Youth Commission fashion show teaches professional outfit do’s and don’ts

Crowds of students learned about potential job paths on March 9 at the Galt Joint Union High School District Career Fair, and a Youth Commission-organized fashion show gave tips on how to dress for those jobs and interviews.

Teens from the Galt Youth Commission and the Rotary-affiliated Interact Club modeled outfits that are appropriate in professional environments and ones that aren’t, to help students give the best possible impression for future job prospects.

Commissioner Josh Cullers emceed in an Evel Knievel-style costume — what not to wear for a job interview, but great for grabbing attention in the crowded Galt High School gym.

“We would walk. We would model. We got a lot of claps, a lot of applause,” Commission Chair Alexa Murillo Cuevas said after the show.

“We wanted to show them (the students) what is the best attire so that they can be successful in all their endeavors, whether it be in job interviews, for scholarship interviews, any sort of interviews,” Murillo Cuevas told the Herald. “And so we wanted to show them what was the best thing to wear and what were the things that you want to kind of avoid.”

For example, Sydney Abid demonstrated what to wear in an office setting with a green blazer, a white shirt and tan pants. Abid and multiple other participants learned about the fashion show through the Rotary-affiliated Interact Club.

Talon Harris, a Youth Commission adult mentor, said it “was a fun process” to work with the commissioners over the past months organizing the show and delegating tasks.

“Most of the kids didn’t know each other or, if they did, there was only one person, so getting together with people you don’t know and to work toward a common goal and have your own personal boulders to move was a good lesson for them,” Harris said.

Harris was also impressed by the participants’ confidence. Abid joked with the other models that they should “walk out there like they should be glad to see you.”

The group did the fashion show twice, and they got more comfortable the second time around.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking … the first time at least, but the second time it was pretty calm. It was easy,” said Nancy Sanchez Reyes, an Interact member who modeled what not to wear to a college interview.

Interact member Camila Hughes said she is trying to put herself out there more, and it paid off this time.

“I liked it. It was really scary at first,” Hughes said. “I just walked out there, pretended I had confidence, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think I slayed.”