DUNROBIN – A Canada Day weekend fashion show brought some top trends to the Dunrobin Community Centre and provided a confidence boost to the models wearing the threads.

On June. 29 members, volunteers and organizers of the Dunrobin special needs programming brought together some of the girls to help put on a fashion show for the community.

“Over the Canada Day Weekend we held a fashion show for some of our teenage girls,” Dunrobin Community Association (DCA) program coordinator Tracy Taffinder told West Carleton Online. “This was a huge confidence builder as each of our girls not only pulled together their outfits themselves, but proudly displayed them in front of a very receptive audience.“

All clothing and accessories were generously donated by Julie Sheaves of My Sister’s Closet a consignment store on March Road in Kanata.

“They also had the honour of being glammed up with the make-up skills of Rebecca Irving from Mary Kay,” Taffinder said. “The girls had an absolute blast.”

The DCA has a long and proud history of providing special needs programs such as sports and cooking classes, not just for their own community, but all over Ottawa.

“As part of our programming for children and youth living with disabilities we strive to offer opportunities to prepare for adulthood and a job ready skill sets,” Taffinder said. “We have a small group of young ladies ranging in age from 15 to 20 who decided they would like a platform to enhance their skills in demonstrating their flair for self-awareness, fashion, beauty and glamour. The show aimed to build confidence with a simple, yet powerful message – living true to one’s self regardless of ones abilities.”

All five girls pulled together three different outfits and accessories to display to “an uproar of support and positive feedback for a very receptive audience of family and friends.”

“It was a fantastic example of the support we have for this type of programming offered in Dunrobin,” Taffinder said. “The girls offered drinks and sweet treats for their audience as they patiently waiting for costume changing between sets.  We decked the walls of the hall with heartwarming fashion posters from famous designers.”

Taffinder said the fashion show, the first of its kind for DCA programming, was a huge hit on many levels.

“We like to empower our participants into knowing we can all do anything we want,” she said. “So, anything we put our minds to, we can do it. Sometimes we just have to create the opportunity to show that we can. And they did. With the utmost glamour and finesse.”