Fashionably Late

I've been thinking about going to NYC for Fashion's Night Out this year, but I've also been thinking that it would be cool to stay home and check out FNO in my own beloved city.  While not (yet) known as a fashion capital, and currently stereotyped as the worst dressed city in the country, it's hard to imagine FNO being any fun in the Bean, but I'm thinking that between FNO and Boston Fashion Week, the month of September might be the time to change Boston's bad image.

Newbury Street will be closed to all traffic for the first time in history. Stores will be open late into the night for shopping, cool events and profiling in your best threads. I'm thinking that Boston may indeed be the place to be for FNO this year, but some of the events on the NYC FNO listing are kinda tempting as well. 

I'll make up my mind in the next few days, but in the meantime, is anyone else thinking about exploring the fashion world late into the night on Sept. 8th? What events have peaked your interest and more importantly, what/who will you be wearing?!

Best Bargins in the Bean?

 

As a budget fashionista in the Bean, I tend to frequent consignment shops like Second Time Around for quality designer pieces at a serious discount (like the green Givenchy A-line midi skirt I was drooling over at the 324 Newbury Street location), chains like H&M for trendier pieces or basics, and TJ Maxx or Marshall's for bags and shoes (don't sleep on their housewares section either). I find that by mixing budget items from chain stores with discounted designer items and the collection of funky accessories I've accumulated from around the world, I can create a look that's all my own. There are also a lot of cool local shops like Bodega (if you haven't been in the store, you must go ASAP, as just walking in there is an ill experience in and of itself) and Laced where you can cop t-shirts and kicks unlike anyone else on the block. 

So where are your go-to places in Boston to get geared up on a budget?

(Re)Fashioning Boston

It's no secret that Boston is home to some of the greatest talent and creativity in the world. With more colleges and universities per capita than anyplace else on earth, with a plethora of museums and galleries and with an eclectic mix of historical and contemporary architecture, it's no wonder that Boston has been the birthplace of incredible creativity. 

How is it then, that this city is known as an intellectual capital, it isn't known as a fashion capital? Let's not discuss the fact that GQ named Boston the worst-dressed city in the country (we'll save that topic for another day). Whether or not the average Bostonian knows how to put together a chic ensemble, the Bean is in fact home to some fantastic art, design and fashion schools, as well as a ton of raw undiscovered talent, making me wonder why we have yet to secure a solid spot on the fashion map. I tip my hat to the founders of Boston Fashion Week for attempting to shine a spotlight on the design talents of our city. 

That said, a few local designers have certainly made an impression on me over the years:

House of Nahdra

Selahdor by David Chum (Project Runway Season 9 contestant)

Kréyol - Joelle Fontaine

So, who are your favorite local designers? Whose designs would you like to see on the catwalks of Boston Fashion Week this year?

Beantown is slammin'

First off, I have to admit that I am not a fan of poetry slams. I think the idea of scoring other peoples' poems is inane. It's especially silly because the judges are selected at random and the judging itself is COMPLETELY subjective. If you changed up the judges in a given bout, you could easily have a completely different result. What kinda sense does that even make? That said, I love to hear poets do their thing. Correction, I love to hear good poets do their thing. Bad poetry is like nails on a chalkboard to me, but that's a discussion for another day. 

Anyway, each year amazing poets from around the country converge on one lucky city to share their talents at the National Poetry Slam (NPS). This year, the Bean gets the blessing. While I hear that most of the NPS 2011 events are sold out, if you arrive early you may still able to get tickets at the door so that you can get a taste of what the nation's slam poets have to offer. If you're not able to make it out to any of the events this year, remember that the greater Boston area is host to a lot of dope ongoing poetry events, like Sundays at the Lizard Lounge, Poetic Escape on the 4th Wednesday of every month, and the East Meets Words open mic on the 2nd Friday.

For a full listing of NPS 2011 events and more info, check out the NPS 2011 website.

Mac who?

I still don't know who Mac Miller is. I suppose that a quick search of Google or YouTube could easily solve the mystery for me, but I have to say that after walking through Boston's 2011 Urban Music Festival which he headlined, I have little to no interest in finding out. My lack of interest stems from the vibe his (apparently abundant) fan-base was giving off. Some might try to attribute the negative energy coming from the crowd overflowing city hall plaza to race, or age (the crowd was predominantly white teens, from the suburbs of Boston), but I saw it more as a misguided representation of HipHop culture. It was like walking through a crowd of people who had seen a few too many Wiz Khalifa videos and the BET awards on television and then came out to imitate what they'd seen in a group re-enactment (to any teens reading this who are now angry, I say with affection, Hi Haters). I was also turned off by the amount of cigarette smoke. Since when do Boston-area youth smoke like they were extras on the set of Mad Men? I digress. In the past, this music festival has had old-school HipHop headliners like Big Daddy Kane and Rakim. The event drew some of the most wonderfully diverse crowds (in terms of age, race, gendre, class, etc.) I've seen in the Bean. I have witnessed everything from spontaneous b-boy battles, to family reunions at these festivals, but somehow this year's event took a serious wrong turn. This city is often hesitant to host HipHop events, conflating race, rap and violence. Apparently though, there was quite a bit of violence at this year's festival (and none to speak of at the recent show featuring Jill Scott, Doug E Fresh and DJ Jazzy Jeff which brought out most of Black Boston), so let's take the race card off the table going forward, shall we? Again, I digress, but I hope that the city gets its act together for next year's fest (I hear Lauryn Hill is touring and performing a lot these days...HINT).

On the real though, on behalf of my city, sincerest apologies to Goapele. We'll have to bring you back to Boston for a real show sis, packed to the gills with your Beantown fans who steady rock with you.