Karen Wenn is in her third year of a BA(hons) degree in Fashion Studies. Keen to get into the Knitwear industry she produced a collection of knitwear for women "of a certain age" as part of her finals. Then all Karen had to do was to find some models. Being the resourceful woman she is she contacted BBC Radio Derby and appeared on Aleena Naylor's lunchtime show to make an appeal.  | | Designer Karen Wenn is pleased with the results |
Karen wanted mature women over 5'7" tall. Helpful as ever, Aleena suggested two of her collegues: Jennifer Sentance, who works on BBC Radio Derby's reception, and me - Sally Swinfen - I work on the BBC Bus. Now, Jennifer and I have been known to do the odd bit of shopping and we jumped at the chance to wear something tailor made for us! But first we had to pass the selection process. We turned up at Jackson's Mill to be measured by Karen. She took details of absolutely everything - height, leg and arm length, shoe size, shoulder, waist, hip and neck measurements. We then had a two day wait while Karen sussed out all the women who'd volunteered and chose her final eight. Amazingly - we were in!! After taking our measurements Karen got to work on the Toiles which are basically mock-ups of the planned outfits. Once we tried them on and Karen was happy with the fit she then cut the final outfits from the material she'd bought in Paris! The theme was an autumn collection using jewel colours inspired by the pre-raphaelite painters. We later tried on the real thing and were delighted with the colours and fit of our individual outfits. The day of the show was getting ever nearer! (Use the link below to see pictures of the fashion show)  | | Dressed to kill: Sally and Jennifer |
The day finally arrived and with a mixture of excitement and trepidation we arrived at the Gateway Centre at the Derbyshire Cricket Club. After our make up was done and our hair twisted and teased we had a brief practise on the catwalk - which seemed to go on forever! We had to walk down in pairs, pose at the bottom, cross over, pose again walk back up the catwalk, pose for a final time and exit stage left! Easy!! Or was it? Our nerves were showing as we posed on the wrong foot, turned the wrong way and forgot to stop at the end! We were hoping that our bad practise meant we'd do well in the real thing. There was no time for another rehearsal so we went back to our changing room and topped up our lipstick as we had 20 minutes till the start of the afternoon show. Standing backstage watching all the young models in all kinds of outfits was fascinating. Some of them were running off the stage to return two minutes later in a completely different outfit. Some of the creations were truly awe inspiring. At last it was our turn! As I walked through the curtains to face the crowd and the cameras all I could think was walk slowly and for goodness sake don't trip up- I was wearing four-inch heels! But before I could think of anything else we were all posing together and walking off the stage. Wow we did it!! Everyone's face told a different story - I was just relieved I'd managed it without making a fool of myself. But we still had to face the big one - the evening show which was expected to pull in a large crowd.  | | Sally takes the stage with partner Janet |
After touching up our hair and make up we slowly walked down the stairs to take our place for the evening performance. We could hear the chatter of the audience as we stood out of view and I began to get butterflies: was my collar straight? Was my lipstick still there? Did I have time to go to the loo? Watching the others models coming off with smiles on their faces helped calm my nerves. My partner Sandra and I talked through our routine for the last time and then we were on - the lights were bright I could see the front few rows and the catwalk stretching out before me - here we go! Again, as quick as you could blink it was all over and although we forgot to do our final pose the audience didn't seem to notice and our modelling debut was over. I can't imagine a lucrative modelling contract on its way so I suppose I'll stick with the day job. | 
