Media Alert

Wednesday, 17 March 2004.

YOU’VE SEEN IMITATIONS, TOMORROW SEE ORIGINALS

This week's Melbourne Fashion Festival has shown that fashionable styles of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s are very much in vogue.

However, while Festival fashion parade guests have to be content with admiring recreated looks of these eras, some of the best originals will be paraded as part of a unique fashion show for the Victorian Seniors Festival on THURSDAY, 18 March.

Fashion trendsetters of the day and still trendsetters today, Lady Renouf , Sheila Scotter (former Vogue editor) , Diane Masters (’50s high fashion model) and Annette Allison (former TV presenter) dug deep into wardrobes for stylish numbers, for models to parade.

Tomorrow’s show at Zinc at Federation Square will feature clothes such as a classic black Norma Tullo evening dress from the late ’60s, a Diane Von Furstenberg black and white wrap around silk jersey dress from the ’60s, a pink floral cocktail outfit designed by Barbara Battaglini in the ’70s and stylish race wear, courtesy of Lady Renouf.

Guests will be served a champagne afternoon tea before models take to the catwalk in designer originals loaned by the above four women for the occasion. Hosting the event will be June Dally-Watkins, Australia's most photographed model of the ’40s, who has gone on to write a book, The Secrets Behind My Smile.

The Victorian Seniors Festival, organised by the Bracks Government in association with local government, business and the community, runs until Sunday, 21 March.

WHAT: That was then and this is now fashion show, hosted by June Dally-Watkins.

WHERE: Zinc at Federation Square, Swanston Street, Melbourne.

WHEN: 2-4pm THURSDAY 18 March 2004.

Champagne and sandwiches from 2-2.30pm, June Dally-Watkins speaks from 2.30 -2.45, then Miss Dally-Watkins ‘in conversation’ with Sheila Scotter, Diane Masters, Annette Allison and Lady Renouf. Each woman to speak about clothes they selected. These will be paraded down the catwalk by models.

Media contact: Sue Preston, Victorian Seniors Festival, mob. 0413 274 565