The Winnetka Board of the Northwestern University Settlement House will present Style Under the Stars Thursday, Sept. 27 at Michigan Shores Club.
The show has been a North Shore tradition since it first took place in 1923. This year, the event runs from 6:30-10 p.m. in Wilmette.
“Historically, the show took place in someone’s backyard, but it became increasingly difficult to seat 300 or 400 people under a tent in a private backyard,” said Ron Manderschied, the organization’s president.
The Winnetka Board has been producing this fashion show as its primary fundraiser for programs operated at the Settlement House, which is located in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago, west of Goose Island and east of Wicker Park. Founded in 1891 by Northwestern University, the Settlement’s mission is to nurture, educate and inspire its neighbors to reach their ambitions. Programs covers areas ranging from children’s theater, charter schools and a children’s camp in Wisconsin to the largest AmeriCorps program in the state of Illinois.
Each year’s show highlights a program of the Settlement. This year, Rowe Elementary School, a public charter school in West Town that’s run by the Settlement, is the focus. Located four blocks from the original house, the school has 486 students in grades K-5 and is growing by 100 students a year.
This past year for the ISAT, 95 percent of the third graders met or exceeded state standards, “which I would put against any grammar school anywhere, city or suburbs,” Manderschied says.
At the show, two scholars—one in third grade and one in fourth—will talk about what the school has meant to them. Several teachers will be models, as will Miss Illinois and Miss Illinois Pre-Teen. Tiffany & Co. is a primary sponsor and has donated a $5,000 diamond bangle bracelet as a raffle item.
“It’s an extraordinary group of women who produce this show without any staffing,” Manderschied says. “They tote the goods, arrange the models, set the menus. They are a very hard-working group of folks and typically they raise $80,000 to $100,000, and because it’s a volunteer event, all of that goes to programs.”
Tickets start at $95 and can be purchased at nush.org/style.
