Stylin’! (Photo By Gail)
On Easter Sunday, the place to be was Tompkins Square Park, where friendly and festive East Village neighbors dressed in their most colorful finery for some kind of Easter Bonnet Festival — which may or may not be a returning annual tradition. There were dozens of great looks, but this lovely Lady in Pink was my favorite for obvious reasons.
Photo By Gail
One thing that can be said about RuPaul is that (s)he always looks fabulous. While I am not a watcher of Drag Race, I appreciate the spirit of fierce competition and the flawless style aesthetic. Who could not love this amazing Pink Wig that Ru wears in the Subway Ad for the current season of the show? It is positively otherworldly.
Photographed in the multi-line subway station tunnel between 14th and 16th Streets at 6th Avenue.
All Photos By Gail
The Spring 2018 exhibition from The Met’s Costume Institute, entitled Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, ended its five-month run on October 8th, and broke all kinds attendance records, surpassing even that of 2011’s Alexander McQueen exhibition. Over these past few months, I’ve enjoyed bringing you design posts featuring some of my favorite highlights from the exhibit, seen at both its Met Fifth Avenue and Met Cloisters locations. I still have many photos that have not been publicshed, so I may be bringing you #MetHeavenlyBodies designs well into 2019! You’re welcome!
One of my vary favorite outfits, photographed over at the Met Cloisters is this Thom Browne-designed Wedding Ensemble with its cloud-like skirt, from his Spring/Summer 2018 collection. Created from a variety of materials including white mink, white silk organza, ribbons of white nylon tulle, embroidered white silk thread, gold bullion, pearls, crystals, clear glass, and mother-of-pearl, it was quite the show stopper!
It’s no accident that this piece was installed near the museum’s famous Unicorn tapestries, as you can see in the above photo where a Unicorn Head and Horn are formed with twisted tulle and gold bullion on the garment’s bodice.
Wedding Ensemble By Thom Browne with Unicorn Tapestries In Background
And on the back, yes, there they are, the subtle stab wounds that we see in the tapestries.
What may be even more striking than this ornate dress is the mannequin’s vibrant red hairpiece by celebrated hair stylist and wig-maker Shay Ashual, who designed all of the wigs for the exhibit. To quote Catherine Addington for Weekly Standard Dot Com, “In Ashual’s most stunning work, red-violet streaks matted to the face of the mannequin wearing a Thom Browne wedding dress conjure blood and beauty at once. Set against The Unicorn in Captivity, a tapestry that has often been interpreted as Passion symbolism, the hairpiece turns an otherwise enigmatic ensemble into the heavenly wedding garment of a martyr.”
Photos By Gail
Bergdorf Goodman Department Store on Fifth Avenue is known worldwide for their stunning seasonal window displays, but all you have to do is step inside to see that this same visual aesthetic carries over to every inch of the store. I took these photos when my friend Lorrie and I visited Bergdorf’s after we had an amazing Afternoon Tea at the Plaza Hotel, which is just next door.
If you want sell a dress, this is the way to do it.
Photo By Gail
Yes, It Exists: This Inflatable Pink Wig was spotted in the Flying Tiger shop on Third Avenue near 73rd Street in Manhattan. Sells for just $6.00! What a bargain!
All Photos By Gail
On its own, Nerds candy is a somewhat unremarkable, microscopic-in-size hard candy with a popular sweet/sour flavor profile that The Kids love. But as you can see by this entirely over-the-top store display that brings in pop culture references from every angle, Nerds are about two things: packaging and marketing.
The mannequin is even wearing a tank-style mini-dress with a bright pink and purple pattern the emulates a box of Nerds, while sporting a pink wig and holding a Pusheen backpack. You’re not buying candy, you are buying an image. How cool is she? Answer: so cool. Nerd Cool. You can buy the jumbo box of Nerds candy (which will take you one human lifetime to eat) and the Pusheen backpack at It’Sugar. The Nerds Dress is sold as a part of a “Nerd Girl” Halloween Costume at Walmart.
All Photos By Gail
This bright Pink Wig, which I stopped to snap while walking south on 8th Avenue near Madison Square Garden, reminded me immediately of the crazy, disheveled fright wig that Andy Warhol famously sported in his later years. I’m picturing it on Andy’s head even as I type this.
Spotted in the window of Mane Beautify Supply, located at 412 8th Avenue between 30th & 31st Streeta, New York, NY 10001.