The Department of Fashion brings you scattered commentary, a statement about fashion, and pictures of naked people

Welcome to a newly energized department of fashion. This fall, camel is in, which, in my humble opinion, is wonderful. When I was 11 years old my mother bought me my first camel coat, with a matching brimmed tan felt hat. I wore it to church on sundays in those Boston winters. It was a Smart ensemble then, and it's a Smart ensemble now.
In exciting personal news, I recently acquired a pair of (gently used) red patent leather Christian Louboutin spectator pumps (for less than 200 dollars if anybody reading this has any fucking idea what I am talking about and can appreciate what a miracle that is) and discovered that I can actually walk in them. Which is very important because as anyone who knows me will affirm, I am not tall enough already.
My three outstanding fashion goals before I turn 30 (I have 9 months) involve high heels, red lipstick, and lingerie, and I think I'm off to a good start (I have been neglecting high femme in favor of gentleman chic for many years, and find myself with some ground to cover if I am to arrive at 30 with a full and working arsenal).

plans for the Department of Fashion of this blog include:

-a series of illustrations of the world's most style-inspired political figures (with special attention paid to dictators and monarchs. They're not worried about re-election, so their clothes tend to be more interesting).

-posts about my own patternmaking and garment-costruction activities. I am currently planning my first foray into menswear, making, from pattern to finish, a tweed jacket for my friend Mr. Ross Waterer, which will hopefully feature epaulets adorned with chain-loops made of some kind of animal vertebrae. Also, what WILL I do with the three yards of black and white striped velvet I have been hoarding for going on 3 years?

- THE SIX AND SEVEN YEAR OLDS- a found masterpiece, mentioned in a recent post by my editor, will amaze and astound you for it's timeless sense of what makes clothes beautiful, essential, and life-affirming.

Now, without further ado, A STATEMENT ABOUT FASHION:


Fashion. Style. Performance. The fascination of costumes. the aesthetics of presentation as a field on which to challenge and negotiate elements of one's identity. You gotta fake it if you don't feel it. the potential transformation in the actor or actress that comes simply from the willingness to play a certain role- to put on the costume, to paint your face. We are all the actor, and can choose as many roles and costumes, and whichever roles, costumes, masks we want to, and be changed as a result. The boldness required to inhabit unknown parts of ourselves as costumes, roles, masks, and in doing so to discover or cultivate unexplored facets of our personalities, which are ever-evolving. How better to widen, deepen our understanding of our manhood, our womanhood, our androgyny- of our sexuality, our power or powerlessness, the parts of us that are chaste,ancient,alien, animal, busy or blank- than to create ourselves anew, every day, to treat our physical self as a canvas and a vehicle.
Even at 10 years old I had the foresight to declare:
"Life is a costume party!"


Since the sometimes magical and cosmic effects of fashion are nevertheless rooted to and formed by the particular mathematics and physics of the human form, I will leave you with some Pictures I recently did of naked people, and with the reluctant admission, that as much as I love clothing, nothing can compete with the beauty of a naked human body.