Last year, I asked artist Andrew Lyko to paint my old motorcycle jacket so that it would be appropriate for cold-weather protesting. I requested a tribute to Never Again Action, a grass-roots collaboration between Jewish and immigrant-rights activists that started protesting U.S. concentration camps last summer. I wear the jacket to other protests too, so…
Fashion
New York Style Icon: Lynn Yeager, in Person
Lynn Yeager — a longtime New York style icon — has joined Instagram, and I’m delighted. Sell Instagram Face someplace else, we’re all stocked up with Yeager here! View this post on Instagram Hi everyone! I am the last living person to join Instagram. That’s what happens during a pandemic! Please follow me and make…
Throwback Thursday: Madonna’s Leather Haring Jacket
Madonna needs to let me rummage around in her closet because I’ve been blogging about her pieces by artist Keith Haring — one by one — for 10 years. I need to take a complete inventory, because this is getting ridiculous. In 2010, I reminisced about the covetable Keith Haring skirt Madonna wore in her…
Throwback Thursday: Open That Bottle Night 2020
Journalists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher invented “Open That Bottle Night” in 1999, when they were writing about wine for the Wall Street Journal, and MrB was the managing editor of the newspaper. Dottie and John proclaimed that the last Saturday in February should be the day that everyone opens the special wine that…
Met Gala Monday: Nothing But ’90s Memories
The Met Gala — more formally known as the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — was scheduled for tonight but, like other events this year, it has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event would have been the grand opening of the Metropolitan Museum’s “About Time” exhibition, which “shows…
Throwback Thursday: Leather Painted by Lyko
My painted motorcycle jacket has already appeared on the blog numerous times. Artist Andrew Lyko customized it for me last year, and now I like to wear it when I’m going to be arrested. I’m so glad I never purged this jacket from my closet like you’re “supposed to” with clothes you never wear. This jacket…
What Wendy Wore: You Can’t Unsee the Babadook
While making final logistical arrangements for yesterday’s protest action with multiple banner drops around the city … … photographer George De Castro Day emailed me, “You know, the world might need a portrait of you with a mask and in that top hat.” For a moment, I was like, “How does George know I have a…
Throwback Thursday: Gangsta Boo in NYC
Shout out to Gangsta Boo, my gorgeous rapper friend, for reminding me that seven years ago today, I was her entourage as she visited The Fader magazine office, followed by the Shade 45 music station. This might have been the visit where the Shade 45 peeps assumed I was in the music business and asked, “So…
COVID-19 Hair Styling: At-Home Keratin Treatment
I like my naturally wavy hair … View this post on Instagram Curly mullet by @keithcarpenterhair #mullethairdontcare #mulletmonday #eventhoughitstuesday #hairinspo #hairdid #thisis50 #almost52actually #nofilter #selfiewithglasses #haircut #redlipstick by @lipslut A post shared by Wendy Brandes (@wendybrandes) on Nov 26, 2019 at 11:44am PST … right up to the moment I hate it. (Anyone who says,…
What Wendy Wore: Valentine’s Day Fail
Last Valentine’s Day, I was disappointed that I didn’t put more effort into my outfit. I do adore the floofy H&M jacket gifted to me by OG blogger Sheila of Ephemera in 2018. It’s Valentine’s-worthy red and even vaguely heart-shaped thanks to its puffy shoulders. But, as you can see, I lazily wore it with…