Bob Noble reckons you’re never too old to strut your stuff on the catwalk.
Not your usual Raglan Art to Wear fashionista, the 83-year-old’s love of dancing spurred him on to enter in 2023 and he’s now stitching up his design for 2025.
Bob won a spot prize in his first fashion offering for best performance, dancing the catwalk in a suit adorned with Pooh Bear. And while the prize was a bonus, Bob’s main goal is to encourage others to step out of their comfort zones.
“Because there were no males performing and no older people willing to give it a go at the time, I thought I could inspire a different demographic,” he says.
This year, Bob is paying tribute to the volunteers in the community with his Art to Wear entry in the category ‘All Things Shiny’.
“The title of my design is Reach Out, which comes from a song Reach Out I’ll Be There. And if you listen to the song, it is about being there for people in need. Our volunteers are the lifesavers of our community.”
Bob and his wife Sue have volunteered around Raglan since they moved here from Cambridge 10 years ago.
“We had lived in Cambridge for 40 years and when we came to Raglan I struggled with the change in location,” he says.
Volunteering at the Raglan Community House Op Shop helped Bob make connections in the community, and he and Sue have gone on to support other local organisations like Timebank and the Raglan Rest Home and Hospital.
This quietly spoken, unassuming gentleman is big on personality when it comes to his flair for fashion and dance moves. If the music is playing, Bob is sure to be dancing.
“I go down to the hotel garden bar and dance by myself, just because I like to dance.”
At the recent Harbour View Hotel St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Bob was up on the dancefloor the entire night – often on his own – and was named best dressed in his dapper outfit.
And while he’s comfortable on the dancefloor, Bob says he was a bundle of nerves his first time on the catwalk.
“Up until two years ago when I first entered, I would never have done anything like that. I just did it for a bit of a dare and as I was going on, I didn’t know whether to run out the door, so I just ran out on stage,” he laughs.
A biennial show, Raglan Art to Wear has gone from strength-to-strength since its inception 25 years ago.
The idea for the competition came to life from a conversation between well-known textile artist Yanny Split and co-organiser Jean Carbon after a Susan Flight summer school workshop in 1996.
With the help of Patti Mitchley, Margot Gillard and Penny Knuiman, the first show came to life in 2000.
This year, entrants can dare to break boundaries in the Avant-Garde open section with surreal silhouettes and radical textures; celebrate the natural wonder of the land, sea, and sky in the Kaitiakitanga open section; step into a world of wonder and magic in the Mythical Creatures children’s section; or take centre stage in the All Things Shiny open section with textures, colours and materials that catch the light.
It’s not too late to get your entries in for this years’ event – deadline is Thursday May 22nd.
Pick up your entry forms at the Old School Monday to Friday from 10am-2pm or download at www.raglanartscentre.co.nz/raglan-art-to-wear-biennial/
by Janine Jackson
