Galentine's Day: Celebrating the Beauty of Female Friendship—In Front of the Camera

There’s something magical about women lifting each other up. The way we show up for one another, celebrate each other’s wins, and create spaces where we can be seen and heard—it’s what makes female friendships so powerful.

That’s why Galentine’s Day isn’t just a fun excuse for brunch (though we’ll never say no to waffles and mimosas). It’s a reminder that women deserve to be celebrated—not just for what they do, but for who they are. And this year at Modern Prairie, we’re taking that celebration one step further.

Get in the Picture: Because You Deserve to Be Seen

So many women spend their lives behind the camera, capturing moments for everyone else. But what about you? What about the stories you have to tell, the joy in your laughter, the beauty of just being you?

Our Get in the Picture campaign is all about stepping forward—taking up space, owning our presence, and allowing ourselves to be seen. This Galentine’s Day, we’re thrilled to introduce you to a few incredible women from the Modern Prairie community who did just that.

They aren’t professional models. They’re women just like you—mothers, friends, creatives, dreamers—who said yes to being in the picture. And through their photos, they remind us that confidence, style, and joy don’t have an age limit.

So, let’s meet them! Keep reading to hear their stories, see their favorite Modern Prairie outfits, and find out what this photoshoot experience meant to them.

Julia Randolph

We modeled over 30 something beautiful dresses on the first day, so I cannot remember them all. But, I know I love the Melissa dresses, like the white one that we will model in Feb. I would love to take that dress to Paris in the summer and wear a big floppy hat with it… I also love lace on my clothes, which most of the Melissa dresses have on them. 

Another dress I modeled was a floral, blue and white, soft, flowy dress that has an opening from the waist down and another layer of material underneath. It is beautiful and perfect for spring and summer. I would love to wear that dress to England and go on a Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter tour. 

What’s one thing that always makes you feel confident and beautiful, no matter what?

Other than my husband saying loving and kind words to me, wearing beautifully made clothes like the ones Modern Prairie sell, make me feel great. I love that they carry plus sizes in everything they sell. I get excited to wear their outfits out and about and I always receive so many compliments from both women and men about my dresses (and even the boots I wear with them).  

If your photoshoot had a theme song, what would it be?

“Dawn” and mostly “The Secret Life of Daydreams” from the 2004 Pride and Prejudice soundtrack. In the beginning Dawn on some recordings and in the movie, you hear birdsong and reminds you of spring, when all the birds come out every morning. Our outfits were all for spring and summer weather and very sweet, like these songs. In The Secret Life of Daydreams, I felt like I was in a real daydream modeling in outfits made by my favorite designer for a company owned by Melissa Gilbert, whom I grew up watching on TV since the 70’s bec. we’re only a year apart in age. 

What's the most surprising or unexpected thing that happened during your photoshoot?

That I was actually modeling my favorite types of pretty clothes at the age of 59 and actually fit into a really cute pair of overalls for the first time in many, many years. This is all thanks to Modern Prairie for selling all their clothes in plus sizes too. I’m very grateful to Melissa and Nicole for considering all of us women, esp. us ladies over 50. 

If you could have any fictional character join you in modeling for Modern Prairie, who would it be and what would they wear? 

I am not a big fiction reader, but I do love all of Jane Austen’s and Bronte’s books. So anyone of her leading ladies would be lovely, esp. Elizabeth Bennet. And I imagine she would wear either the blue and white floral, flowy dress that I loved so much or one of the Laura dresses. If it were a real person, then Jane Austen herself in a Laura dress or Beatrix Potter, who I think would love wearing the cute overalls for farming in the Lake District and the smocks for painting her cute animals. 

Julie Westra

If you could wear one outfit from the spring collection anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

One outfit - White dress with little cap sleeve, buttons down the front with little details on the bodice.  I wore it with a purple apron (it was just the skirt part of the apron not the top) it had lots of pockets.  

In a dream world I would wear the dress in Italy maybe Amalfi Coast in the summer.  I love how European women wear a lot of cotton breathable dresses!  I also would like to wear it with the apron on Easter.  I love that I can feel beautiful while also having a lovely and useful apron.  I can picture having our extended family over and all the wonderful craziness that ensues, I would feel cool and comfortable getting everything set and enjoying the time together.

What’s one thing that always makes you feel confident and beautiful, no matter what?

My husband Ben always makes me feel confident and beautiful.  He encourages me to stretch and grow where I tend to like to stay where I am comfortable.  His confidence in me is often the catalyst I need to try something new.  I also have the most amazing friends who always feel confident and beautiful.  I could be in sweats and un-showered but they see me and love me in any state.  They make me feel like I can do anything.  This is superficial but I love a good dress!  A great fitting, moving dress that I can do laundry, make dinner and go out to dinner wearing.

If your photoshoot had a theme song, what would it be?

Photoshoot theme song.  This is hard for me because I really love a wide variety of music and we always have music playing at our house.  For the photoshoot though maybe some classical music, Yo-yo ma-I love the cello.  I love movies so maybe some movie soundtracks!  I love the 2005 Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.  I am a child of the 80's so as the day went on some 80's pop would give the perfect pep!

What's the most surprising or unexpected thing that happened during your photoshoot?

The most surprising and unexpected thing that happened during the photoshoot was that it was so much more fun than I could have imagined.  I was nervous, this was really pushing me out of my comfort zone!  The ladies were all so friendly, fun and I just enjoyed getting to know them!  Also, my 10-year-old son, George, was 'watching' our bulldog puppy, Norman, but somehow missed that he pooped and peed in the house!!

If you could have any fictional character join you in modeling for Modern Prairie, who would it be and what would they wear? 

Fictional Character I should pick a fictional character who knows how to do hair and makeup so they could help me look my best for the shoot! (Perhaps you'd like me to change this to Little house characters! I can do that) I grew up in a world of Anne of Green Gables so to have Anne tell me stories and entertain us would be a blast.  She could fix my hair with the perfect poof.

Pam Alderen

If you could wear one outfit from the spring collection anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I would definitely wear the outfit that I modeled and was shown in the Spring sneak reveal photo.  I would love to be able to travel to Europe, specifically Germany because I have a foreign exchange daughter that originates from there and would love to be able to visit her and her family.  She is currently studying in Australia for a couple of years, so maybe a trip down under would be fun also.

What's one thing that always makes you feel confident and beautiful, no matter what?

I believe confidence and beauty start from within, so attitude is everything!  If you embrace who you are as an individual, believe in yourself and your abilities, take a chance and try new and challenging things (like modeling), your beauty and confidence will have no problem revealing itself to others.

If your photoshoot had a theme song, what would it be?

I love so many genres of music this was a tough one to narrow down.  But I think I'm going to go with "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire.  I love the upbeat tempo, it's fun to listen and sing to and just puts me in a good mood when I hear it. I may be a little partial to the title as my birthday is in September also

What's the most surprising or unexpected thing that happened during your photoshoot?

One surprising thing that happened during the photoshoot was finding out that I had connections with some of the ladies that were there, although I had never met them before.  The connections were through my hometown. We talked about the people we knew and how we were connected to them. I felt a sense of community knowing we had similar pasts.  Realizing it's such a small world we live in, and we all have common ground to build on.  

If you could have any fictional character join you in modeling for Modern Prairie, who would it be and what would they wear?

I would love to have Wonder Woman join me in modeling for Modern Prairie.  She's a fighter, strong, honest, and courageous.  All things that I relate to very well. As far as what she would wear.... I think she would look good in a pair of the new jogger pants that will be coming out in spring along with the Lovely Lace long sleeve tee or the short sleeve Judy Blouse.

I really had a lot of fun doing this photo shoot.  It really took me out of my comfort zone, but I felt very comfortable and it was such a great experience and I got to meet a few new ladies at the same time.