By constructing a pattern and then making a dress, senior Miguel Palma spent 256 hours creating a ball gown to enter into the University of Incarnate Word (UIW) 16^th Annual Fashion Show.

Palma was selected as one of 28 from 64 dresses to go down the runway. At the fashion show, Palma was announced as second place winner and awarded a $1,500 scholarship to UIW.

“My fashion teacher, Mrs. Steubing, told our class about the fashion show one day during class,” Palma said. “I love a good challenge and am a competitive person, so I decided to give it a go.”

The fashion show is also celebration of women’s heart health month, so designers are to come up with a design and make the garment by hand. One of the requirements is that it must be 55% red.

“I came up with the design for my ball gown from the anatomy of the heart,” Palma said. “I went with the flow grabbing ideas and materials that aren’t commonly used or worn.”

Palma’s classmates provided influence as well to his final design.

“My friends helped a lot with me when picking out materials for the dress,” Palma said. “Their opinion on what is too much and too little.”

Contestants are also required to have a model to have their dress be showcased on. Palma selected sophomore Danna Lopez to wear his dress.

“Lopez was in my fashion class and I wanted a model that wasn’t seen typically in Haute Couture,” Palma said.

After creating the dress and making sure it was fit for Lopez, Palma had to take it to UIW for preliminary judging. Competitors drop them off and then would wait for results.

“I was very nervous after I dropped it off,” Palma said. “The racks were filled with other people’s garments, and they looked more professional than what I brought. When I heard I was selected as one of the 28 for the runway, it felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders.”

The fashion show was held on Feb. 12 at the UIW campus. The entire Fashion Design class was able to attend to support Palma and gain the experience of attending a fashion show.

“I think Miguel did a good job,” senior Paula Guajardo said. “It was a fun first experience for myself, and I was very happy for him.”

During the show, Lopez modeled Palma’s dress down the runway in front of all of the attendees, which included other high schools, UIW employees and students.

“Being chosen to model his dress was exciting,” Lopez said. “His dress was beautiful and I really liked it. I was nervous at first, but then as I was walking the runway, I gained confidence and had a fun time.”

After all runway selections walked, it was time for final results. Palma placed second out of the 64 dresses entered.

“I was anxious waiting for results,” Palma said. “I was the only one from a smaller school, while other schools had multiple people enter the contest. I was humbled being called for second place. The other fashion designers loved my work, and the constant compliments made me want to design more.”

Palma is looking forward to someday designing more garments and bringing his influence into the world of fashion.

“Even though making and drafting my own pattern by hand was pretty difficult, I would do something like this again,” Palma said. “It’s nice to have a start on others seeing what I can bring to the table in the world of fashion.”

Palma has big plans for his future, with a scholarship to UIW waiting for him.

“Placing in the fashion show will greatly affect my future,” Palma said. “It takes my natural skills that I have and transforms them into a hopeful career that I see myself becoming well-known in.”