The School of Fashion

Young Girl's Stylist Wish Comes True

By: Noelle Beauregard, Marilyn.ca

It began as a class assignment to identify three wishes, and became a dream come true. Celia, a sixth grader from North Bay, Ontario, has suffered from cystic fibrosis her whole life and although she gets sick a great deal a cure was not one of her wishes.  Her number one wish was to become a stylist and meet Peter Papapetrou.  Her teacher, Melanie, wrote to Peter Papapetrou and ‘The Marilyn Denis Show’ about Celia’s aspirations and we couldn’t resist the chance to make her dream a reality.

When Papapetrou visited her hometown he met a girl with big dreams, who was determined to achieve them.  Celia’s room was full of little mannequins dressed in her one-of-a-kind designs. She had a collection of sketch books cataloging all her design ideas and a layout of a store that she wants to open for tweens, specifically for short tweens like herself because  of the difficulty she has finding clothes that fit her right.

Celia’s passion for fashion blossomed at a young age. Her mother recalls how Celia would ask Santa Clause for shoes instead of toys. She was fashionista when she was younger and has been one for as long as her mother can remember.

‘Shocked’ was how Celia described her reaction when Papapetrou first entered her classroom to coach her in becoming a stylist.  However, to teach Celia how to be a stylist, Papapetrou needed a muse and who better than her teacher, Melanie, who was just as surprised.

Celia's first step towards becoming a stylist was to go through Melanie’s wardrobe to see what they had to work with, following stylist rule number one – be honest . They instructed Melanie on what she was doing wrong and what she was doing right.  Celia knew what she wanted to add into her teacher’s wardrobe, colour. 

The next step was to go to the mall and shop. Celia’s inner stylist couldn’t help but shine through as she picked out clothes that would give her teacher a trendy new look. With roles reversed, Celia the teacher and Melanie the student, they went to the salon to prepare for the big reveal at their school. As they got pampered, Papapetrou set up for Celia’s first fashion segment as a stylist.

“It felt good because all my friends were watching me doing what I wanted to do for many years,” said Celia. 

Celia was a natural. She explained why her teacher’s outfit was a perfect fit. Thanks to Celia and her styling team, Melanie was on trends with this season hottest prints and colours. She was also wearing clothes that matched her age, career and body type.  
 
Twenty-four-hours later the dream came to an end.  But we know that this is only the beginning in Celia’s journey towards becoming as stylist. When she visited ‘The Marilyn Denis Show’ Celia couldn’t stop smiling in her new outfit, consisting of a pair of coloured jeans she had be wanting all season, as she relived the day, the day her dream came true.  As for Melanie, she taught her class one more lesson that they will carry with them forever, never give up on your dreams because dreams do come true.