Above Lincoln Way, glitter-coated lips and stiff hair crowd a hallway and a small packed room.

“OK, here’s the stuff,” says Audrey Wiedemeier, senior at Ames High School, as she plops a white plastic bag down.

Wiedemeier hands Andrea Carsrud, manager of Marc Stephens and Friends Salon, 526 Main Street Station, the bag, which is filled with glitter and mascara.

It is less than an hour from “Open Cages,” *Zushy’s fall fashion show.

She stands near the other models in sweatpants and a white zip-up hooded sweatshirt.

“Maybe I should have gotten dressed,” she says with a laugh. “I came in my pajamas.”

Nearby Austin Haygood, junior in aerospace engineering, holds foundation and lip liner in his hands. Red lines are painted on his eyelids.

“I feel very … uh … masculine right now,” he says.

A model walks out of the cramped room next to Fred’s Shop, 2514 1/2 Lincoln Way, and Wiedemeier smiles. She had the idea of putting glitter on the models’ lips.

“Are you guys doing glitter too?” she asks those around her.

Her hair done and sprayed in place with hairspray, Weidemeier walks into the room to get her make-up done. Nearly ten people crowd into the space, the sound of the rain coming through the open windows.

Placing her hands in her lap, she asks Stephanie Kanne, the makeup artist, if she is putting black eyeliner on her lips.

“With the glitter, it will stand out more,” Kanne replies.

Wiedemeier flinches as Kanne puts eyeshadow on. The clock ticks closer to 6:30 p.m., the beginning of the first show.

One by one, models leave the room and hallway to make their way toward Reiman Gardens.

In the dressing room, cameras flash and clothes hang on hooks around the room. The door opens and shuts constantly as more models show up.

Wiedemeier walks into the room where Lauren Burt, sophomore in apparel merchandising, design and production, waits for her. Burt will serve as her dresser for the show, helping her dress quickly between the times she is due on the runway.

Quickly, Wiedemeier pulls off her sweatpants and Burt shields her with her sweatshirt. She pulls on bright purple fishnets/stockings.

“Should we wear bras or not?” she asks as she pulls black jeans over her fishnets.

Kindrid walks into the room and calls for attention.

“‘K, everybody, just so you know, the show starts in 15 minutes,” she says.

A model points to the clock above the door. It reads two minutes before 6:30 p.m.

“So is that clock wrong?”

“No, it’s starting late,” someone replies.

Wiedemeier looks up for a moment to listen to Kindrid and puts on high heels with clear straps.

“Oh my God, I’m so burnt,” Wiedemeier says.

She pulls at her jeans. Wiedemeier went to a tanning salon earlier and returned with sunburn on her thighs and bottom.

Kindrid calls for the models’ attention again, to give them instructions for the runway which was moved inside because of the weather.

“Hips and attitude,” she says. “Slow down.”

Wiedemeier pulls at her fishnets. Megan Kerman, junior in graphic design, stands near Wiedemeier with a permanent marker. She writes short phrases across some of the model’s bodies, which will be a feature in one part of the show. Wiedemeier asks what should be written on her.

“Designer, because your stuff is in the show,” someone replies.

Wiedemeier declines and instead “One Love” is written across her stomach.

“Ten minutes,” Kindrid calls from the doorway.

As the clock ticks closer to starting time, the room becomes increasingly quiet. They line up, dressed in their first set of clothes for the night.

Wiedemeier walks down the hallway being used as a runway. Her plastic heels click onto a box she stands on as the models before her pass. Black tape divides the hallway into two lanes, left and right.

As she walks down the runway, swinging her arms lightly, the tassels on her round purse sway.

She hurries back to the dressing room after crossing the line of waiting models.

She pulls on a short chiffon skirt, complaining of her sunburn at the same time.

“Oh, oh, so burned,” she says.

Burt helps her buckle her shoes.

“Got it?” Burt asks.

“Yeah.”

Wiedemeier walks down the runway again and runs back to the dressing room to change once again.

“Should I wear a black bra with this white slip?” she asks.

“Just wear it,” Burt replies as she hands Wiedemeier a black scarf.

On the runway, her slip creates a veil between her body and the light, silhouetting her legs.

“Slow down,” she says, poking another model as they return to dress again.

She pulls on the black skirt again, but no shirt and only her bra.

The models line up, some wearing shirts with slogans and others, like Wiedemeier, half-dressed, with phrases in permanent marker displayed.

The crowd claps as they line up down the hallway. Cameras flash as they begin to walk back go the dressing room one more time.

“That went by so fast,” Burt says.

Wiedemeier puts her first shirt back on and gets ready for the next show.

*Zushy fashion show photo gallery