IN FINE FASHION

If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

By the looks of things at the Pom Pom boutique, the Valley has more than its share. Dozens of customers, family and friends lounged on an immaculately trimmed lawn Saturday while 26 women of all ages and sizes strutted their stuff.

It was the second annual Pom Pom Fashion Show, a celebration of friends, food and fun under a bright Alaska sun. More than a business promotion, the show has grown into a family event, said store owner Cheryl Bailey.

“Get ready, girls, get ready!” she shouts as the models scurry and scramble to put the finishing touches on their makeup and outfits. Over the course of the 90-minute show, all of the women will make five clothing changes, including Cheryl’s mother-in-law, Ruth Bailey.

“It’s scary,” Ruth Bailey admitted about having all eyes on her. “It’s not something I’d normally do.”

It didn’t take long for Bailey to get in the spirit of the show, however, posing with hands on hips and smiling wide. Along with the other models, she made her way around a blacktop circle.

“Look at them,” Cheryl Bailey said. “It’s wonderful. They’re all calm, cool and collected. I’m running around all in a hurry.”

None of the models are paid. They’re all friends and customers having a good time, she said.

“It’s a show for those who come out and support us day after day, year after year,” she said. “It is a huge boost for business, which is a great thing, but I swear I don’t do sales like this as a boost for myself.”

While Ruth Bailey may have started the show a little on the timid side, Renee Clayton was gung-ho to show her style.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve got moves. You just go with the flow,” she said, joking the fashion show “is cleaning up Valley trash one human body at a time.”

All the models were looking good, said Tiffany Mouritsen, a Pom Pom employee.

“I’m just watching and enjoying it right now,” she said. “It’s going awesome. It’s a good way for us to show our clothes and all these girls look just smoking hot in everything.”

Kaila Korsmo, 22, was preparing for her second year as a model in the show, standing inside a house in front of the show grounds.

“This is my biker chick outfit,” she said of the hip, black pants suit and colorful blouse.

The bustle before and during the show “is chaos, complete chaos,” she said. “People are throwing things around.”

Korsmo has no reservations about having people look at her and what she’s wearing.

“I love it,” she said. “Probably 95 percent of your personality has to be a show-off.”

While speakers blared upbeat disco and hits from the 1980s, the crowd cheered and applauded the models. Most were women, but a few men could be found hiding behind sunglasses and video cameras.

Brian Adams was one, supporting his wife, Jamye, who was modeling the clothes.

“She’s doing really good,” he said, adding he married a fashion model “and didn’t even know it. It’s a fun, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you know?”

Asked what he’d be doing if his wife weren’t in the show, Brian Adams admitted he would “probably be out four-wheeling.”

The couple’s teenage son was also there to support his mother, but didn’t want to be identified for fear some of his friends would find out he spent Saturday afternoon at a fashion show.

At least one husband was secure in his masculinity at the show. Josh Mouritsen came to support his wife, who works at the store, and to man the grill.

“Heck, no,” he said when asked if being seen at a fashion show was emasculating. “I’m grilling hot dogs and watching ladies in the fashion show — hot dogs and hot chicks. Can’t be unmasculine doing that.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.