Antonio Lopez at El Museo del Barrio

Antonio Lopez, probably the most extraordinary fashion illustrator of the 1970s and 80s, is being celebrated at El Museo del Barrio in their current exhibition, Future Funk Fashion.  Last week we attended the exhibition's press preview and opening night. We are both fans of the illustrator/artist whose drawings were ubiquitous in our youth. Antonio was the subject of Mauricio and Roger Padilha's book, Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex and Disco, which is chock full of his colorful, sweeping illustration of clothing, models and men.

One of the many victims of the AIDS crisis, Lopez died at the age of 44 in 1987.  That so many of his contemporaries were lost at the same time may have contributed to his not receiving the recognition he so clearly deserved.  This exhibition, with literally hundreds of drawings, dazzles the eye and demonstrates why he was so in demand at many of the major fashion magazines of the day.   The show also highlights his collaboration with his creative partner and lover Juan E. Ramos who died at 53 in 1995.

The gorgeous illustration above of Angelo Colon is one of the highlights of the exhibition.  Over three feet tall, the sketch was part of a live demonstration given for students in 1983.  Lopez himself said that fashion illustration of the period had become very boring and "WASPy".  With his use of color, line, and particularly his choice of models, Lopez infused his illustrations with life, and vibrant sexuality.

In contrast to people in the fashion world today, many of whom dress in "normcore", Lopez (below) lived and loved the look he promoted, full of color, balance, attention to detail, and a little - or a lot - of outrageousness.

Here he is sketching one of his models, with Karl Largerfeld looking on.

Much as we would like to, we can't show you the exhibition's amazing start-to-finish video of Lopez sketching Angelo Colon, but you can click here to see him doing another live demonstration.  He has a very strong and confident hand, and a masterful use of line.  (Watch how he uses his entire arm, not just his hand, to get the desired effect.)

In this half finished color illustration, you can get some idea of his process.  Lopez's models tend to have a louche, come-hither look about them.  They often view the viewer.  The artist lures you into loving the clothes by luring you into loving the model.  His use of shading adds to the interest of the illustrations.  In the clothes, shading gives the illusion of the texture and luxury of the material.  In the model, Lopez takes the extra time to emphasize facial contours by adding dabs of white to the eyes, cheek, nose, lips and chin.

Here's an illustration of a dress with a black velvet yoke and matching skirt, held together by a large golden jeweled violin, and a smaller green violin at the hip.

Below is the dress the illustration was drawn from, the only actual garment in the exhibition.

There were quite a few drawings of impossible, but nevertheless marvelous, shoes...

And in one display case were plexiglass versions of several of the obviously unwearable but fabulously glamorous shoes.

The exhibition points out that Lopez discovered such well known faces as Jerry Hall, Grace Jones, Pat Cleveland and Tina Chow.  The portrait below is Sayoko Yamaguchi, who was often photographed in highly colorful make up.

On the walls were quite a few sketches that appeared to be preliminary drafts, but the lines are so lovingly and expertly drawn that it is easy to imagine what the actual product looked like.  In the drawing below, Lopez catches the feminine, romantic mood of the dress with the the soft, voluminous folds, and the model's delicate features.  (Sorry about the reflections in the glass.)

Here, the model's sportier, jauntier clothing is matched by the forward thrust of her hips and leg.  In both of these photos, the clothed woman is accompanied by a nearly nude man.  Each figure was probably drawn independently, but it's interesting that the artist makes the effort to bring the figures together with an understated hand gesture.

There is a vibrancy and urgency to his drawings.    Even when there are no facial expressions, the body language is telling.  The women below are straight-backed, in control, proud, and dancing effortlessly in their stilettos.

A different side of Lopez, as if he were drawing for comic books:

Imagine what Jean would have looked like had Antonio sketched her!

Since it was opening night, we have to show you some of the marvelous people we ran into.  Amelia Malayamba-Ansotegui (left), who co-curated the show, posed with artist Julia Santos-Solomon in a gorgeous reversible Italian coat.

Artists and designers Ruben and Isabel Toledo bookended one of the guests in a photo. Ruben drew the fabulous pattern on Isabel's dress with a black marker.

Patrick McDonald sported a tropical look.

Paul Van Ravenstein and Pat Cleveland made the scene. Pat was one of Antonio's favorite subjects, and appears in many of the illustrations in the show.

Roger Padilha and Josh McLaughlin posed in front of one of several of Antonio's iconic shoe drawings.

We posed in front of the dramatic graffiti mural which was one of the main props in Antonio and Juan's studio and may have been painted by the Rock Steady Crew.

A few weeks back, we took a Diseno Shoe Design Workshop co-sponsored by Cooper Hewitt and El Museo del Barrio, and conducted by Edmund Castillo, chief designer at Aquatalia.  Let's just say that we drew outside the lines and didn't exactly follow directions, but Edmund (left) was a good sport. He posed with photographer Rose Hartman and his boss from Aquatalia.

Jean couldn't help but notice how Valerie's hat and earrings mirrored those in the image in this poster that Antonio designed for Versace c. 1981-82.

The press preview was followed by a VIP reception that included a party in the lobby and on the plaza in front of the museum.  Jean ran into designer Narciso Rodriguez, who had also designed costumes for Stephen Petronio Dance Company.

Doris Casap, who is on the board of El Museo, was sweet enough to pose for a photo.

We loved running into Steve Caputo from Lower East Studios at the VIP party.

Author and illustrator Bil Donovan always looks incredibly dapper. We loved his Dior tie.  The cameo-like flower is hand painted.

Jean just about freaked when she got to meet Michelle Lamy in the flesh.  She wore her clothes back in the day and has been a fan for many years. Woo hoo!

Out on the plaza, Valerie ran into Alejandro Figueredo who was also enjoying the balmy weather.

We had noticed each of the members of this group individually during the show, but when they ended up all sitting together outside, we had to take a photo. Actress Parker Posey (now blond) is in the center and the lady on the right, Leana Zuniga, owns Electric Feathers, an avant garde women's wear store in Brooklyn.

This British couple was enjoying the evening. We loved her shirt.

Jasmin Hernandez and her friend Marquita posed for a photo before we headed outside.

Go see the exhibition!

Walking with the Muses - and with Pat Cleveland

Here we are, last Thursday evening, at The Jane Hotel for a party celebrating Pat Cleveland's new book, "Walking with the Muses". Since we never communicate clearly in advance about what we plan to wear to an event (because we often don't know ourselves what we'll be wearing until the last possible moment), it is a source of amusement when we end up looking so perfectly coordinated.

Nothing makes a girl's heart go pitter patter like an invitation from MAO PR. When this arrived via email a couple weeks ago, we were thrilled since nobody throws a party like Mauricio and Roger Padilha. We are big fans of Pat Cleveland, whom we've covered on numerous occasions: "When Fashion Danced", the Stephen Burrows show at the Museum of the City of New York, which she helped coordinate; "Versailles", the documentary about about French and American designers' runway shows at Versailles in Paris in which American designers -- and the black models like Pat Cleveland and Alva Chin -- stole the show are just two that come to mind. And the hosts of the evening were a cavalcade of fashion's elite.

We can't wait to buy our own copies of the book. Thursday evening's event was a celebration, not a book signing, where the guest of honor performed for the crowd and brought the house down. She wasn't encumbered with book signing, she was too busy partying. Our kind of gal!

While Jean was waiting outside the hotel for Valerie (ahem, one of the few times Jean has been the one kept waiting ...) [ahem, counters Valerie, because Jean directed her by phone to go north when she should have said south], she shot photos of arriving guests. Since our love of crustaceans is much documented, this gentleman's black bomber with a big red lobster embroidered on the left shoulder was a knockout in our book.  Their looks were also perfectly complementary.

Next to exit a limo was none other than designer Zana Bayne, one of our all-time faves, and her boyfriend, Todd Pendu.  She has expanded her line of harnesses and chokers to include beautifully constructed handbags, like the one on her shoulder. And check out those star earrings!

Once we stepped inside the lobby of the hotel, we ran into photographer Christopher Makos, who used to run with Andy Warhol and got him started in photography, and Calvin Klein, one of the most influential American designers equally famous for his sportswear and evening clothes and his men's and women's collections.

Once we entered the packed ballroom, we were greeted by dancers who gave a hint of the evening's Josephine Baker theme.

Whom did we run into next but Johnny Cassanova and Faustina Rose, who had also perfectly coordinated their two-piece outfits and two-toned hair.

Kayvon and Anna Sands always make a statement. This was the first time we'd seen Kayvon's long locks in any shade other than platinum. Loved the new look.

Designer Jason Brickhill and his boyfriend Khris Diaz were thoroughly enjoying the evening.

Although we saw Patrick McDonald in the crowded ballroom and he and Jean exchanged kisses, we got separated when the performance began and never got a shot of Patrick! or of Joey Arias! We did snag a photo of Patrick's good buddy Lauren Ezersky who was sweet enough to pose for us before leaving for the evening. It wasn't until we were putting this together that we realized it was a two-fer -- we'd also caught Kyle Farmery (also in black and white) in the background.

This photo captures the essence of the evening. Everyone was in such a good mood, it was infectious. Loved this dapper gent's looks and attitude.

Markus Kelle glams it up, with a new hairdo, metal collar and armfuls of bangles.

Legendary model Corey Grant Tippen, whom we first met with Pat Cleveland at Roger and Mauricio Padilha's panel discussion at FIT on their book about Antonio Lopez, is one of our favorite Instagrammers.  He was squiring these two lovely ladies around the ballroom before the performance.

Although Jean spied Tang outside, she couldn't get a shot before she and  her party moved quickly up the steps into the hotel. So we were so happy when she posed for us later.  This photo also gives you an idea of how amazing space the ballroom at the Jane is. Check out the taxidermy, beautifully carved antique wooden framed mirror, portraits hung on the walls, beautiful light fixtures and impossibly high ceiling.

Anna Zand and Kyle Farmery.

How fun are William Noguchi and Danielle Mahoney? They often appear together on each other's Instagram accounts, often in matching outfits. On this occasion, they outdid themselves.

Partygoers dressed for the occasion, which added to the party atmosphere.

It is always a treat to run into photographer Andrew Werner, and when he also showed up in black and white, we just had to take a picture together.

After lots of schmoozing, the crowd snapped to attention when designer Zac Posen, one of the hosts of the event, climbed the staircase overlooking the ballroom, took the microphone and announced that the performance was about to begin.

Six singers then appeared on the balcony to serenade the crowd with "Tonight, Josephine" and to introduce the star of the evening.


Pat Cleveland channeled Josephine Baker that evening.  She looked utterly glamorous and who ever know she could sing? We all knew she could dance, but this was a revelation. And her slinky gold lame gown and flapper headress were beyond perfection. She danced down and up each staircase that flanked the balcony and threw us all a kiss. It truly was what they call "a moment".

It was one of the few times she stopped long enough for us to snap a photograph. She was in constant motion.  Enough said. Check out the video.

After descending the stairs, Pat joined her line up of back up singers and dancers, also dressed in gold, who echoed the Paris-in-the-20s theme.

At the completion of the performance, Pat joined Roger Padilha, designer Stephen Burrows and writer/editor Michael Gross for a tete-a-tete before they retired to the VIP room.

After bidding everyone goodbye, we then retired to Gitanes, the restaurant in the lobby of The Jane Hotel, to test the timber of the cocktail menu and its execution.  Needless to say, they passed with flying colors!

We always like to tinker with the ingredients ("Could you add fresh ginger to this drink and substitute champagne for gin in that one? Oh, and no ice.") and it is always so refreshing when staff and bartenders are as accommodating as they are at Gitanes.  (Later, we were told, the staff was initially quizzical about our requests, but wound up agreeing we'd made good choices.  Yeah, we get that a lot.  Really!)

As we headed to the subway, on a corner we ran into this trio who had enjoyed the party as much as we did. From left to right: recording artist Phil Eggleston, celebrity stylist Joseph Bullock and international recording artist/actress Alyson Williams. The street corner provided the perfect lighting.  All too soon it was over and we were on our way again.

Needless to say, we had a blast!

HATS AND POLITICS

The news from Valerie:
The folks who live in my building had a meeting not too long ago. They said it was to discuss current issues, but to me there is only one: we have been deprived of access to our roof for a decade now, and we want it back.  Every year we discuss it, and every year we get evasive answers, as if we were reporters at the White House.  We might hear something along the lines of "we're about to get to that", or "that's currently under discussion", or "we'll have to get back to you on that".  If we persist, we'll get the equivalent of "asked and answered", or "can we please move along - there are many other issues we have to discuss."  And that will be the end of it.

At meetings like these, it is difficult to ask more than one or two questions on a single subject, but silence could be interpreted as tacit consent to the status quo.   What's a girl to do?  In my building I'm well known for my hats, and decided to let a hat speak for me.  Half an hour before the meeting, I cut up a piece of black oak tag and got out a white pencil.  I made a small sign with a single word on it (see above) to put on a hat.  Imagining where I would sit, I decided it was not enough to have a word only in the front where the speakers would see it.  I had to put the same word on the back, where my fellow residents would see it.  Since the pencil smeared easily, I used narrow white editing tape for the back side.  In the amount of time left before the meeting, there was only one hat I could easily put the sign on: a small velveteen hat with an open top (Jean and I refer to it as the volcano hat).

The last time I wore it was in 2011, when I still had long hair.  (Dyed in the wool readers might remember this photo.  The volcano hat had the perfect opening for a pony tail.)

It was really hard to get a single hat pin to hold the sign the way I wanted, so the sign was a bit angled, but as long as it was legible it served its purpose.  With the hat, I wore a black jacket and pants so nothing would distract from the message.  I arrived at the meeting early enough to sit front row center, which helped my message reach everyone in our small room.  My neighbors all associate me with millinery, and the hat got lots of laughs.  That's fine - it got people talking, and focused on the issue, so it was an effective tool.  During the meeting, I asked one or two questions on the topic, but the bulk of the questions were asked by the other residents.  I don't know what will ultimately happen, but I'm convinced the reason we had a thorough discussion about the roof (possibly twenty minutes long) was that the hat encouraged a number of people to speak out and not feel they were alone in their concern.

I'd love to say I'm the first person ever to use a hat to political ends, but all of you know that's not true.  For the fun of it, I've come up with several examples of political headgear.

Some of you will argue that this is not a hat, it's a hair style.  Technically, you're right, but in this case it's a very fine line - a mere hair's breadth - between one and the other.  This hairstyle, apparently first worn by Marie Antoinette, was called coiffure a la Belle Poule (also called pouf a la Belle Poule, which seems far more descriptive).  It commemorates a 1778 naval battle in which France's ship, La Belle Poule, routed England's ship, the Arethusa, giving rise to a declaration of war several weeks later (and leading to the alignment of the French with the United States in its struggle against English colonization).   A celebration of the victory was definitely in order, and this was one way women could express themselves.  (For more extraordinary renditions of hair styles of the French aristocracy during the period, click here.)

Shortly thereafter, the Phrygian cap, or bonnet rouge, became a simple statement against the outrageous hair styles and headgear of the aristocracy and religious leaders, and then a symbol of the French revolution.  The red cap atop the tree in the drawing above echoes the cap and spear that symbolized freedom from the tyranny of the French monarchy.  (See the man at left, who has both cap and spear.)  Before the French, the Swedish suffered from a similar imbalance of power.  They formed political parties called The Hats (for the wealthy) and The Caps (for the commoners).  (No great illustrations, but you can read about them here.)

This well known painting by David depicts Napoleon's coronation as Emperor of France in 1803.  In a highly symbolic gesture, Napoleon took the crown from the hands of the Pope and placed it on his head himself, implying that the Catholic Church had no authority over the French government.

In a very canny political move, English women campaigning for suffrage wore "willfully conventional dress", some spending more than their budgets allowed, so as to campaign in public without attracting criticism and doing "harm to the cause".  For more on the use of fashion as a political tool in the fight for women's suffrage, click here.

This immediately identifiable hat was used to recruit soldiers for World Wars I and II.

For two years, early in India's movement for independence from Great Britain, Gandhi wore this cap, which was widely adopted by the movement's members.  Nehru is more closely associated with the hat, which he wore much of his life.

World War II had a fascinating effect on Paris hats, which were among the few articles of clothing that were not rationed.  Nevertheless, material was hard to come by.  Necessity became the mother of invention, but in a city centered on fashion, invention combined with expertise to make ingenious and beautiful hats out of next to nothing.

These French wartime turbans, from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, demonstrate what French women were able to do with the materials available to them.  As April Calahan points out in her wonderful podcast, it was difficult to get enough ration cards to buy shoes or dress material, but a woman could stand out with a hat.  Resourceful women took apart damaged clothes and recycled the materials.  These turbans might have been made from fragments.  Many of the outlandish designs of the period, says Calahan, were structured on a cardboard base. The height, shape and color of the hats distracted the eye from looking at the rest of the outfit.  (Doesn't this make you want to find out if Carmen Miranda's amazing turbans had their origins in the deprivations talented French women suffered during the war?)

Calahan's podcast also mentions this semi-subversive hat.  Before the German occupation, Parisians enjoyed listening to Le Poste Parisien, a progressive radio station.  During the occupation, the Germans took Le Poste Parisien off the air, and replaced it with programs more favorable to them.  This hat imitates a radio dial of the time, and the needle in the center points to Le Poste Parisien.

While French women wore hats demonstrating their resistance to the government, in the United States, hats that aligned with the government became very popular.  With its streamlined sides, center crease and forward leaning peak at the front, this hat is based on the garrison cap worn by the U.S. military, but has enough differences, including the feathers, tapered back and rounded sides, to make it a feminine and patriotic fashion statement.

This is probably the way most of us imagine political hats - fake straw boaters supporting a political candidate.  That's John Kennedy reaching out near the center, and his face atop all the white hats.  For a look at some modern day amusing and creative variations on the theme, click here.

Most people would probably have difficulty recognizing Che Guevara, or associating him with social revolution, without his iconic beret.

New York City's Guardian Angels, best known during the 1970s, when the City's subways suffered from high crime rates, were recognizable by their red berets.

Congresswoman Bella Abzug is said to have started wearing hats to prevent male colleagues from electing her to serve refreshments at work.

Have you noticed that all the women of the House of Windsor wear hats?  Have you noticed that those who marry into the House of Windsor never wore hats until they were engaged to Windsor men?  Have you noticed that Windsor men almost never wear hats, except for formal occasions?  There's a political message in there somewhere...  Not that we mind, being hat lovers and all.  And some of the Windsor ladies really do it quite well.  But it does seem a little lopsided, gender-wise.

Wear a hat.  Speak your mind.