HOLÄ HOUSE OF LÄDY // SEPTEMBER 2016 // ISSUE No. 1 / 982106
HOUSE OF LÄDY // THE REVEAL// SEPTEMBER 2016 // ISSUE No. 1 / 982106
HOLÄ
LÄDY MILLARD //
KEVIN MCCARTHY//
DIRECTOR OF ART
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
SOPHIA HEINECKE // DIRECTOR OF COPY
A QUEEN’S FUCKING
RANSOM. No one knows how hard we work - and no one should ever know. Everything should look seam fucking less. Like candy. The arguing I do, the exchanges in time, being taken for granted, the happiness that I share… I challenge people to move forward. The words I choose -- the articulations -- it is all a part of the unseen struggling I’ve
done since I was 7 years old. I went to my mother and said “I
want to be an artist”.
Even more unseen is the work my mother has done, the endless work. The work that she communicates with her style and grace. I love my mom.
I am her ransom note. She sent me here for all of you to believe in your fucking selves. Please make a note of it.
-
Lädy
EDITORS N O T E S The first time I met Lädy, I was in a room
The overwhelming amount of art dwindled
full
revealing
of
should
people have
so
cool
known
I
who
felt
like
they
I
were.
barren
white
walls,
a
vacuum
with floors that curved into the ceilings,
I didn’t know any of them, personally or
white
otherwise.
had
quilted sofa that sat behind a small pile
been told she was a woman who fearlessly
of rubble. This was the art I was here to
reinvented
that
see, created by an inspiration of mine, Ed
rejects most, if not all, things real or
Garrido, who cited Lädy as an inspiration
honest.
of
I
didn’t
fashion,
It’s
a
know
an
boys
her.
I
industry
club.
It’s
racist,
on
white,
his.
closing
This
was
in
on
more
a
black
than
an
classist, sizeist. Lädy faced all those
installation. It was a set of sorts, meant
things head on and didn’t let it faze her.
to couch a later discussion of race and class
in
the
process
of
cultivating
It’s easy to be enamored with high price
culture as part of an initiative called
tags,
Undr1roof.
with
acclaimed
venues
in
exotic
locales, but it’s hard to be enamored with the truth. People who sell art with high
People went in pairs or one by one to the
price tags at acclaimed galleries on an
couch
international
not
about
anything
and
people’s
everything: how they got the clothes on their backs, what is cool, t-shirts with
it seems, all kinds of people, and I think
square necklines. Lädy moderated casually,
it’s
she
are
talk
people. Lädy Millard understands people,
because
scale
to
shouting
out
She’s honest about herself. At least this
answered,
questions
was the impression I got from meeting her
audience wanted answered, but didn’t know
at a gallery show in a hidden space behind
how to ask. Eventually, the couch cleared
a
and she took her seat there. My friend, I
laundromat
understands
somewhere
in
herself.
Brooklyn,
perhaps, in Crown Heights?
believe, couch,
questions
volunteered
to
ask
some
that
me
she most
to
go
questions,
wanted of
to
the
the
perhaps
It was a hell of a time, intimidating, but
because of my naïve lust for existential
not scary. The bright room was filled with
discussions, my penchant for big thinking.
art, mostly done by Lädy. From the front to
the
back
of
the
changed completely.
room
the
landscape
Honestly, I don’t recall much after that, except my
lack
of
York credibility.
art,
street,
and
New
The discussion reached its conclusion and was met with a patter of applause. I stood up quickly, eager to get back to Edgar and our friends.
Lädy touched my shoulder,
what I assumed was the beginning of an open-ended thank you for my participation, but was something else entirely.
“Could you grab me a paper towel?”
I could, but had no idea where to find one. The people in the gallery, they were elite art people. They didn’t spill. The I
am
wary
of
divulging
my
truths
to
untarnished finery of their dress, their anyone, and give fragments of myself to thoughts,
their
creations,
their
space all
those
I
meet.
The
fragments
are
didn’t require paper towels. merely
enticing
glimpses
of
the
best
parts of my life. Nothing more. Nothing “The bathroom is in the back.” real. It is rare to find people who are not like this. Lädy is not like this. She held out her hand, a seemingly empty Lädy invited me into both the grandeur of gesture, but also the exact one Morpheus her
gallery
event
and
a
moment
I
was
of
made as he offered Neo the red pill. I austerity. walked
to
the
bathroom
and
grabbed
two
paper towels, returning them to her empty
Lädy
didn’t
flinch.
allowed,
Morpheus hands. She stood slowly,and then invited
to
know
what
was
really
turned to pat the damp couch where she had happening,
and
not
just
because
she
been sitting. I could see the slightest needed something from me. blush
of
pink
whiteness
of
against
the
towels.
the
textured
Lädy
leaned There
is
a
vulnerability
inherent
in
towards me. being
alive
that
I
had
not
yet
discovered. This was perhaps the first “Accidents happen” time
I
started
to
understand
that
weakness can be strength, and not in the She smiled sincerely.
I’m not sure if I architected way of job interviews that
did. I have little control over my face, ask about your flaws. The humanness of my composure. In my life I am fighting a ‘accidents happen’, was one moment, one constant
battle
to
present
myself
as
a iota of who this incredibly multifaceted
person, a woman, who is self sufficient. I lady is. want
to
be
a
pillar
supports
others
anything
that
and
of
does
strength
who
not
ask
for
to
her
“You can direct your own destiny.” survival.
is
not
imperative
SOPHIA HEINECKE End of Section 1
HOLÄ
Model Karlie Kloss shot by Chayo Mata
VISION OVER
EVERYTHING. An all night diner is a sacred place, and I would wager every New Yorker has ventured into one that was regrettably destroyed or a shadow of its former glory. Odessa’s isn’t like this. It’s worn, but cared for. The green linoleum is a little chipped and the red pleather seats occasionally cracked at the corners. You can hear dishes clinking in the back, and the waiters eating dinner at a table near patrons.
I met Destiny Mata at about 8 on a Wednesday evening and decided instantly I liked Odessa’s, especially because it feels like a place with nothing to hide.
Destiny Mata: My boyfriend and I have been apartment hunting and we have to leave by the
luxury condominiums) used to be a deli and I'm
15th, so it's crunch time and we still haven't
like
found anything.
Everything is different and it’s so weird.
Sophia
Valera
Heinecke:
Do
you
use
Gypsy
wow.
Am
I
tripping
on
something?
SVH: I feel weird about talking about how New York has changed because I've only lived here
housing?
for 5 years. DM:
I
do.
It's
just,
like,
all
individual
DM: But you missed it?
rooms and we're trying to find a one-bedroom
SVH: Yeah. I was away for a few months this
place.
summer and I came back to go to my favorite
SVH: Oh, okay. So your boyfriend is too trendy
restaurant only to realize it's not there.
for the Lower East Side…
DM: I know. It's happening everywhere.
DM:(laughs) I was just talking to him about
SVH:
the LES though, like, Trash & Vaudeville on
Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn...
7th? I haven't seen it for a while and now it’s
DM: Yeah. Right now that’s where we live.
gone!
SVH: Okay, we're neighbors.
And
this
building
right
gestures across the street at some
there
(she
You
have
DM: Oh yeah?
some
great
shots
from
the
VISION OVER EVERYTHING Odessa’s (119 Ave A) is a diner’s diner. SVH:
What
do
intersection
you
of
think
street
of
the
fashion
and
photography? DM: You know, I've recently been saying that I feel like documentary photography is influencing fashion. SVH:
Can
you
photography?
describe
I
don't
guess
like
documentary
really
know
what
that means… DM:
I
photojournalistic
storytelling with street immersion. It’s what's on the street. It is what it is. It's
hard
for
me
to
articulate,
but
that's why I did this [interview]. I need to start talking about my work process. It's that time in my life where I need to figure out how I'm going to express what I'm doing with words versus the imagery. SVH:
What’s
the
biggest
distinction
between the five boroughs? DM: Oh man, I guess that every borough has its own specific culture to it, you know? The Bronx, Brooklyn, The Lower East Side… I grew up on 6th Street and Avenue D
so
that
whole
area
is
predominantly
Dominican, Puerto Rican. I'm
Mexican,
so, like, when I went back to Texas, where the rest of my family lives, and
Photo By Chayo Mata SVH:
Your
pictures
really
capture
the
neighborhood very well. DM:
Yeah,
boroughs
I
so
mean, I
was
like,
‘this
is
so
interesting… how do I not know about my own identity and culture’? I’ve
I've
feel
I
lived
like
I
in
all
five
can
read
really
been learning more and more because
people in the city. I'm observant even though
I’ve been going to Texas to shoot
I just walk around with my headphones in by
weddings, which I’m really enjoying.
myself just, like, looking at people through my iPhone… SVH:
Museums
photography.
have
whole
When
did
exhibits you
of
start
Iphone taking
pictures? DM: My aunt was a fashion photographer, so I was always in the studio with her and then I realized create
that
every
fashion detail
is
of
a
all
fake
fashion
and
you
image.
I
wanted to document real life. I don't want to be in the studio. That’s not reality.
THAT’S A SHOT
TO ME.
VISION OVER EVERYTHING DM(cont): Most of them are very on the spot and some of them see the camera and are like… ‘I don't know if I want to do this. I don't know what to say.’ It's on film
too,
so
that’s
more
intimidating,
and a lot of them are very young like 21, 22 so it's like ‘oh, I gotta talk about this, and this’… I think they have to have an agenda. SVH: Who's your favorite person in the show? DM: John Ahearn. I recently interviewed him
for
the
show.
He's
a
sculptor.
(http://www.johnahearn.com/)
SVH: This feels like an environment where you
should
exchange
ideas
with
people.
What's your most memorable Odessa Diner moment? DM: Odessa Diner moment… My friends and I would just eat a bunch of fatty food and sit here for hours. I don't even remember what we were doing SVH: The ceremony of it is very beautiful.
for most of it, but it wasn’t crazy. They
DM: Oh yeah. In Texas, I've been shooting a
have really good pierogies here too. The
lot of weddings. I shot like maybe 6 this first time I pierogies was here. year. Of those, I shot one in New York last month
and
it
had
a
different
vibe…
very
SVH: Do you mind tattoo means?
if
I
ask
what
your
She's
the
eccentric. The flower girl was a fairy with wings and it was just a magical experience. In Texas, it's more traditional. You know, very
Hispanic
weddings,
very
lively,
mariachi… I enjoy capturing the moments that
DM:
This
is
my
aunt.
photographer. She passed away recently so this is dedicated to her. Her nickname is Chayo and this font, it's like a Chicano
happen during the celebrations. SVH: That’s great. I feel like your identity
graffiti,
but
by
a
pretty
well
known
graffiti artist from the 70’s. He was one
and culture...
of the first really big Chicano Mexican
DM: Is whatever you are.
graffiti artists. This is his hand style DM: Right. I'm working on a project with one of my friends where she's curating an art show called Strictly New York and I'm doing these mini artist docs about the artists who are in the show, so I've been having to go and
interview
artists.
and
have
questions
for
the
that he writes in most often. I chose his font when I went to get it done. I like the style. It's like West Coast kind of style, but very sharp. I was out there when I got it and I decided, ‘okay, I'll dedicate this to the West Coast’.
SVH: You seem very West Coast. Is most of your art community a New York originated community? DM: Yeah. All of my friends, they grew up in New York. All of them are artists, but they're all Slackers. I try to push them. SVH: You’re not a slacker I take it? DM: I got my work ethic from my aunt. She lived right down the street on Seventh. I would see her working constantly. I guess, that's where this drive comes from, you know, the thinking that I just gotta do one thing that's going to push my career a little further. I remember seeing her get rejected, reading a letter back from somebody who saw her portfolio and said it was just not good enough, and her in tears saying ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?’ It's really hard to be a female in the photo industry. I got to witness it from a young age and oh my God… the tears, the blood, the sweat, especially fashion photography, especially being a woman of color, especially being an assistant, when there weren’t many female assistants. You know, males are always like ‘oh, you can't pick up these heavy sandbags or tripods, but yes… we can. I'm thinking of doing a documentary on her story… SVH: Was your aunt the central reason you decided to pursue photography as your primary medium?
DM:... I just like to make a connection. I don't like to snap unless it's a moment I have to take, but I like developing stories. Real journalists do that, like Mary Ellen Mark. She photographed the same person for years on end and told her life story. That's what I want. I want to tell stories so in the opposite realm of fashion. SVH: Who are the great photographers to you? DM: Like I said Mary Ellen Mark, Clayton Patterson… yeah. He documented the Lower East Side in the 80’s and The Tompkins Square riots. He preserved Lower East Side history, in a sense, because you can see it’s all changed… and Bruce Davidson and boogie... I have a lot. I have a lot. SVH: Would you say those are the same people your aunt idolized? DM: Totally different. The opposite end of the spectrum SVH: I love that the person who influenced you to become a photographer couldn’t be more different than who influenced your style. I feel like people who love fashion photography have such a specific crew of idols: Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz… DM: I don’t really know.
SVH: When you take photos do you usually ask people if it’s okay? DM: No, but if I see somebody that I'm really interested in and I want to tell their story I won't take my camera out because I want to gain their trust. I'll keep going back until I feel comfortable enough to ask, ‘hey, can I take some pictures of you? Can we do a project?’ So that's how I approach people. If I see someone on the street and I see a moment I won't ask, but I don't want a negative start. You know people are going to change their entire persona if they're pissed off with you. Also, if you’re a female, it's much easier to go about shooting in the street. SVH:...An advantage? DM:(laughs) My boyfriend is a photographer too and he shoots street photography. He's been shooting New York since the 90’s and it's hard for him sometimes to take photos on the street because people are like, ‘what are you doing’? I guess he gives off some type of aura. SVH: Do you guys ever shoot together? DM: We do kind of, but if we do I'll shoot down one street and he’ll shoot on the other side so we can get two different photos. We don't really go out and shoot together. He's a loner. I'm the same way. I like to go by myself and walk around. SVH: You invest in developing a story. DM: Yeah. I have a whole photo story on this woman in Texas, even while she was pregnant. She’s not going through a good time right now. She had her kids taken and there's a lot of other stuff going on whenever I go back, like she doesn't have her kids right now. She's was jail. She called me from the jail and was like, ‘Hey, I don't know what to do,’ and I was like, ‘well, what happened’. We met in college and had an internship together. She was in a shelter home at the time and the art gallery where we were interning was located in the public housing across the street. One day, she was jokingly like, ‘I want to live there, in that housing’, and a month later she actually got an apartment there from the lottery. The people around her influenced her negatively and she started selling drugs, got caught, and ended up in jail. She's in the shelter again now, and I have to go back and let her vent to me. That's all I can do.
SVH: That's an important human way to relate. DM: Her story is very impactful. She’s been in so many abusive relationships, but she had this one particular boyfriend who beat her and the next day she called me and said, “can you take this photo of me?” She created this photo, told me “I'm going to wear this love bandana.” It sayslove love love all over it and she had a black eye in the shot. She said, “I want you to take this photo of me so I can remember not to be in this relationship.” I told her she’s an artist in herself. She could take a self-portrait, but she wanted me to document it. SVH: Do you encourage your subjects to become artists? DM: I do, for her especially. She's very artistic. Her canvas is 40 ounce bottles and she'll paint on them. She did one of the Virgin Mary. She's so creative, but doesn't have time. She's got a lot on her plate. She’s out of jail now and just wants to work on getting her kids back. She's a great mom, but just put herself in these situations... but I don't know. It's hard to talk about. I'm not the one with kids. I think about that a lot.
Tina By Destiny Mata
VISION OVER EVERYTHING SVH: I’m sure, especially because you're just walking up to people and inviting them into your art. DM: I've been around so many different kinds of people and they say I'm so nice and ask how I get into these aggressive situations, you know, my photos with these people who probably wouldn't open up. Some of my photos are pretty… well… People ask me things like “how did you see that photo? You're just so sweet and kind,” and I'm like… “I don't know,” but also I think you see the sweet kind quiet people of the world and know they see so much, but they don't say anything. SVH: Then you see it in the photos DM: That’s what I'm saying. SVH: Quiet, kind, and conscious is kind of the perfect storm to be an incredible photographer. Destiny Mata is a photographer living in Manhattan’s Lower East Side and raised in all five boroughs from Staten Island to the boogie down Bronx. Her photography is inspired directly by her surroundings. She was introduced to the photo industry in High School during her first internship at The Source Magazine, where she had first hand experience in photojournalism photographing musicians, music festivals, and covering assignments such as Michael Jackson’s Memorial in Harlem. Her work has been published and featured in Vice's Noisey, Vibe Magazine, The Source Magazine, Mass Appeal (Magazine), and exhibited at the Museum of New York during their Rising Waters Exhibition of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
LIGHT IN THE DRESS ING ROOM// KEVIN McCARTHY
Can you tell if somebody is gay just by looking at what they wear? Sometimes you can, even if they aren't in the standard issue gay uniform. Sometimes We'll
their shirt is just a little too pressed, patterns a little too
picking
fitting. But year after year, gay style waters down a bit and becomes basically the fashion of edgy,
but
mostly
conservative
straight males. The neon colored tank tops and reduced inseam shorts went from the
beer
floors
of
stained
fly-over
circuit
halls
states
in
of
parties
to
the
fraternities
less
than
a
in
decade.
It's a trickle down we see frequently in the fashion world, far from exclusive to the
garb
of
considering
gay
the
men, strange
but
notable
relationship
between the originator of the style and the ultimate consumer. The white frat boy doesn't want to be seen as gay, but loves the boldness of dancing on the edge of taboo. He could wear something made by or marked for Black people without ever being perceived something
which
bar
a
person
people are at the end of a fashion cycle,
and cut a little too form
dance
know
all based on their uniform. Many queer
well matched,
slightly
always
loves, hates, used to love but now hates,
as made
Black. for
He
women
could without
wear ever
being perceived as a woman. But there's a real possibility that he could be a gay man, which adds that much more power to appropriating a gay look. The borrowing isn't necessarily conscious. We're all wearing uniforms, after all, and hardly think about them. There's variety in unifor. A certain type of person can get away with more than one uniform, but they're fundamentally orthodox.
up
the
pieces
people
don't
of
an
adopted
culture. Straight
think
they're
wearing a uniform, but they always are. The lack of variety in any Lower East Side bar on a weekend night is uncanny. He's
in
a
brightly
colored
polo
with
slacks and clean shoes, she's in a little black
dress
inappropriate
for
the
weather. Many wear the uniform quite well and reaffirm its power. So
who
are
those
fashion
down
putting
on
individuals
the
the
totem
gay
who
pole?
man's
pull Who's
clothes
of
yesterday hoping to look good? It's hard to notice a change until it's ubiquitous, but
someone
is
actively
disseminating
from the start. The fashion industry is itself
incredibly
trade
that
suspicious.
profits
It's
from
a
making
individuals feel out of date by singling out
a
few
as cutting
edge.
It
even
profits off the consumers who want to feel out of date, selling them endless amounts of items deemed uncool by haute couture
houses,
letting
them
believe
they've left the fashion world behind. You can't escape the uniform, but you can alter it. Your uniform might associate you with a culture, another individual, or a place. It might be borrowed or even stolen. It has almost certainly been sold to
you.
But
since
you
bought
it,
and
you're wearing it, wear it well. Respect your uniform.
JORDAN HEADS BROOKLYN
Somewhere off the Utica Ave A Train Stop
an oasis of leather uppers and Flyweave detail is
providing more than shoes, but life, liberty, and the the pursuit of Jays...
Sophia Valera Heinecke: Calvin, you do so many things. You started out working with Spike Lee? Calvan Fowler: Yeah, I started as an intern with Spike many years ago and ended up becoming one of his assistants, doing many random, different things. SVH: The project you're really focusing a lot of your energy on I saw as part of at the Brooklyn Museum sneaker exhibit. Tamara Daley: Yes, that's the trailer for the feature length documentary (http://jordanheadsmovie.com/ ). SVH: Tell me more about the layers of cultural phenomenon that create demand for Jordans. They’re right at the intersection of fashion, business, art, film, and there's all of this very neighborhood based culture around Jordan’s. You seem to sort of be in the middle of it all.
CF: Yeah, let's start from the beginning: Michael Jordan, Hip Hop, urban settings, the ‘hood, Spike Lee. These elements come together to create a synergy that can't be replicated. Why did Kennedy of Wieden + Kennedy, Nike’s advertising agency, reach out to Spike Lee? They saw his films and saw that it was something new and very different. Spike Lee at the time was just replicating what he had seen in his neighborhood; you know, the b-boys wearing the Jays, the hats, the matching attire. He brought that element of the street to the Jordan sneaker. People in the hood weren't wearing Jordans at first, until Spike Lee wore the regalia of the street which was the hat with flap up that said Brooklyn, the shorts, the sneakers, the big chain like the Mars
JORDAN HEADS BROOKLYN character in She’s Gotta Have It. When they
but until that day we're going to keep
saw that people gravitated towards that, it
doing consignment. There are pluses and
was a marketing rocket, along with the rise
minuses to doing it this way. I don't have
of Hip Hop, the rise of Michael Jordan. The
to foot the bill to buy the product, but
stars aligned. Fast forward to right now and the downside is I don't get the majority of we have a lot of different cultures, a lot
the sale.
of different ethnicities getting infused with sneaker culture, which is bringing in
TD: Consignment is also a very big thing in
the business aspect. Early on, the ‘hood
the sneaker world in general. It's part of
wore sneakers and it was just an everyday
the culture. Buyers will want to wear one
thing. It was just our shoes. They were our
pair and want to save another, so they’ll
penny loafers, our Gators.
buy two.
TD: It was an important part of how you
CF: One to stock and one to rock.
looked. For example in Do The Right Thing,
SVH: It seems to me that by doing
if you remember the scene where Buggin’
consignment you would have people in and
Out--
out of your store more frequently. You
SVH: Gets his shoes stepped on--
would feel more of a community.
TD: See, it's memorable because that's how important it was. SVH: There's a reason to take good care of the shoes. CF: Right, yes. You know people have oily fingers. I mean, my glass door gets touched all the time I don't shake hands because I see what gets on the glass. I don't have a full size range of each sneaker because we're a consignment store so we have to take extra care of the sneakers because they don't actually belong to us. SVH: What caused the decision to start an Air Jordan specific consignment shop as opposed to just opening a shoe store? CF: Well, essentially you need to have an account with Jordan brand in order to carry their sneakers. Getting an account is very difficult. I know people who are storeowners who have accounts and they open new stores and can't get accounts. There will be a day where I will have a Jordan account,
Tamara Daley with a Subway Advertisement for the Rise of Sneaker Culture Exhibit at The Brooklyn Museum.
CF: This style is a community. My mother. My mother was really big on fashion. My sister was big on fashion. My brother was big on fashion, so I grew up in a household that loved to wear different and cool things. Let's just put it this way, when Miami Vice came out, my brother was wearing croc suits. He had the sleeves rolled up. He had the undershirt on, the loafers, the shades… I saw that and I would try to wear his suits, but they were too big for me. I really got my fashion sense from my mother, ‘cause she would go to work wearing sneakers and a dress. That was her everyday outfit, but she didn’t just wear anything. They were really cool funky sneakers and she would buy me sneakers. She was really the catalyst
for why I was into sneakers at a young age and fashion as well. Here's an early memory of mine. This just changed my life forever when it came to clothing. I was in first grade and we would have recess. Coming in from recess, our teacher would take our jackets and hang them up. I remember one time, my first grade teacher, and I remember this so vividly… we were right in the doorway. She took my jacket and she looked at the label on the inside, and she said “Calvin Klein, ooh,” like, she was very impressed. I didn't know what to think, but I did know it was a label that impressed this grown woman. It was a blue bomber jacket that I remember so clearly and every day since then I decided you gotta have a name on your clothing to impress people.
OPINION // EDUCATION
SUMMER
MIGHT BE
LESS FUN AS AN ADULT Point
VV
She’s selling it in the fall, spurred by
Pointacations come with more baggage than
my
Uncle’s
death
this
past
year.
It’s
just what you pack.
where I first met him,
I so distinctly remember getting up
stories about being a doctor in Vietnam,
at 8:30am in the summer to walk to the
where our enormous and unwieldy family
pool.
would play watermelon polo. A painting
My
friends
would
show
up
later.
where he told me
Maybe we’d grab lunch. Replace pool with
done
work and that’s where I am today. Even
bedroom, while paintings by artists of
when opportunities for vacation present
note
themselves, I return to my life and my
living room. It’s a personalized fantasy.
by
my
flank
best
the
friend
comfy
hangs
couches
in
in
a
the
job emotionally bottomed out by the fact that I’m no longer on vacation. It makes
Biking across the grass airfield down the
me so sad. I know we all experience this.
street from the house, I watch lightning
Even as a kid I did, but I somehow always
ricochet in the towering cumulus clouds.
expect more. The dream world I lived in
The lingering glow of electricity finds
as a child is dwarfed in comparison to
my form and sends my shadow to the grass,
the unreal realities and dream getaways
just for a moment. Sooner than my
that mock me constantly: private jets, in
silhouette was gone, I wondered if all
house chefs, endless casa’s with private
the fond memories of my life would end up
beaches.
tainted by reality, impending or past. I
I feel bad about not having a
better, longer, more exclusive vacation,
hesitated to tell my Aunt how upset I was
and then I feel worse when I stop to
that the house would no longer be hers,
examine how ungrateful I am. There are
ours. It was just a house, perhaps the
people all around me who don’t have the
most beautiful house I’ll ever set foot
option of vacation.
in, one that lodged memories I’m hesitant to divulge in print. Memories both
I am very fortunate to have an Aunt who
beautiful and ugly that have served as
owns a house in a very private part of
landmarks in my life. My grieving process
the Hamptons. On my last visit to the
for the house and my Uncle, which only
house, it was hard to have fun while my
upset me further, threatened my relaxing
chest
vacation.
was
buzzing
sadness and guilt .
with
feelings
of
OPINION // EDUCATION But am I ever really relaxing anymore?
C Though I personally wouldn’t
Between sips of Perrier at the pool I
recommend juggling too much at once,
check my work email, and respond to
it’s your life. It’s your summer.
requests for information about projects. I know my days here are
When you’re an adult you usually are
numbered, but it’s literally impossible
fortunate enough to not have your
for me to enjoy them to the fullest.
parents hawking over your every move.
The season, summer, doesn’t stop work,
No parental advisory means a great
or depression, or bills, or medical
summer is a guarantee, but this is a
crises.
ridiculous argument that may not
Natural and useful worry about
these ongoing issues is polluted by my
pertain to everyone. Even if you still
own petty fear of missing out. I’m at a
live at home, you have options and
point in my life where I feel that all
control like never before in your life
of my energy should be dedicated to
once you reach 18 years of age. For
establishing myself, but I also feel
instance, I'm heading to meet a friend
this immense pressure to have as much
after this to make the exact dinner
fun as humanly possible, and I don’t
that we want and go see a movie.
even engage in the headache of
Because it's summer, we're heading to
obsessively cataloging and posting the
the park which is pretty clean because
coveted “experience” of vacation that
people all help clean it up together.
everyone seems to crave. Summer just
They understand that the park is their
isn’t what it used to be.
charge as a community, and they must cooperate to ensure it stays in good
Counterpoint
condition so it remains functional while everyone has a good time.
This summer has been just as good as any other summer. I don't get to go to
Kids don't do that. Kids are selfish.
the pool all day or endlessly roam
In fact, I would argue that might be
around neighborhoods to see what could
what makes people adults. They figure
be happening, but I get to sit on the
out some way to work together and not
roof of my apartment building, smoke
just think about themselves. They
weed, and meet new people all the time.
create systems and have effective oversight of the execution of these
Maybe those things aren't fun to you,
systems. They make the conscious choice
reader. Maybe you want to cook dinner
to work together in the hopes of
with your sexy squeeze and take trips
facilitating events and movements even.
with your bridge club to the
And they have rooftops where they can
beach.Well, you can do both of those
see it all come together.
things separately, or simultaneously.
Can you tell if somebody is gay just by looking at what they wear? Sometimes you can, even if they aren't in the standard issue gay uniform. Sometimes their shirts are just a little too pressed, patterns a little too well matched for each other,
We'll
cuts a little too form fitting.
all
But year after year, the gay style waters down a bit and becomes the fashion of the edgy, conservative straight male. The neon colored tank tops and reduced inseam shorts went
from
parties
the
to
dance
the
fraternities
beer
floors
of
stained
circuit
halls
of
fly-over
states
in
less
frequently in the fashion world, far from
exclusive to the gay male, but interesting
between
the
the
strange
designer
relationship
and
the
ultimate
consumer. The white frat boy doesn't want
based
picking
of dancing on the edge of taboo. He could
people
without
Black.
He
ever
could
without
being
wear
ever
perceived
up
their
uniform.
the
pieces
Straight
a
person
Many
queer
people
don't
of
an
adopted
think
they're
wearing a uniform, but they always are. The lack of variety in any Lower East Side bar on a weekend night is uncanny. He's in a brightly colored polo with slacks and clean shoes, she's in a little black dress inappropriate for the weather. Many wear the uniform quite well and reaffirm its power.
So who are those individuals who pull the
made
perceived
for
as
a
he could be a gay man which adds that much more power to appropriating a gay look. The borrowing isn't necessarily conscious. We're all wearing uniforms, after all, and hardly think about them. There's variety in the uniform, some people get away with more but
they're
on
the
down the totem pole? Who's putting gay
man's
fundamentally
clothes
of
yesterday
hoping to look good? It's hard to notice a change until it's ubiquitous, but someone
2016
something
being
as
woman. But there's a real possibility that
orthodox.
on
SEPTEMBER
wear something made by or marked for Black
one,
bar
culture.
Est. fashion
than
which
people are at the end of a fashion cycle,
to be seen as gay, but loves the boldness
women
know
HOLĂ„ in
than a decade. It's a trickle down we see
considering
always
loves, hates, used to love but now hates,
is actively disseminating from the start. The fashion industry is itself incredibly suspicious.
It's
a
corporation
that
profits from making individuals feel out of date by singling out a few as cutting edge. It even profits off the consumers who want to feel out of date, selling them endless amounts of items deemed uncool by haute couture houses, letting them believe they've left the fashion world behind. You can't
escape
the
uniform,
but
you
can
alter it. Your uniform might associate you with a culture, another individual, or a
HOUSEOFLADY.COM place.
It
might
be
borrowed
or
even
stolen. It has almost certainly been sold to
you.
But
you're wearing @HOUSE.OF.LADY your uniform.
since
you
bought
it,
and
it, wear it well. Respect