Rebecca Lavin
Senior Project Proposal
October 31, 2014
Senior Project Proposal
A.
Abstract
For my Senior Project, I plan to write a paper that explores the fashion industry and the effect
it has on eating disorders, and organize a project titled “Eat the Runway.” There is a broad scope
of categories that I could examine under eating disorders, but I have chosen to mainly focus on
social media, and the world of fashion.
This topic is a very near and dear one to my heart. In the year of 2011, my Nona provided
hospitality at our church for a funeral. This funeral was held for a young blonde haired female.
She died of an eating disorder at just 30 years old. There was a time in my life where I no longer
worried about the topic of disordered eating because I thought that eating disorders did not
concern me. I was wrong. In 2013, someone I was very close to told me that they were bulimic.
This has made me a very passionate advocate for this topic and I hope to raise awareness and
shed light on eating disorders.
Throughout my paper I will be researching and answering 4 driving questions:

How does the body and brain react to eating disorders?

Does the fashion industries promotion of a thin body contribute to eating
disorders?

Do the advertisements in social media contribute to eating disorders?

Should pro-bulimia and other pro-eating disorder websites be shut down?

Are there any laws in place or in proposal about this topic, if so are they United
States laws or Foreign laws?
I plan to host a large event sometime in March. This event will be a fashion show, which
my consultant, Mrs. Spruill, has already agreed to help plan and host. Ideally, this show will be
held at Kellam High School, and I will advertise this show to all high school and middle school
students in Virginia Beach and their families. The show will have a mix of both body friendly
fashion pieces on the runway and eating disorder statistics and fact on the programs and during
breaks. This will create an infusion between my paper and my project, and make it more
cohesive. My consultant and I will contact the fashion classes at each high school and advertise
my fashion show and the purpose behind it. I hope to have volunteers from each high school to
model in the show, including boys and girls of all shapes, sizes, and colors to demonstrate the
beauty each person has.
The fashion show models will be able to model for free, but to attend the show in the
audience there will be an entry fee of $5-$10, and I will also be collecting donations from
members of the crowd if they so please. I will need to book a place to host this large fashion
show, and I will ask fashion stores and companies to let the models in the show wear their
clothing and accessories and at the end of the show we will return all borrowed products to the
stores.
All the proceeds and donations from my event will be donated to the National Eating
Disorder Association. My project will help raise awareness of eating disorders to students, teens,
and adults in Virginia Beach.
B.
Learning Skills
During the process of writing my paper and hosting my project, I will need to acquire
many different skills to complete it successfully.
I will need to enhance the following skills:

My advertising and persuasive speech ability.

Public speaking at a very large event.

Being a diligent and authoritative leader.
I will need to learn these new skills:

How to communicate professionally with adults and managers of stores around Virginia
Beach.
C.

Youth outreach skills.

Stress control through time management and studious planning.
Project Steps
STEP 1:
STEP 2:
STEP 3:
STEP 4:
STEP 5:
STEP 6:
Consult with Mrs. Spruill
about the time and place of
my event.
Call and Email Kellam
Principal to reserve space for
show.
Explain my project to theater
technicians in theater classes
at First Colonial to help gain
volunteers to work the back
stage of the fashion show.
Visit or contact each school
to get volunteers to model
and advertise project to
potential audience members.
Visit or contact stores and ask
them to donate clothes for the
fashion show.
Plan out fashion show groups
and music based on number
1 Hour
30 Minutes
30 Minutes
2-3 Hours
2-3 Hours
10 Hours
STEP 11:
of volunteers with Mrs.
Spruill.
Create and handout a
calendar of dates for the show
to the volunteers.
Host 10 two hour practices
between January and
February.
Assign each modeling group
a store which they will be
modeling and assign them a
visiting date to get fitted.
Host 3 full show rehearsals
between the last practice and
the actual event.
Prepare the day of the show.
STEP 12:
Host event.
2 Hours
STEP 13:
Return Clothes to all stores.
1 Hour
STEP 14:
Count and Collect all
proceeds and donations and
donate them to the National
Eating Disorder Association
1 Hour
STEP 7:
STEP 8:
STEP 9:
STEP 10:
D.
2 Hours
20 Hours
1 Hour
15 Hours
8 Hours
Project Documentation
Documentation is a key factor in the success of my project. I will record my steps
through in the following ways:

Pictures of model outfits and fashion event.

Pictures at practices and rehearsals.

Emails between myself and any recipients that I contact regarding my event.

List of all stores which donate any clothing or accessories.
E.

List of all volunteer names, emails, and numbers.

Research Binder

Draft of any speeches I present

Advertising Components

Official Count of all money collected and/or spent

Time Log

Journal

Progress Reports
Project Justification
This paper and project, if done well, can have a huge impact on the lives of people in
Virginia Beach. It is a way that I can raise awareness for eating disorders without boring the
public. A fashion show is a unique and exciting event that will intrigue the audience and the
volunteers. Hosting a large event will have the benefits of impacting a vast amount of people.
Adults, children, and teens will all be able to watch the fashion show and appreciate each models
body type, which is the main purpose of my paper. Body shaming is an atrocious practice that
should not exist. Through a fashion show that hosts models of all shapes, sizes, and colors, will
help to end body-shaming throughout Virginia Beach. Eliminating body shaming will thus help
the problem of eating-disorders to decline.
F.
Project-Paper Connection
There is a strong link between my paper and my project. My paper is on the effect that
the fashion industry has on eating disorders. The fashion industry promotes a thin ideal body
image and does not have models of all shapes and sizes. Most models are tall and thin, and could
fit in a size 0. The reality is that only a small percentage of women who are not models can fit
into a size 0, which is considered disgraceful by the fashion industry. Both body shaming and
eating disorders are very prevalent in our world and this is due to the ideal body image portrayed
by the media and fashion industry. Hosting a fashion show that does not follow the one size fits
all size 0 stigma of the fashion industry will correlate perfectly with my paper. I will show
through this event exactly what the fashion industry is not doing and what it needs to be doing.
G.
Academic Honesty
I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in failure
of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.
H.
Completion Dates
STEP #
Details
Time
STEP 1:
Consult with Mrs. Spruill about
the time and place of my event.
1 Hour
Desired
Completion
Date
Nov. 12
STEP 2:
Call and Email Kellam
Principal to reserve space for
show.
30 Minutes
Nov. 20
STEP 3:
Explain my project to theater
classes to help gain volunteers
to work the back stage of the
fashion show.
30 Minutes
Nov. 24
STEP 4:
Visit or contact each school to
get volunteers to model and
2-3 Hours
Dec. 5
advertise project to potential
audience members.
STEP 5:
Visit or contact stores and ask
them to donate clothes for the
fashion show.
2-3 Hours
Dec. 6
STEP 6:
Plan out fashion show groups
and music based on number of
volunteers with Mrs. Spruill.
10 Hours
Dec. 17
STEP 7:
Create and handout a calendar
of dates for the show to the
volunteers.
2 Hours
Dec. 19
STEP 8:
Host 10 2 Hour practices
between January and February.
20 Hours
Feb. 26
STEP 9:
Assign each modeling group a
store which they will be
modeling and assign them a
visiting date to get fitted.
1 Hour
Feb. 26
STEP 10:
Host 3 full show rehearsals
between the last practice and
the actual event.
15 Hours
March 19
STEP 11:
Prepare the day of the show.
8 Hours
March 20
STEP 12:
Host event.
4 Hours
March 20
STEP 13:
Return Clothes to all stores.
1 Hour
March 23
STEP 14:
Count and Collect all proceeds
and donations and donate them
to the National Eating Disorder
Association
1 Hour
March 23
I.
Facilities Impact Form N/A