Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Style Crone-icles



































What better way to celebrate The Style Crone's impromptu Christmas visit to New York than to go hat shopping and to see Sandra Bernhard's "Sandyland" at Joe's Pub? Even the weather cooperated, with mild temperatures in the mid-50s in late December!





















PHASE I: Hat Shopping:
We don't know how we did this, but we did - we neglected to take a picture of ourselves or of Judith at our first stop. You'd think we'd know by now (especially considering how many times we've blogged about it -- don't we read our own blog???), but no. So instead (and with as much pleasure as we would have showing pictures of ourselves), here are photos of two people we met while diligently truffle hunting for fab stuff.

First we ran into Stephanie, looking amazing in a Comme des Garcons sweater and Alexander Wang boots. Yes, she is that gorgeous -- she combines a wonderfully goth, glam look with a great sense of style and humor. We first met Stephanie at the Opening Ceremony party on the pier at last fall's Fashion Week.


































While we were running around trying everything on, we bumped into Andrew Medlin, whom we'd met at a recent Issey Miyake party. Loved his Miyake shirt, Calvin Klein coat, black and white high-top lace-ups. He's now working at Rei Kawakubo's new seven story Dover Street Market and made us promise - twisted our arms! - to visit. (Jean ran into Andrew again on her way home from Joe's Pub and filled him in on all the evening's dish.)


































Judith had specifically asked if we would take her to look at hats, and mentioned with a hint of nostalgia the last time we'd taken her to Fabulous Fanny's. It's a short walk in a city that invites walking, and the weather was incredibly mild, so we began to make our way there. We came across this huge outdoor panorama of Christmas gifts, so FINALLY we took a few pictures.


































Judith was wearing a colorful Chinese wedding skirt and a circa 1920 cape with bright blue neck gator and armlets.  They were repurposed from a cashmere sweater and given to her by another blogger named Jean whose blog is called Dross into Gold.  Have a look - it's a great blog for women of - um - well, let's just say it: our age.



















On our way to Fabulous Fanny's, it occurred to us that Judith is open to new hats as well as vintage, so we surprised her with a stop at Gallery Vercon on the same street. We had a lovely chat with Vashti de Verteuil, the gallery's founder, who also makes a large selection of the hats she carries, as well as the jewelry. Here's Judith with Vashti, and two of the hats she tried on. The hat (turban, really) on the left is a very sophisticated combination of black, mustard yellow and oxblood red. It takes a practiced eye to know how to put those colors together. We know enough about Judith now to know that she has exactly the right thing in her wardrobe to show off this hat to best effect. The one she's wearing has a wonderful rakish bow that tilts at a tantalizing angle, and can be worn in a variety of ways. Vashti told us that Vera Wang sends her brides to Vashti for her custom-made hats. How cool is that?!






















When we finally made it to Fabulous Fanny's (where a cut-out of us from our appearance in Time Out New York hangs by the front door - again, we failed to take a picture, but you can see the original here), Judith was like a kid in a candy shop, and needed no help or encouragement from us. Here she is, with newfound treasures in one of those 1960s vinyl hat boxes with a transparent panel, a wonderful gift thrown in by the folks at FaFa's. (They take undisguised pleasure in great glasses and great hats, both of which they stock in quantity.  Everyone there has a great eye for design.)




















We had another stop in mind, but never made it. Tummies growling by now, we flagged down a cab to get a bite to eat at Joe's Pub before the evening's star -- Sandra Bernhard --  performed her latest act, Sandyland. The bag below, full of hats and other goodies, is bigger than it looks here, so Judith and Valerie protected the swag in the back...














...while Jean rode shotgun in the front of the taxi.
















PHASE II: A Trip to Sandyland:

Here we are at our perch in Joe's pub. It's a small and intimate location, and our seats in the last row, overlooking the entire venue, were perfect: with no one behind us, we wouldn't have anyone asking us to (gasp) remove our hats.


















For the fourth year in a row, Sandra Bernhard has appeared at Joe's Pub during the holidays to give her perspective on the year's events. She opened her set in a white shirt and black leather jeans with a glitzy necklace and earrings and signature curls. She has definitely mellowed. Gone are the acerbic, bitchy, edgy, screaming rants. They've been replaced by descriptions of the trials and tribulations of raising her daughter Cecily ("named after Cecily Tyson" NOT Sisley jeans or the island in Italy) with her waspy, blond partner of 15 years; of buyer's remorse for $1500 worth of Dead Sea salt facial and body products and for $1200 worth of CUTCO knives and scissors; and travelogues of locales visited while performing and vacationing. Hint: Don't wax poetic about Prague in her presence.


































Via monologue and song, she sums up the past year.  Although she is accompanied by three accomplished musicians, let's just say singing is not her strong suit. It does, however, set the mood and create atmosphere. At the end of her set, she exited the stage but quickly returned clad in white men's underwear and tank top for her cynical but energetic rendition of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball".































The less than flattering lingerie and Ugg-like ankle boots added more than a touch of humor and irony to her grand finale.


































Not ready to call it a night, we hung out in the lobby of the Public Theater to finish catching up with each other, and began to attact a following of our own when another one of the productions concurrently showing in the building (the Joseph Papp Theater) let out.  (This photo by Judith.)



































Soooo many wonderful women of a certain age (many of them gray-haired) go to the theater.  We regret we weren't fast enough (or nervy enough) to whip out our cameras and photograph more of them.  This lovely trio of ladies was sweet enough to stop and chat.






















At one point we were stopped by Tranna Wintour (!) and each of us photographed the other.  She was visiting from Montreal and was heading in to see Sandra Bernhard's late show.


































All too soon, the evening was over and we headed homeward. Judith asked to photograph the backs of our heads with her camera.  Intrigued, we asked her to take another for us.  Here's what we looked like.














Adios, until next time, Style Crone.  Thank you so much for coming and bringing all your holiday cheer with you!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

O, Tannenbaum!

We wish you warmest greetings of the season! And in the words of Tiny Tim: "God bless us, every one."


































The Oxford English Dictionary has declared SELFIE the Word of the Year. But don't take our Word for it. See for yourself here. And now, in honor of the Word of the Year, our holiday SELFIE:






















For a more musical holiday tribute, check out yesterday's special Christmas Eve posting. (Yes, the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas sing! Sort of...)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

On this, the night before Christmas, the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas send you holiday greetings.





(As usual, we've made this smaller to fit our Blogspot format. For the full effect, click here, and don't forget to click on the four corners at the bottom right of the screen so the video fills your entire screen! [And click your escape button to return to your usual screen.])

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Toys for Tots -- Like You've Never Seen Them Before























We attended Susanne Bartsch and David Barton's 11th Annual Toys for Tots Party.  Admission was one unwrapped toy for a child of any age.  What a great cause -- and a marvelous excuse for a party! We each brought a bag of goodies -- from the Museum of Modern Art.  (Remember Etch-a-Sketch?  We brought 9 of them with the fervent hope their recipients are even half as excited and entertained by them as we are.)

We knew we were in for a fun evening before we even entered the joint. Admittedly, it was hard to miss Markus Kelle, standing guard and directing wayward guests down West Broadway to the party at the Soho Grand Hotel. Faithful readers know we feature Markus and his amazing hats in our Easter Parade posts.


































Our "hostess with the mostest" Susanne Bartsch and Muffinhead.

Muffinhead's amazingly elaborate costume features hugely oversized hands.  How long could it have taken to dream that up, much less put it together?!  Did we mention that the party was an amazing amalgamation of Winter Holiday and Halloween?


































Co-host of the event, uber-buff David Barton, wore a tee-shirt celebrating the Halloween aspects of the evening, while the Lady in Red clearly went the holiday route.  Dying to know how one would cut a tee shirt to get that skull effect???!!!





















As Captain Renault in Casablanca said, "Round up the usual suspects",  so here we go:

Michael Musto wore the most hilariously garish sequin holiday vest.


































Our DJ was none other than record producer, recording artist, remixer, nightclub promoter and impresario, Johnny Dynell.


































Performance artist extraordinaire Joey Arias.  Check out the wonderful weave on that jacket!


































Our favorite dandy, Patrick McMullen, with Muffinhead.  Note the black and white striped cap under Patrick's hat.


































Louise Doktor and Zari Awodein.






















Roger Padilha (left) and Evan Lenhoff.



































Roger's brother Mauricio (also left) and friend (also named Evan).  Check out the frames on Mauricio's glasses.

















Lynn Yaeger.


































Jean and Tim Boyle, whom we first met at Fashion's Night Out circa 2010.


































We photographed this lady in our 2013 Easter Parade post and dubbed her a glamour puss and a vamp. Could we call it or what?



































We've also met the chic blonde on the far left and are wracking our brains to remember exactly when and where ...













Mark, the tall handsome gent, is a model for IMG MEN and the lady to the left is jewelry designer Mahlia.
















Ramy (r) and two friends.


































Ramy's pal, Michael, who works for Paper Magazine, greeted us at the door. (We first met Michael at the Philip Lim Target event during September fashion week.)


































Absolutely loved Zac's riff on red.






















Great trio. We'd met the man in the middle at the Stephen Burrows exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York.


































Valerie and one of The Milk Maids (impossibly tall and improbably named "Milk", of course).


































So many of the guests pulled out all the stops for wardrobe -- and makeup.  Shades of London in the '80s! (And note the anti-fur patch.)


















We ran into our Sunset Boulevard friends, Filippo and Pervis, and their pal who wore a wonderful riding hat.
















This gent had a small Christmas tree on his head. Here's what it looked like with flash.


































Here's what it looked like without flash.


































A man after our own heart, wearing a veil, and voile ears.


































Another veil, this one more turn of the century, covering the whole face. Very mysterious.



















Our friend Victor, designer of the 3PTPOP line, and his friend.
















Zac, Renato Dicent (who made the two fabulous second-skin costumes you see here), and friend.



































The infamous Milk Maids (Milk, left & Skim, right) flank fellow partygoers.



































Loved this red latex dress which comes with multiple ribbons in different colors to change up the look.


































Afros are making a comeback.


































Just as we were leaving, we met illustrator Bats Langley (left) and his friend Nick who probably set the evening's record for donations. They had filled that entire bag (big enough to haul a body!) with toys. Check out Bats' work here.


































What we're wearing:

Valerie is wearing: multicolored felt helmet by Carol Markel, vintage Krizia wool coat, jacket from Patricia Field, vintage plastic ear clips, Issey Miyake pants, Jeffrey Campbell 'the artist' rainboots.

Jean is wearing: Ignatius hat; Gudron black and white striped and polka dot scarf; Chaos black and white striped cuffs; Costume National jacket; Eileen Fisher harem pants; vintage bakelite rings.

Following is the fabulous invitation to the event, followed by links to press coverage:

SUSANNE BARTSCH & DAVID BARTON  
INVITE YOU TO
THE 11TH ANNUAL 
TOY DRIVE
FOR CHILDREN IN NEED 
THROUGHOUT NEW YORK

TUESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2013 
• 9PM - 1AM  
HOSTED BY
ALAN CUMMING, BETTE MIDLER, 
BRUCE WEBER, CALVIN KLEIN, 
DEBBIE HARRY, HAMISH BOWLES,

NAN BUSH, 

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ, 

ROSE MCGOWAN, STEVEN KLEIN, 

SUSAN SARANDON 

& VALERIE STEELE
 * A NEW, UNWRAPPED TOY IS REQUIRED 
FOR ADMISSION *       
 GIFTS ARE NEEDED FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES, 
PERFORMANCE BY JOEY ARIAS
MUSIC BY DJ JOHNNY DYNELL
AT THE SOHO GRAND HOTEL
310 WEST BROADWAY
Toys for Tots press coverage with photos of us:

We're in photo #44 of 75:
http://www.edgenewyork.com/nightlife/photo_albums/Photoalbums//153288/bartsch__&_barton_11th_annual_toy_drive_::_december_17,_2013

We're in far left as you scroll down:
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=452569305&EditorialProduct=Entertainment

We're in 3 photos in the slide show:
http://www.pblcty.com/event/5187/susanne-bartsch-david-burton-annual-toy-drive

And for those who just can't get enough:
Susanne Bartsch's party coverage with photos of friends & fellow partygoers: