Trans(e)lation.

Found in the Translation.

Remember the first day of your Intro to Women's Studies course where the gender neutral professor told you that the distinction between the categories of "male" and "female" was blurrier than you thought? Well, it seems that that textbook lesson is becoming more and more of a case study in the City (and elsewhere across the country).

Contestants, fans, and clubbers.

It's seemed for a while now that the transgendered population is louder, prouder, and more visible in my everyday life as a New Yorker. My City mag of choice New York Magazine (The Approval Matrix=the bestest) confirms my trans hunch with a great new mini-article about the FTM (female to male)/transman scene. The article spends some time with a few biological women who have transitioned into more masculine physiques by altering their physical appearances with hormones rather than surgery. Of course, as a fashion dork, my fascination lay less in their anatomical changes and more in their aesthetics. The idea of passing as a man is an interesting issue of dress. It usually involves markers of men that women don't naturally sport--like facial hair, biceps, sailor tattoos, and A-shirts with flannels.

The contest's announcement, featuring a Marlboro Transman.

Know that the movement is about much more than clothes, it's about living comfortably in a human body. But, I think a lot of fashion is about this same struggle of identity. Strip us down and we all have about the same stuff, but give us a closet to rifle through and we will start showing you who we think we are and how we want you to treat us.

Revelers.

So many people say they don't think about what they wear or about how they dress, yet it defines so much of who we are and where we belong and what we are saying about ourselves. The trans community is probably the most radically dressed population of all--they take even more risks than the heavily pierced, studded, goth kids people point at and call freaks. The trans community is playing with your sense of common categorization, of what we've all learned and taken for granted about being a man 0r a woman and therefore about being human in a culture that only recognizes the two. They call into question peoples' indoctrinated knowledge and open up new possibilities. New is scary to most. It takes bravery to do new.

sHe's got talent.

And then sometimes brave takes a backseat to fun, fabulousness, and other things that start with an F. There's a lot of anti-labeling sentiment in the queer community. It's a move towards less politics and more living, less protesting and more...pageants. Yep, you heard me.




The Mr. Transman 2010 pageant was held the tail end of April and crowned the scene's new monarch.

The contestants.

The Pageant's Crown Prince, Kit, in his evening wear.

Mr. Kit, who showed up for the eveningwear competition in footie pajamas, took the crown and the latex, um, "scepter". He beat out PBR swigging beatboxers, wrestlers, band leaders, and a few figurative baton twirlers. The competition was stiff, but ultimately the pageant was more about flirty fun for an emerging scene just looking to get some and live life. If that's not the human condition, I don't know what is.

All photos by Maro Hagopian for The Village Voice.

Fun With Models.

What do the models really do backstage? Why, have staring contests of course!





Video courtesy New York Magazine.

Mobama Daily.

I see a picture like this, and even in the face of great economic uncertainty, health care upheaval, war, and famine, I think to myself, "Well, at least something is right in the world."

Look at this family! Coordinated, styled--yet chic with an easy air of effortlessness. I mean, that right there is a family fashion phenomenon. And, on the chance of sounding remarkably single-minded and naive, I will admit that it makes me feel better about life. I can't help it, it just does. That, my fellow fashion fiending friends, is why I am so grateful to New York Magazine.

With all do respect to Mrs. Obama, she's like a dream Barbie! She goes into any situation dressed and accessorized perfectly with a big brain, a real body, and amazing taste in footwear (those are Lanvin sneakers up there, and check out those Martin Margiela shoes top center. They're like half men's loafers, half sandal, and fully wonderful.)

Right there on the site of my very favorite weekly magazine (Screw you, US!) is The Michelle Obama Look Book, an oft-updated slideshow of the First Lady's sartorial choices. Flip through and you will see the unfolding tale of a very gifted, regal woman in which our heroine dons dresses by Rodarte, Tracy Feith, Sophie Theallet, Target, Talbot, and Moschino; in which she slides on Lanvin sneakers and Gap pants; where she digs in the garden and hikes and doles out awards, all the while looking like the embodiment of what American fashion always wanted to be but never had the spokesperson for. She's the new American sensibility, with her eclectic mix of high and low, with her patterns and solids worn in perfect proportion. She's gorgeous and grand and definitely worth checking in on every single day of her tenure in the White House. While MObama's fashion savvy is not news, I just had to pause and say thanks, oh vigilant nymag.com. Thanks for keeping her brilliance so evident and organized. Thanks.

Kickin' It.

I can't believe I missed this. Sneaker Con (convention for all of you not coolies) 2009 took place this past Sunday and I would have given away an iPhone AND a pair of Keds to be there (watch the vid). I love sneakers. I only own three pairs for treadmill purposes, but the culture fascinates me. Watch this video from New York Magazine and see who's giving Carrie Bradshaw a hip-hop run for her Minolos:



An extra apartment? That's a lot of footwear. Maybe he's Imelda Marcos's cousin twice removed. And, where in the world is Lauryn Hill? I hear her back there. I want her back here! Just saying.

Kate Is Worth The Weight.

I hate discussions about female celebrity weight gain when are put in demeaning terms. When couch potato Americans scream "thunder thighs!" at glaring television screens from their sofas while their own waistlines balloon. But, every now and then someone puts on a few pounds and is actually praised for it, actually looks better, healthier, glowier. THE original waif herself, Ms. Kate Moss, the formerly super-bony model who inspired angry vandal chicks to scrawl "feed me" on her 1990s Calvin Klein billboards, looks, well, softened. She's rounded out enough to be denying pregnancy rumors. She says just a few added pounds and that she's a woman now, with happy curves. I want to officially welcome her to the club. Here are some pics of a shapelier Moss that ran along side a feature on the model mogul in last week's New York Magazine:

I know, she's no Botticelli babe, but she now looks like my skinny friends instead of a girl I want to throw a five day pizza party. I think she looks smashing, and if Kate is still the trend setter she's always been, keep your eyes peeled for softer looking femmes everywhere.

Photos by Bert Stern for New York Magazine.

Hot Coco

Model du jour Coco Rocha's rapid fire facial expressions in this Jeremy Kost video for New York Magazine prove that she was born to pose.

Impressive, no? Just for the record, Coco is also a world class Irish Dancer. She's got moves and she's not afraid to use them.

That's her jigging down Jean Paul Gaultier's Fall/Winter '07 runway. And, here's Miss Rocha pre-fab doing the real deal at a competition.

Fancy foot work, Coco.

Shop-A-Matic

New York Magazine has this great feature called Shop-a-Matic, where they compile a group of many types of one thing, say fall shoes for example, and let you sort them any way you like for the ultimate virtual window shopping trip. While my one complaint is that the prices go skyward a little too quickly for my liking, I have to say that browsing their posh selections from the comfort of my bedroom in my pajamas without a salesperson breathing down my back is a luxury I quite enjoy. Now, if we could just work on being able to virtually try on those Isador flats by Sam Edelman below, I'd be a girl in heaven.

Take it all off

Eternal clubstress Sophia Lamar is elevating makeup removal to an artform. Her lipstick, eyeshadow, liner and glitter smeared tissues are going on the wall of a gallery downtown. Behold the art of beauty's leftovers:

It looks prettier in print, so check out the Artifact page of the latest issue of New York Magazine for the full effect. Or, go see it in person at the Asia Song Society, whose tag line is "ASS! Just for you." Gotta love this city.