Models walked, danced and sashayed their way through the decades Sunday at the Isabella County Historical Fashion Show.

The Sesquicentennial celebration began with a fashion display by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and modeled clothing styles from 1859 to 2009 across the stage. Emcees interjected facts about historic Isabella County into the performance. More than 370 people attended and 32 models participated at the Broadway Theatre, 216 E. Broadway St.

Outfits ranged from fringed flapper dresses of the 1920s to the baggy, colorfully patterned 1960s outfits.

Clare junior Sylvia Labrie enjoyed the opportunity to display the modern day, corset-feel bustled bridesmaid dress she wore across the stage.

“I had a lot of fun with it,” she said. “I enjoyed it. I knew a lot of people doing it.”

Nicole Sanders, a member of the Sesquicentennial Committee for Isabella County and a Mount Pleasant resident, and her two children Hannah, 7, and Mikey, 5, also modeled in the fashion show.

Sanders said though it was hard getting everybody dressed, it was fun.

“The outfits were wonderful,” she said.

Fashion of choice

Hannah Sanders wore four different outfits, including one of Nicole’s outfits from the 1980s — a dusty pink blouse with a matching vest, skirt and 1980s style barrettes.

“It’s cute,” Nicole Sanders said. “I couldn’t believe I actually fit in it.”

Mikey Sanders wore a 1920s newspaper boy outfit, complete with a button cap and knickers.

Nicole Sanders wore a few different outfits, one of which was a long, pink column dress with a flowing floral print sleeve.

“I got some laughs from the audience,” Sanders said about wearing the dress.

Stage manager and Mount Pleasant resident Laura Strait said she has been working on the show for more than a year.

“Someone just called me cause they knew I do a lot of theatre and asked if I could help,” she said.

Strait said things behind the scene were crazy, but she thinks everything ran rather smoothly.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “We got a lot of support from the community.”

E-mail the author: Randi Shaffer