. “She so wanted to be here.”

Even before the event got under way, as strains of Nena and the Knack blared from the deejay’s speakers, White Marsh Mall General Manager Lisa Bisenius spoke of why the fashion show was a success.

“With everyone we got to participate, the fashion show was especially good for focusing on family and the community,” Bisenius said. “That’s what this mall is about.”