Glamor and glitz on display at Winter Wonderland Ball

MOSES LAKE - It turns out glamor isn't difficult, exactly, but it is tricky. Complicated.

One by one, models took to the stage at the Winter Wonderland Ball Friday, designed to give cosmetology students in the regional secondary vocational program a chance to show their skills. And from the audience it all looked effortless: glamor, glitz, elaborate updos, sparkly dresses and shoes.

But getting there - well, that was tricky.

The show was the work of students at the Char-Glo School of Beauty in Moses Lake, one of the local businesses in the cosmetology program.

History and the way fashion changes was the theme of the 2012 show. Students could pick any style from the 1920s to the present day. They were responsible for the whole look, from hairstyle to makeup, to clothes, to shoes.

The star of a hair show is the hairstyling, of course. "It wasn't hard, but it was complicated," said Carla Garza, of Othello. It turns out there's a lot of hidden structure under those curls. She had an idea in mind and some pictures as guides, Garza said, but there were no instructions.

"It took a lot of imagination," she said, not knowing exactly how to get to the goal she set. Figuring it out took about 90 minutes, she said. Carla was satisfied with the results.

Randi Wright, of Moses Lake, was less so with her own design.

"I had a different version in mind, and it didn't work out the way I wanted," she said. She used her nieces, Ava and Ellie Wright, as models. Children and glamor might seem like a challenging mix, but Ava and Ellie were enthusiastic participants.

"They love getting dolled up. I doll them up all the time," Wright said.

The challenge of the Winter Wonderland Ball was a little different.

"Working in a crowded space was tough," Wright said.

Emely Ruby Gonzalez, of Othello, was an instructor for the hair show. The event was designed to give students a chance to experiment with something different, she said, "for them to have the creativity. That they can go beyond what is just - normal."

Glamorous hair with plenty of sparkle is a process. Garza said she started with curling her model's hair, and then had to do some brain work, "figure out how I was going to arrange it and put it up," she said.

Getting the right look required a little teasing here and a little pinning there. "There is way more to it" than it might look like at first, she said. But it was a fun assignment too. "Oh, yeah. Just because you get to experiment," Garza said.

"I think it was exciting. Something different," said Gabby Alvarez, of George. Gabby chose the big hair and leg-warmers of the 1980s.

"You did that out of your head, huh?" asked her friend Eduardo Velasquez, of George. Eduardo said he got into cosmetology because he loves getting haircuts himself. He and Gabby worked together throughout the project. "It was fun. Kind of challenging, but we got it," he said.

Moses Lake High School senior Caitlin Donlin did most of the planning as her senior project and played the Ice Queen, complete with cape and crown.

Her mentor Nick Harle, who's an instructor at Char-Glo, the founder of the hair show and the grandson of owners Charles and Gloria Determan, was the Ice King. The Determans presided over the festivities as Santa and Mrs. Claus.