Shannon Sheldon, LVHS Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, says there are three different fashion classes that students can take. Students learn how to make their own clothes and even do creative activities like making a dress out of paper. Having these skills will definitely help the students in the future. Aside from being able to create and mend their own clothes, students can also apply the things they’re learning to a future job. Some students are already getting paid by teachers to make or fix their clothes.
“It can turn into a side business,” says Sheldon.
Sheldon adds that even if students don’t plan on going into fashion as a career, what they learn in the class will help a lot when they have families of their own.
“This is a skill they will never forget,” Sheldon says.
Out of the 120 students in Sheldon’s classes, only four are boys. But even though their numbers are so few, the boys work hard in class and use their own skills to add to the projects they are given. Sheldon says the boys seem to be very focused when working, with an ability to detach themselves from distractions, and often have fine motor skills that some girls don’t have.
“They can sew a straight seam better than the girls,” Sheldon says.
Jordan Mercado, a senior, says that fashion is something that interests him and he likes designing his own type of clothing.
“I’ve always been into clothes nobody else has,” says Mercado.
He adds that the class is great to take because students get to learn how to sew and add their personal style to what they’re making.
Though Mercado isn’t planning on a career in fashion, he has been able to explore his interest by taking the class.
“It expands your opportunity if you’re really interested in fashion,” says Mercado.
Senior Jimi Urquiaga is in the advanced fashion class. Urquiaga has always been interested in fashion and putting clothes together, and has taken that love of fashion and turned it into his own business. Urquiaga created his own MySpace account and sells the items he makes -- such as purses -- online. Students interested in his line can check out more at www. myspace.com/jimictobag.
Urquiaga took his creations even further by holding a fashion show at school where his friends modeled his clothing. Urquiaga worked on the shirts he made for the show for about two weeks.
But Urquiaga’s popularity doesn’t end there. Two of the dresses he’s made went down the runway at the Fashion Show Mall. At this show, Urquiaga won “most creative” for one dress and received the “seamstress award” for the other. His interest, talent and hard work have led to amazing opportunities, but it was his fashion class that helped broaden his knowledge and find out just what it takes to be successful.
“Without this class I don’t think I would’ve been as interested in fashion,” says Urquiaga.
Even the most unlikely candidates can have success in a field if they put enough work and effort into it. The boys in the LVHS fashion classes have completely crushed the stereotype that fashion is a woman’s world. It has become clear that any guy with an interest in fashion can be great if they pursue their passion for it.