For two months, Paramjit Kaur, a senior at Secaucus High School, worked on making a wedding dress as part of a program that has in the past been called “Home Economics” but has since been repackaged throughout the state as Family and Consumer Sciences. Kaur worked days and nights, in class and out, to have the dress ready for her wedding day, which her father arranged. The arranged marriage, according to Atleen Kaur in an article in Diversity Magazine, is still by far the dominant and accepted custom in India, with over 90 percent of all marriages in the country holding the tradition. What the hard-working Secaucus student did not know, however, is that brides in the Indian culture do not wear the white that is so typical of wedding dresses in America. White, not black, is the color most associated with death in India, and shunned by ceremonies like marriage that are more focused on life. Kaur=s father simply refused to defy Indian tradition by allowing his daughter to wear the dress she had so diligently worked to create. So Kaur wore more traditional garments for her marriage on March 11, and rolled up her wedding dress into a plastic bag. “It sat in that bag for month,” said Kathy Kuchar, Family and Consumer Science teacher for Secaucus High School. At this point, Kuchar decided to take the matter into her own hands. If Kaur could not get married in the dress, she could, at least, wear it as part of the school’s annual fashion show, generated out of Kuchar’s class yearly to show off the work the students had done. “We had two other girls whose dresses looked a little like those that might be worn by bridesmaids, so we figured why not make this into something like a bridal shower?” This year’s fashion show, set for May 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the high school, will feature dresses made by the other students as well, but the centerpieces of the show will emphasize the wedding dress. “She (Kaur) made the first dress out of muslin for the fitting, and she looked so beautiful wearing it, it brought tears to my eyes,” Kuchar said. “The dress itself is complete with train and she really wanted to wear it at her wedding.” More than just sewing Although Family and Consumer Science covers more than sewing, the creation of new garments seems to excite the girls in Kuchar’s class. “They’re designing their own clothing,” she said. “They select the patterns and the fabrics, they determine what they think looks good.” In addition to sewing, the class teaches the girls (no boys took the course this year) cooking, childcare and home budgeting. Sewing has always been one of the more dramatic elements of the class, a part that shows just how far each student had progressed with their skills through the year. Secaucus has two versions of the course: a half-year session, where the basics are explored, and a full-year version, in which students advance from making pin cushions to designer clothing. The class is available to all students from freshman to senior. “It is my job to help prepare these students for the everyday world, whether or not they intend to go to college,” Kuchar said. “Some of the students in my class have come to realize that if they know how to sew, they will always be able to find a job, and if they stay at home, they can do alternations, make curtains, or even making their own clothing for substantially less than they would pay in a store.” Kuchar said sewing could provide a part-time income to students who might have other career choices, or provide a temporary income between jobs. “I had a curtain business when I was on leave,” she said. Although no boys joined the class this year, Kuchar said sewing could provide them with valuable experience leading to a career as tailors. “Most clothing designers are men,” she said. Kuchar has taught the class since 1975, when she started at Lincoln Junior High School as a student teacher. Over the years, however, the fashion element seemed to decline. “Interest in it had dwindled,” she said. “Especially in the 1980s. People weren’t very interested in making their own clothing when they wore jeans.” Lately, that has changed. Kuchar grew up in North Bergen and first learned her own sewing skills on her great grandmother’s sewing machine and continued to learn in high school. Over the years she had held many fashion shows, and is now teaching some of the children of students she had back when she started. “People seem to want to wear good clothing again, even evening wear is back,” said Kuchar. “We’re back to where we were 15 years ago. Being fashionable is in again. Girls are beginning to wear skirts and tops again, instead of a shirt and jeans.” Starting from scratch Many of the students who come to the class in September have little or no sewing experience. “Some have never seen a sewing machine,” Kuchar said, happily adding, “By Christmas, they are asking their parents to buy them a sewing machine.” The class starts off with students studying fabric and design, then moves on to making things from scratch, such as hair scrunchies. By the end of the year, students are making gowns and dresses. Because the class can cover only so much in 42 minutes, it is often not possible to do extensive sewing. To compensate, some of the girls meet on Tuesday nights for additional sewing, only breaking for soda and chips. This may change as the school changes into block scheduling which will provide longer classes. While boys occasionally join the class, this year it’s all girls gearing up for the fashion show. “Boys do participate in the show,” she said. “They help escort the girls onto the stage.” Kuchar reinstituted the fashion show last year, which may have attracted more students to take the class. “We’ll know more next year,” she said. “By the time the fashion show went on last year, most students had already signed up for this year’s classes. But I know the fashion show has renewed interest.” Kuchar said the show provides an incentive for the students to do well, but the work also provides practical and educational elements. “Students have to use mathematics in measuring, reading when they follow directions as well as their sewing skills,” she said. “Many of these are the same skills needed to pass the [high school proficiency test].”
She wore white; Wedding dress highlight of upcoming fashion show
