British fashion designer and outspoken climate- and human-rights activist Vivienne Westwood died at age 81 yesterday. During her 50-year career, Westwood pioneered punk, then pivoted to history-driven high fashion that provoked critics almost as much as her bondage pants did. She never caved to convention. Even in 1992, when Westwood was so established that Queen…
In the News
Take Action for Abortion Rights on May 14
Saturday, May 14, is a national day of action for the protection of abortion rights. If you’re in New York City, I’ve got three options for you: 12 PM – 6 PM: THIS IS THE LARGEST EVENT: The Bans Off Our Bodies action with Planned Parenthood and other national organization starts at noon at Cadman…
Rebellious Hope: Deborah James, Bowelbabe
I’ve followed London-based Deborah James, aka Bowelbabe, on Instagram for years now. I don’t know her personally, but if I recall correctly, I found her through the account of my late friend Chiara D’Agostino. You know how it is on social media: Cat people find each other, cosplay people find each other, and people with…
A Met Gala In Memoriam: André Leon Talley
The Gilded-Age-themed 2022 Met Gala is tonight, not quite eight months after the 2021 Met Gala, which COVID-19 delayed to September from May. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour — the gala’s chair since 1999 — worked with the pandemic-skewed calendar by creating a two-part exhibition. Tonight’s gala celebrates…
Jewel of the Month: Empress Wu for Earth Day
Today is Earth Day, marking the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. I do love a theme, so let’s contemplate my Empress Wu dragon ring with its spinning lapis lazuli globe. I created the Empress Wu ring as a symbol of a powerful woman, as I explained in this old…
My Worst Dressed at the 2022 Grammys Is …
I started my blog in 2007 with the motto “Wear What You Want” and, accordingly, I’ve avoided naming “worst-dressed” people. I’ve decided to draw the line on someone’s look just a few times, and this is one of those moments: My worst-dressed at the 2022 Grammy Awards is the Recording Academy itself, which covered itself…
Unfinished Business of 9/11/21
On Sept. 11, 2021 — the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — I published Part I of a blog post about the occasion. CLICK HERE FOR THE 9/11/21 BLOG POST. I planned to publish Part II the following day, but I didn’t. Nor did I publish it in all the days that followed,…
Treason’s Greetings! (Fox Lies!)
Merry Christmas from me … and the activist organizations Truth Tuesdays and Rise and Resist! Our group Christmas photo was taken on December 7 in the public plaza in front of Fox News, where I’ve taken part in a powerful “Fox Lies, Democracy Dies” protest every Tuesday since August,. Truth Tuesdays isn’t taking a break…
RIP, Virgil Abloh
When I saw eclectic designer/artist/DJ Virgil Abloh’s name trending on Twitter yesterday, I expected that he was sharing more big plans for next week’s Art Basel Miami Beach, for which he had already announced a Louis Vuitton menswear show and the debut of an electric Maybach that he collaborated on with Mercedes-Benz. But instead of…
Flashback: The Best Day of 2020
One year ago today, I posed at the fence that the former guy had built around the White House to keep protestors at a distance. I was still feeling the pure joy of the previous day, when the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden. At the moment that news broke on Nov. 7,…