fashion

Turns out Versace is not just weird and sexually creepy in their print ads (see above), they're also weird and sexually creepy toward their employees! Or one in particular, anyway. Former Versace aide Fay Rodriguez sued the fashion giant on Wednesday for gender discrimination, saying she was forced to relay sexually explicit voicemail messages and was fired when she complained.

WTF?

As a graphic designer, my interests in innovative women of history are often strongest for those involved in visual arts. And as a former student of Russian and a devoted Russophile, my obsession with designers of post-revolutionary Russia is off the charts. Enter Varvara Stepanova and Liubov Popova.

 Get your DVRs ready, feminists, because the finale of this season’s Project Runway airs tonight, and for the first time in the show’s history all three contestants are female.

Passing this along... The deadline is fast approaching, so write speedily!

Call for Papers: Feminism, Fashion and Flair: Confronting Hegemony with Style (Deadline: 9/15/08)

We are soliciting essays for an anthology on gender politics and pop culture trends. We’re looking for intellectual depth, political passion, and writing that snaps..

Let me preface this by saying, that I don't believe this phenomenon is revolutionary or even very subversive in terms of gender-bending. But it IS a trend I've noticed, and one I can't help but enjoy.

Men have been donning this upper-lip facial hair for a long time, of course. It was a victorian trend, it was a 70's trend and now it looks to be a 2000's trend. But beyond the male moustache resurgance, I've notice a trend by those of us with the double x chromosome make-up. Nowadays fake eyelashes aren't the only false facial hair women are taking advantage of. Plenty are having fun with the contrast of a traditionally femme appearance in contrast with a striking patch of hair on the lip.

The first time I became aware of this trend was at a New Year's Eve party last year. Someone showed up with a package of fake moustaches and the ladies in attendance went nuts. They were wearing them all night (crooked by end) and everyone looked decidedly cute with their added facial hair. 

I don't know whether to thank my friend Elise for bringing this to my attention, or gently curse her:

High heels. For babies. That is all.

Also, when Fox News's Megyn Kelly starts sounding hard-hitting and feminist, the apocalypse is clearly nigh.

by Margaret Price

Project Runway 4: The Season of Love. And no designer was more lovable than the prancing, snapping, flat-iron–wielding Christian Siriano, who ended up winning it all—the final runway showdown, the spread in Elle, and the $10K Fan Favorite prize. Sassing and sewing with equal velocity, the diminuitive designer and self-described "big deal" introduced us to an array of hip, new-to-many-Americans phrases: Fierce! Ferosh! A hot mess up in here! A hot tranny mess up in here!

Wait. Tranny?

Tonight, four of us contributors to Michelle Tea's latest anthology, It's So You: 35 Women Write about Personal Expression through Fashion & Style, read at Powell's.

Mary Christmas started the night off with the story of her illustrious career as a young New York fashion model ending with an ill-timed family move to Chicago, where modeling perms for hair salons was considered top of your game.