Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wynene and Dorothea Do New York, 2008
So you all know Wynene, but for those of you who don't, she is a friend from California whom I worked with at B.A. I had the extreme delight to be blessed with her effervescent presence when she visited me at my digs in Washington Heights, New York. She spent a whole week with me, including Thanksgiving, and what follows are the pictures that tell a story of two California girls traipsing through the mad and beautiful streets of Manhattan (and Brooklyn).
Friday, December 26, 2008
The first day Wynene got here, we went out to Brooklyn to a club called Europa to check out my coworker's band, Across the Aisle. Though before they played, we had the pleasure to enjoy these guys, Sonic Boom Six. They. Are. Amazing. If you ever thought you were never really into ska, it's because you never heard these crazy UK kids before. We all loved them. They just take the genre and flip it upside down and inside out. Good idea.
Oh Park Slope.........uh... that's about all there is to say about it. Park Slope is located in Brooklyn, and though it's different from say, Williamsburg or Bed Stuy, it still has the same feel to me: quiet, industrial, and suburban-- so so different from Manhattan. Brooklyn definitely lacks the hustle and bustle and wonderful craziness of The City. We trekked out there one day (and it is a trek: I would say about an hour and 20 minutes probably from WaHi) in search of the Super Hero Store, which when we found it, was definitely worth the trip. On the way we stopped in a little hole in the wall British restaurant called Chips, where the menu was entirely English (yeah, we're talking bangers and mash and the like), Ozzy was wailing in the background, and the bathroom walls were completely covered in British newsprint. Quirky and charming, just as you'd expect. And maybe you'll find yourself wondering why my pictures of Wynene's stay end with us at the Super Hero Supply Store. Well, that's easily explained--that's where I forgot my camera. I was finally able to rescue it over a week later, so unfortunately Wy's last days in NYC can only be left to the imagination of those who weren't there to witness them. Sigh...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Bowie Ball 2008
So on Friday I received this text: "There's a bowie ball tomorrow night if you wanna go. I'll forward you info. bowieballnyc.com"
The website was filled with outrageous pictures from last year's fete, and although I still didn't really have a clue what it was, it looked like so much fun that I immediately responded in the affirmative: "Looks awesome! I'm there."
That night at work, my coworker Kaytee filled me in on the particulars. It's a big party held once a year inspired by David Bowie's music and amazing style. I knew that I had nothing appropriate to wear to such a crazy event, so on Saturday night I schlepped myself down from the Heights to Kaytee's place in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where she insisted she had so many terrific outfits to choose from. It was so chilly that night (it actually ended up snowing for about 15 minutes) and I was cozy at home, but I took the hour long journey to Brooklyn because there was no way I was gonna pass up an opportunity to attend a party that seemed the quintessential New York experience.
"Check the society pages afterwards for pictures," Jenny told me before I left. "I heard it gets really crazy," she added.
It didn't take us long to get ready. Kaytee and I sipped Irish coffees in her bedroom while she pulled out one flamboyant piece after another from her stuffed closet. I chose something I would never wear-- a strapless dress with a sequined bodice and flouncy plaid-print skirt. When she'd told me that she made it herself, I was sold. I decided not to wear the bolero piece that she created with it-- a matching plaid printed half-jacket with puffy sleeves, and opted instead to wear a jacket that went just as well: a thin silky black piece with a white sequined cockatoo emblazoned on the right breast and a ribbon laced up the back like a corset. She also opted to wear an original piece that she made--an asymmetrical dress with many feathers on the top. She paired it with a very expensive pair of leather pants that she was given from a designer she worked for briefly in Soho. I slipped my size 10 feet into her size 9 little pointy lace up Victorian-style boots, and then we posted ourselves in different parts of the apartment to complete our makeup and hair.
She blew out her hair, her ultra posh hair stylist roommate adding the finishing touches to her huge coiffure. He told us we looked fabulous and I believed him because after all, he styles runway and red carpet hair, not to mention hits the club scene 5 days out of the week. Yay! We were ready. As we were grabbing our purses and preparing to take a couple of pre-party pics, I got a text from Tiffany, our other coworker: "IT'S SNOWING!"
Oh my Gosh!
Alder, Kaytee's roommate, snapped a few pictures of us before we descended the old wooden stairs to the cab waiting for us below. By this time we were so excited, and as we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan I watched the snow flutter silently through the air, dusting trees, cars, windows and rooftops with a light layer of snow.
We passed through Chinatown and stopped at Lafayette and Walker, paid the cabbie and entered the club, all fabulous and such. Since Amy, Kaytee's friend and a former employee of ______ RSVPd for us, we only had to pay 10 bucks at the door rather than 20. So cheap for New York. We arrived shortly after ten and there were only a handful of people milling around a bit, sipping drinks, and preening in the bathroom. We first checked our jackets (2 dollars--again very very cheap), then went out to the dance floor to survey the scene. Amy got in line for a "Glam Rock Makeover-- $1" in an adjacent room (how could she not?) while Kaytee and I swayed to the music a bit on the dance floor, waiting for things to pick up.
A moment later a guy approached with a big camera.
"May I take your picture?"
I was flattered to say the least, thanking Kaytee secretly for letting me borrow her terrific clothes. She and I climbed up on a platform and posed for the photographer who snapped a couple times. While waiting for Amy, Kaytee and I decided to have a drink, and since she took the trouble to smuggle a bottle of Jameson into the club, squeezing it into the waist of her $800 leather pants, the least I could do was get us a glass of gingerale at the bar. We headed to the bathroom where she entered a stall and cured the drink for us. We checked our makeup, took a few sips, and headed back to the dance floor. More and more people were gradually finding their way into the club and Kaytee and I danced a bit to Bowie. But it wasn't until she returned from having a cigarette outside that she told me "We should go upstairs. There's another dance floor and it looks pretty cool."
We told Amy where to find us and made our way upstairs to a larger room with a few more people, some tables off to the side, a large stage, a raised platform for the DJ, and another full bar. This is where we stayed the entire night, grooving to all 80's music, admiring marvelous outfits and costumes, sipping on Jameson and gingerale, and watching an elaborate performance about once an hour on the giant stage.
Around midnight, our coworker Tiffany and her friend Charlie met us there, and the five of us danced and jumped around for hours, sweaty, feet aching, laughing and posing for many glamorous pictures. Although I was having an amazing time and not sleepy in the least, at around 2 am I bid farewell to the girls, since I had to be at work at 8:30 that morning, which meant I would have to pull myself out of bed at 6:30. As if the night couldn't get any better, while I was waiting in line to get my jacket from coat check, I happened to glance down at the floor and spotted a 20 dollar bill. "Yoink!" I exclaimed, as I swiftly scooped the money from the ground. Awesome. So after a ten dollar cover charge and two gingerales at 3.00 a piece, I came out with an extra four dollars at the end of the night.
I gathered my jacket, tipped the girl a dollar, and headed back out into the cold to catch the train home. My head didn't actually hit the pillow until 3:30, and I was tired the next morning at work, but I was still the first girl to arrive, and once my tables were filled I woke up and had a good, busy day.
Of all the things I've seen and done in New York so far, the Bowie Ball has to be the most fantastic yet. The soiree is unique to Manhattan and was so over the top glamorous, outrageous and, well, I think so New York. And that's what I'm always searching for: those experiences that are singular and definitively New York. Restaurants, parks, avenues, neighborhoods, general holes in the wall, museums, monuments, dive bars, kooky furniture stores, vintage clothing, roller skating bars, and extravagant parties, like the Bowie Ball.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Mom, can I dress like this all the time? I'm proud to say that I'm wearing a Kaytee original. She designs and creates couture and it is nothing short of AMAZING. This dress I would say is one of her more conservative pieces in my opinion. Most of what I've seen is insane and beautiful and big and fluffy and ethereal and delicious. It's only a matter of time before she can quit our restaurant and work for herself. The dress fit me like a dream and I never wear strapless pieces, but this was perfect. Black tulle hung a bit from the bottom also and gave necessary fluff to the dress. At the last minute, just before we left Kaytee's for the ball, she draped this head dress that she made around my neck. It really complemented the outfit. The mask sitting atop my head was also hers, though the wig and makeup were mine. So glad I brought the wig!! As soon as we walked in a photographer approached me, asking to take my picture. Dahling, of course! This happened a few times throughout the night. Is it okay to say I felt fabulous in my full attire?
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