Cheyenne Daly danced down the stage, flaunting her flapper costume.
Beaded accents and glittering adornments caught the lights of the stage as she shimmied through tables of women.
It was one of 32 costumes Daly and other members of Taylor Girls, a time-period costume-modeling company, wore Thursday morning as part of a fashion show at the Gainesville Woman’s Club.
The event was designed to raise money for the Climb for Cancer Foundation and the oncofertility program at UF, which aims to help women understand fertility options before going through chemotherapy.
The models’ outfits spanned 500 years of time-period costumes, with each model embodying a character — a suffragette, a flapper, Queen Victoria, Elizabeth Blackwell and Marie Curie among the more recognizable — as they walked to highlight the causes. An audience of about 85, which included Climb for Cancer Foundation co-founders Ron and Dianne Farb, watched and applauded as they sipped tea and ate puff pastries.
"Oh, this is great," Daly, a 20-year-old Santa Fe nursing junior said. "I love it, especially since it’s a fundraiser."
This was the first time Taylor Girls partnered with the two local organizations to fundraise.
The event raised about $5,000, which Ron Farb said will all be donated to the oncofertility program in hopes of furthering research and helping young women with fertility options before starting treatment.
"I feel fortunate to work at such a great university and have met all these people through my work there," said Dr. Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, an associate professor at the UF College of Medicine and head of the oncofertility program.
Farb, who lost his sister to cancer, said today it’s almost impossible to find someone whose life hasn’t been affected by cancer.
"Cancer is the modern-day plague," Farb said. "I hate it. I’m committed, I’m passionate and I’ll fight it with every breath I take."
Linda Fuchs, UF President Kent Fuchs' wife, walks down the runway in era clothing during a time period fashion show at the Gainesville Woman’s Club Sept. 10, 2015. The event raised money for the Climb for Cancer Foundation and the oncofertility program at UF.
