By Raena Doty
Arts & Features Editor
Who said Halloween can’t be glamorous? Certainly not Framingham State’s Fashion Club, which spent Oct. 31 - Halloween night - throwing a costume contest in the Alumni Room.
Angelina Casucci, a junior fashion design major and the president of Fashion Club, who was dressed as a princess, said the event was based on last year’s event, the Celebrity Look-Alike Contest.
“We wanted to do something similar but also different, and it worked out that Halloween was on a Tuesday, which is when we usually have meetings,” she said.
She added typical meetings often involve activities to help people build skills in fashion, and most meetings are very beginner-friendly - for example, in the past they’ve made scrunchies and jewelry.
Katie Sharpe, a senior fashion design major and secretary of the Fashion Club who dressed in dark clothes and makeup - a sharp contrast to her bright pink hair - said she didn’t plan out her costume in advance, just put together what she had in her dorm.
She added she hopes students are able to have fun at events like the costume contest.
The event was filled with music, candy, pizza, and taking pictures of all the costumes before the contest started.
The night ended with the costume contest, where four participants were able to win awards in four categories - “Most Creative,” “Funniest,” “Scariest,” and “Most Realistic.”
Attendees voted for the winner through a Google Form, and the person with the most votes in each category won.
Kate Norrish, a sophomore English major, dressed in a red robe and a laurel wreath to represent one of Dante Alighieri’s most iconic looks in “The Divine Comedy,” won the award for “Most Creative.”
Emmy Iyan, a junior political science major, won “Funniest.” She was dressed as “Angelina [Casucci]’s friend Chucky,” and chose to dress as that because Angelina “told her to.” She said she chose a photo as her prize “to take pictures of Angelina.”
Sarah Snyder, a freshman with an undeclared major, won “Scariest” for their costume as a succubus.
They added they had all the components for the costume lying around, and only put the costume together after everything was bought - from the dress to the horns.
Owen Thornton, a senior history major, won the category for “Most Realistic” in his costume for Jesse Pinkman from “Breaking Bad.”
He said his costume was made to go with his girlfriend Samantha Reynolds, who dressed as Jesse’s girlfriend from the show.
Reynolds, a junior fashion design major and the vice president of Fashion Club, wasn’t in her costume as Jesse’s girlfriend, though - she was dressed as a witch for the night.
She said she hopes students will become more involved through events like the costume contest, and added the Fashion Club was much larger before the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to shut down.
Priscilla Remis and Rui-Rui Zhang, professors of fashion design and retailing and faculty advisors for the Fashion Club, both came in costume - they said.
Remis was dressed up in a shark costume, though no shark in particular, she said.
Zhang wore an off-white sweater - Remis said the costume was “a procrastinator, an indecisive costume wearer.” Zhang joked she wore a comforter costume.
They said meetings and events for the club give them a chance to see a different side of students.
“A lot of them here have made their own costumes, done their own makeup - they look terrific,” Remis said.
She added the students of Fashion Club eBoard work independently to plan their events.
“The students really do it all on their own. We didn’t have anything to do with it, besides showing up and making sure it’s running smoothly, and that’s kind of our role,” Remis said.
Zhang said as advisors, it’s their job to “be the facilitator, be the supporter.”
“Eat their pizza,” Remis added.
[Editor’s Note: Kate Norrish is also a Staff Writer for The Gatepost]