As Gentle as L.A.M.

This ensemble speaks volumes....

'nuf said. true love always, Lee Alexander McQueen.

p.s. I hope Diesel doesn't fuck up your steez.

That's Ms. Saint, if You're Nasty

The veneration of Ms. Ditto in the fashion world is probably the best thing/interesting phenomenon that's happened in a long while. The discussion of homo/fat politics in fashion is pretty much nil. And even when it's called out [V Magazine 2010] lacks serious weight. But, hey, you can't change the world in a day. I love about designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Gareth Pugh, and Jean Charles Castelbajac. They are canonizing Ditto as style icon. While the message may get lost in the media shuffle, no matter what the lyrics and politics still live strong in her art. And I hope they stay out there. No consumer factory can take that away.


photo props to THEMISSHAPES twatter feed from JD de Castelbajac show.

I spied Ms. Ditto on ye olde style.com talking about Viktor & Rolf. I love the right of passage idea. But then again...I like to think of Kristen "the older model" like the mother of the alien horde of fledgling maximum shouldered babies.

Slice Me Up Some of that Papoose Gold

I really need a denim papoose. Tao's F/W 2010 rtw totally vibing my new aesthetic, 80's-mid 90's Southwestern Earth Mother with PIZAZZ. I'd add some gold on there, maybe some turqouis beads? Add a patchwork sweater under there and some hiking boots, now we're talkin'.

Collecting old denim pants for DIY papoose starts........now.

Rita Ackermann : Sirens with Engines

I love Rita Ackermann. I love her because she recalls all that was romantic and nostalgic about the 90's -- in a sacred way. My network of friends and my atmosphere/community absorbed her art in a way that made it seem all ours. It's got to be the identification with the innocent siren, the naive doe in the midst of chaos. Strong emotional ties there. In my memory, the past 10 years' events have been about surviving insanity. (and now i'm glad to say, thriving-ish in insanity) I'm glad Rita Ackerman has the emotional antennae to detect for herself foremost, and offer her images for those who are hungry for evolution.

Here's some images from the new Purple. Totally worth reading cover to cover!



Mr. Zahm did an amazing interview with her. ANd hello!? a kick ass photo her in a Mark Fast mesh/crochet dress and patent Pam Hogg no heel shoes with none other than Ms. Lizzi Bougatsos (love). I had no idea how much Rita and Lizzi did together art/happening/performance art-wise.
Reading the interview reminded me of the casual story telling style I loved so much in old zines. That sort format really helps break down recent art history in basic digestible bits while shedding pretension. It's a way to recollect 'the way it was' bleeding into 'the way it is'. All together you see there's room for so much more art.

Yeah, so much more art. There's also a feature later in the same magazine with photos by Ackermann, words by Jeff Rian. It's a story about Marfa, TX, featuring her sewing on the hood of a car. So awesome....

Polka Daughter : Yayoi Kusama

She was more famous that Andy Warhol.


She made a heap of art in astronomical scales, rooms full covered ceiling to floor. She made PENIS chairs. Then she quit art and only did happenings (i guess it's performance art these days). Then she went nuts. In a nutshell, that's it her life. (which i should not dare to be so scant or dismissive of a more complicated life)



The thing is that Kusama is still creating art every day and she's in her 70's, almost 80's! There's nothing I love more than a woman with longevity and passion that spans decades. Guess the story is not old....but she's basically a forgotten pop artist in America although she's one of the most prolific. (hello!? white dudes always get written about in books and get documented in history, others???...notsomuch)



I learned about her after going to MOMA awhile back and seeing her art book on the shelf, Love Forever. Although I still haven't seen any of her work in person. I've become a life long lover of Kusama.
The fellas at Purple Magazine took two seconds from smokin' sherm and OD-ing on tits (i have more to say about this...) to come up for air on Yayoi Kusama. She got some exposure from photographer Chikashi Suzuki. Showing her in her studio in Comme des Garcons..in POLKA DOTS of course, just lovely.
Hope Kusama is making a come back...thinking she's about to come back into view. Saw t-shirts emblazoned with her image at Cynthia Rowley store in NY last week, too. Hope she gets some long due props.

Icon: Yoko Ono

I had the fortune of attending Yoko Ono's Dress Rehearsal performance at BAM Monday night. I swear, it's going to take me a year to process the whole show beginning to end. From the video montage retrospective of her life/work (I cried the whole time). If ever you wondered why this woman does what she does...it's so clear. In the face of EVERYTHING the bastard world has to throw at her she's the ultimate optimist. I couldn't respect any one more. She devastates my heart with her tenacity and positive outlook. You could try to burn her at the stake and she'd offer you a hug. It's the complete re-version/visioning of DISARMAMENT.

Here's the rough outline of the show.
It both lightens and sinks my heart to see "WAR IS OVER...if you want it" lit on top of taxi cabs in New York in 2010.

Nothing's changed but the art still remains.

So there's this dress at the t-shirt booth, that's a mystery to me. Who designed it? What does it mean, man!!?


There's a reason this woman must open her mouth. for the pretty to come out.

There were lots of special guests. (including a sneaky Mark Ronson, I'm pretty sure, Scissor Sisters and Chimera) I know I should have loved Kim, Thurston and Yoko doing "Mulberry" best. But truths be told I loved Justin Bond's "What a Bastard the World Is" so so sososo much. So appropriate, campy, heart wrenching and awesome.





AND they played "Death of Samantha" live for the first time ever???!!

humor break: Bottoms are really at the bottom of everything. "Bottoms" on the bathroom stall....love you yoko.

And I know over time, and by complete cultural saturation of Lennon/Ono's "Give Peace a Chance" renders it totally cheezeballs. But I really don't care. I still think it's powerful to sing together and stand up--so there. (and singing together with this group was really fun and earnest).


Listen to this woman: "Stay healthy this year, and don't get too angry." .......okay, i'll try.

School Girl: a vision quest

Watch the learning curve unfold my friends.
Finding my path:

This is what it looks like when your mind is blown by draping class by Luz Pascal.


Sewing on Sunday


Serger gets the best of me....

Chippin' out at Mood, boooyahhh!

Wig Re-construction 101 (A HairStory)

Wig wearin's my thing. It came about through many incarnations of hair dos. First and foremost, I feel I was born with the wrong hair. I'm all for positive body image but as far as I'm concerned hair isn't part of my body.

Hair's a medium to sculpt on top of my head. (think Troll hair)

First, I tested out glue & bead hair extensions. On top of the process being long (5 hours) and expensive ($300+), it was painful. Imagine having your hair pulled 24 hours a day for 3 months. yeeouch.

I gave up on extensions but found the miracle of the weft and hair bonding glue.

I started frequenting the local Mid-K beauty supply store. I bought latex bonding glue and wefts. I'd carefully glue in layers of hair on my head. I experimented with color, layers and length. But in the end, there were chunks of glue stuck in my hair and scalp. I constantly picked at my head like that weird dude in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Somewhere during this time I shaved my head recalling some of my punk rock roots. (me at 15)

Also, I got really bummed about chemicals. I'd been dyeing my hair for 15-20 years and thought I'm one hair dye away from producing a third eye. So out went the dye. Which left me with ROOTS> ewwww<....of some unknown mousy dishwater brown color.

With all this experience and a bad haircut to nurse. (Doing my best to claim the shaved head grow out)

I set out on the wig stores on a mission. I envisioned a simple fall, a mid-wig, a 1/2 size piece. Lo and behold, these pieces don't exist. There were add on ponytails, weft and wigs. But nothing with micromesh (i.e. fake scalp). So I bought a decent human ponytail and went to town cutting, sewing and reshaping it to suit my needs.

I came up with something rudimentary but nonetheless wear everyday. (me, wig, and John)

For Halloween I needed to buy a cheap wig for my costume. Every time I stop in the wig store I pump the store people for ideas on how to improve my construction. The owner, without skipping a beat, showed me how to turn a full size wig into a quality fall--complete with the much sought, hand loomed mesh front-piece. She showed me one tiny 1/4 wig that was completely handloomed mesh selling for $550. That's rent! For a wig, not even. She talked me into a smart little super-quality wig for $109.95. I set out to customize it.

I cut the wig in two, leaving the top toupee piece (bottom) and the bottom piece (top). Then I harvested the wefts from the foundation.

I sewed the wefts row by row hoping to get bouffant elevation on the crown. But no luck this time around. Healthy hair is soft and silky, which is not conducive to back-combing or height. :(...I added four snapping combs, three in front and one in back. I've christened this wig "FrankenWig". Chalk this up to another wig lab experiment. After a cut and style....

Fierce bangs!

Future Traveller: Art School

WOOOOWEEEEE!!!! I got accepted to Parsons!


uuuuhhh, yeah. woah. Spring 2010, February 1st. That's soon. No words can capture the excitement/fear/exasperation. I can't believe the overwhelming mix of emotions. Some days everything seems to fall into place cosmically. Other days it seems like the worst idea I've ever had. My friend Natasha says my doubts prove I'm sane. I hope so. I'm fulfilling a childhood dream to go to a fancy art school, in New York. (all cynical art school analysis aside) And I finally did it! I waited, worked, plotted and schemed to make this happen. It's been 9 long, treacherous and beautiful years here in Portland. I'm ready to loosen the ties and hunker down for some hard work. Now on with the task of uprooting one life and planting another. I'll be keeping up on posts, leaving a digital trail. This is gonna be a wild ride, Mr. Toad.

Above is a collage I made depicted the ideal woman I would design for. The interspace, transcendental time and world traveler. Trippy!

Hightower's Power

This is a Native pin-up/portrait series of Rachel I worked on by photographer, Marne Lucas. Besides being a stunner of a woman, fellow Libran, Marne's also enormously caring, talented, optimistic and hilarious. I've found rad women travel in packs. It's no wonder she's runs with m'lady Raquel. (sorta dying from how rad they both are). I dream of collaborating on creating gorgeous images coast to coast and continent to continent with my ladies. To dream the dream.

Here's a couple doozies from the series to sate. (hair, make up by me. styling by Rachel or "Lady Raquel" if you're nasty).

Marne and Lady Raquel have worked together as a serious dynamic duo. Beauty? I'll say, sheesh. They got it for miles.

Giving Birth to Myself

I love Halloween! I usually have my costume picked out a year in advance and spend a insane amount of time on making it. This year is a big year> a very big year and next year is going to be even more epic. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a new phase in life than to give birth to myself. Can you?

(thanks to my beloved Darrin for shaving his head and donating his hair for pubes. also big thanks to my green lady midwife, Rachel for being there for me in time of need.)



Malice is helping my mom birth me on the bar room floor of East End. Classy.

Here's some more doozies of me, Ash and Rachel getting ready to go out. (note: I kept my wallet, cell phone and a bottle of wine in vajay. mom's a lush)

It takes a village, thanks Sadie.

Check out Meryl Smith's art and props to the originator of the original costume idea.

Reviving Ophelia

Lady Raquel and Gigi strike again! This time for a project reviving Millais' Ophelia. Raquel and her partner Christine Blystone (henceforth, "Candy") laid their brainiac skills down on this one and took me along for the ride. With some minor make-uppin', I'm mainly along for moral support and the occasional pill and tit wrangling. Need your hair swirly? That's a job for me! Want to look dead/otherworldly and beautiful? I have some tips for ya! Here are the final shots.





Process shots: