fashion show

there is a big bug festival once a year at Purdue. at some point, I had the thought “wouldn’t it be cool if there was a fashion show at Bug Bowl?” so now there is a fashion show at Bug Bowl. So far, there has been one show, in 2026. here are pictures! wow!

Spring Fest in West Lafayette, Ind. on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Purdue University photo/Joshua Clark). Leftmost outfit created and modeled by Eldra Arts, other two outfits created by me.
A yellow and black mascot costume of a grinning bee stands jauntily with her hands on her hips. A fluffy pink boa is draped over her shoulder.
Betty Bee, Purdue’s entomology mascot, struts her stuff on the red carpet. Photo by Andrew Johnston.
  • Eldra Arts struts gracefully while wearing a green beetle-inspired costume. The skirt is brown faux leather sewn into a segmented structure reminiscent of an insect abdomen. The corset, heels, and mask are all shiny metallic green. The mask has antennae and palps and covers the top half of Eldra's face. On the bottom half of her face is a thick green lipstick. Two gray wings stick out behind her back.
  • A giant bagworm costume, where the wearer is entirely concealed by large rectangles of brown paper.
A close up of the shoulder of a tan dress made of woven fabric. There are ants in a trail. Each ant is made up of three black beads with little embroidered legs and elbowed antennae.
Spring Fest in West Lafayette, Ind. on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Purdue University photo/Joshua Clark)