A little over a year ago PSU senior, Fatima Kumala, was hanging out with two other friends when they came up with the idea to start a fashion organization at Penn State. The girls noticed that Penn State had an array of student organization and clubs ranging in everything from Humans vs. Zombie’s to a Harry Potter inspired Quidditch Club. What Penn State didn’t have was an organization dedicated to fashion, beauty, and empowering women from the inside-out. The girls eagerly began to develop the constitution for Beyond Expectations Fashion Org.
In the fall of 2012 BE was born consisting of the three founding members. After having a display table at the Fall involvement fair, their membership began to steadily grow along with campus support and interest for the new organization. Now with approximately 20 dedicated members, Beyond Expectations hosts programs and workshops for Penn State Students. This past April Beyond Expectations hosted their first “BE Week,” a week catered to the fashion forward student.
The week began with “Black Hair: The Male Perspective,” a program that consisted of an all male panel that discussed the mysteries behind a black woman’s hair. In collaboration with Penn State’s L.O.C.K.S. (Loving Our Curly, Kinky, and Straight hair) students were invited to add to the discussion by asking question about hair care, styles, and techniques.
The next event was Celebrity Jeopardy, which was exactly how it sounds. The categories included Fashion Labels, Awards, Reality TV, and Celebrity Facts.
“You Are What You Wear” was a program in collaboration with P.O.W.E.R. that shed light how women are perceived and judged by what they wear.
BE ended the week with their annual Fashion Show “Fire and Ice.” In preparation for the fashion show, models participated in workshops where they learned how to walk like a model and choreography for the performance aspect of the show. BE also hosted a DIY tie-dying workshop where students were invited to learn how to tie-dye. Some of the projects were featured in the fashion show. The Fire and Ice fashion show is a completely student-run production. Members of BE designed and created their own outfits, collaborated on choreography, and completely shut the stage DOWN! It was an amazing production full of fun, creativity, and of course FASHION.
Fatima hopes that within the next year BE will continue to grow in membership and will still provide those fashion-crazed students with a club to call their own.
If you are interested in learning more about Beyond Expectation, follow their instagram @beyondexpectations_psu.
DIY: Spring Accessory Project
Fatima shows you how to make a cute and quick accessory at home just in time for Spring!