"Dressin' for Recession" will take place between Wilson and James hall on Thursday. Provided Photo.

As fashion shifts from logo excess to humble ensembles, so have its followers’ shopping habits. While everyone glooms over their shrinking shopping bags due to the recession, sophomore Devon Turchan has embraced its presence by organizing Thursday’s “Dressin’ for Recession” competition.

“I love fashion, and the recession is a relevant topic in everyone’s minds,” Turchan said. “This event shows that you don’t need to wear brands like Armani in a time when no one has the money to dress expensive.”

This is the first year in which members of Residence Life, including Turchan, have hosted such a competition. Contestants who have signed up were given a challenge: come up with the most stylish outfit by the day of the event. These outfits will be paraded down a runway and critiqued by a panel of judges.

What’s the catch? The entire outfit cannot exceed a $20 budget.

The purpose of the outfit’s price limit is to challenge shoppers’ creativity, ultimately testing whether the contestant can put together an outfit that was not pre-made on a storefront mannequin.

Originally, the competition was only going to cater to those who live in the resident hall where Turchan works. “I would take them to the thrift store and they would each bring $20 to spend,” he said. But then businesses sought an interest in the event, offering prize donations and even catering services, which allowed Turchan to expand the competition to a campus-wide audience.

While $20 might sound daunting given that such an amount can barely buy a pair of shoes, Turchan said he hopes this challenge will allow both contestants and shoppers in general to re-evaluate and gain a new perspective on the way they shop.

“Seriously, the best things I own are from thrifting,” Turchan said.

He believes the search for one-of-a-kind, reused pieces results in more valuable and admired pieces in a wardrobe as opposed to mass-produced pieces that boast of no uniqueness whatsoever.

“What most will probably get out of this competition,” he said, “is how underestimated these lost treasures you find, when thrifting, are.”

Angela Keslar, former Project Runway contestant and longtime Athens County resident, will judge Thursday's "Dressin' for Recession" fashion show. Provided Photo by BravoTV.com.

Music and decoration for the event have also aligned to the “reused” theme. Newspapers and borrowed lamps will set the atmosphere. The retro, reinventing nature of Amy Winehouse inspired Turchan to consider the British singer as a poster girl for the event.

“She has explored recycling old styles through her music and look and I love that,” Turchan said. Other genres within that concept, such as rap and dance, are also included.

Along with enjoying a recession-chic fashion show and munching on chips and salsa donated by Athens’s own Casa Nueva, fashion lovers, particularly fans of “Project Runway,” are in for an extra treat. Angela Keslar, Season three “Project Runway” contestant and longtime Athens County resident, is set to participate as one of the judges for this event. She agreed to the event because of Turchan’s enthusiasm, and was also intrigued by the event’s creative and innovative concept.

In an interview with Speakeasy, she revealed her scoring rubric for the competition. While originality will be of utmost importance in the competition, her make all/break all factor is the accessibility of the outfit – i.e. is this outfit inviting to others?

“If the outfit is way too crazy, even if it’s original and creative, it puts people off rather than inviting them in,” Keslar said. “That’ll be the big nix in my mind.”

On the $20 limit, Keslar admitted being wide-eyed upon hearing about the challenge.

“That is not a lot of money at all,” she laughed. “If you do find something, you might have to rework it for a more polished look. Otherwise, I’d say shoes would be the biggest challenge because a decent, reused pair will ring up to $10-15.”

The former “Project Runway” contestant advised that contestants should persevere and not let themselves down when a trip to a thrift store slumps. “Chances are, you’ll find five awesome pieces at the next store,” Keslar said.

“Dressin’ for Recession” will take place at Ryors Rec in Ryors Hall on West Green and is set to start at 8 p.m. Fashionably celebrate the end of the year in a time when, according to Turchan, “fashion hasn’t felt so alive… until now.”

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