As the show began you could tell we were going to be in for a right show. The looks shown exploited mesh and sheer. A bustier with a slouchy pant was one of my favorite looks, as was a polka dot dress that exposed both shoulders. There were 13 models in total; 10 women and 3 men. There was one item in particular, a backpack that donned the word “Paris”, that I thought was extraordinarily inspired. I had asked Alysse if she would dare divulge as to where she, Kirsten, Matt and Benjamin obtained such treasures and she declined to comment on such whereabouts. It was one of the smartest displays I had seen that night but I could definitely tell these people had something I like to call thrift store mojo. It is a gift given to you by the elephant-headed vintage gods that does not come lightly. As an atheist, I believe in science and style above all things and if there was a god, it showed up on that runway Friday night. The models also sported leather pieces which are pretty difficult to find and expensive to clean. That showed a lot of dedication. The makeup was fairly simple save for blue eyebrows that added a pop of color in the basking glow of neutrality. It seemed to call for a second look and was at all times wonderful.
There were 24 looks in total and at the end, as in every fashion show, all the models walked out in the last look that they were in and took one last collective walk down the runway. Then the four masons of this artful science we call vintage appeared to a roaring fanfare from the audience of style mavens, friends, family and the vintage curious. They explained that all the pieces shown were available for purchase which is by far a very rare thing to find at a fashion show. However, this was no ordinary showing.
In the back there was a turquoise painted room with a bed and a vanity where the models and stylists made themselves up before and down afterward. As I went backstage I ran into Matt Kasin. I asked him how he thought the show went and he said that Alysse and him “were backstage doing the quick change” so he didn’t get to see it but he hopes that “a video will surface” of it. The reactions from the audience were massive and I asked him what he thought of it. ““Some of the guys were wearing no pants. Obviously I don’t want to wear pants so I didn’t put them in pants and they were like, ‘Everybody loved it! Everybody loved it!,’ so, I’m just going off their reaction”
I came to ask him how he thought this faired well for The Gaudy God and his answer was defiantly priceless:
“I think it solidifies that I’ve been here a year and that I’m here to stay and that I mean business and I’m not wearing pants! Even come fall! Fuck pants!”
He wore a blazer courtesy of The Sometimes Store (if that isn’t camaraderie, I don’t know what is). Along with the act of solidarity he wore a speedo and his “grandfather’s air force boots from the army,” he assumed. I asked him how old they were and he said he wasn’t sure. “I actually want to say their my grandfather’s uncle’s, I don’t know what that is, but yes: old. They’ve been resold a couple of times and I live in them all winter and now they’ve come into summer.”
I sat down with Kirsten on the bed to ask her opinion on how it went. She explained that she “could only guess how well it well it went based on the reviews of everyone.”
“I didn’t get to watch the show at all. [We] didn’t get to do a run-through, [so] I can only gage how well it went off of everyone’s cheering”
She described what she wore: “boots from the future; some bootleg YSL. They’re platform wedge heels. I‘m wearing sheer tights that I found in my dresser. I probably hadn‘t worn them in a year. [A] nude leather skirt that Rhianna [our intern found] and I cut half of it off. This 100% silk beige, cream, tan, nude top. [I] got this [fur stole] that was porbably ripped off of an ugly coat that was unflattering! I don‘t know if it‘s real or not.”
I inquired on her second statemnet piece, next to the orphaned fur, a giant wide black chapeau: “well, my hat was a last minute addition. I couldn’t decide if I was going to go simple or if I was going to go extravagant. [I] saw all the looks on the models and I was like, ‘no, no, no’ I need to dress this up. [Wearing the hat] I feel like my cosmetology teacher, Krystal, in church and it’s actually a borrowed hat. [It was] brought just in case someone needed a hat to complete their look and I threw it on [be]cause I felt like I looked very plain”
After the consecutive interviews, I worked the room and had such a blast. I met Isa who’s blog is about street fashion. She commented that she was wearing a Sometimes Store dress and gushed on how I looked which made me feel vindicated since I absolutely love her blog and admire her style greatly.
Well, corazones, I think that about covers it. Until next week:
Don’t be a stranger, but do be stranger.
Special thanks (like, duh) to Matt Kasin, Kirsten Kilponen, Alysse Dalessandro and Benjamin Bradshaw