bag lady is May Hamre

Oh for holy crap, I hate being tech-stoopid. All in the name of Chet I want to do is copy and paste the photo of the fab bag shown two posts previous with this note: The artist/creator is Mary Hamre. You may or may not be able to get in touch with her through Steven Be's Yarn Garage Workshop (see below, Be-low, ha). Boy the fun just keeps coming with that name. I know it's wrong, but so am I.

Fashion Ball keeps bouncing

There's just too much to talk about here so I won't. This is Steven Be, who is Be-hind (ha) A Yarn Garage Workshop, at 3448 Chicago Ave. in south Minneapolis. If you go there, you too can learn to think outside the sweater -- classes, custom-made or readymade knit fantasies.

more Fashion Ball

Aye, they got some flair going on, but I was all about the bag, a piece of work created by Twin Cities artist _______. Agh, they told me twice but of course I failed to write it down. Hopefully these fine people will comment and illuminate my darkness. The bag -- wow. Felted and braided strap, upcycled wool sweater with knitted bottom and top and, my favorite touch, soft suede bits for even more texture and strength. Also some quality hardware at the attachment points. Just rich.


She had a pretty decorative bag, though not of the same provenance, and delectable gold wedges.




Showstopping leather leggings, sequined jacket, hard wared bag and fringed top. This couple could give Cavalli a lesson in wild.

Fashion Ball, Ritz Theater

Cutest mother-daughter duo, hands down. Daughter is 11 and accessorized from her mom's collection. The very hi-tops are very much her own.


Foxxy Tan is just divine and mastered the ceremony. She can be enjoyed at the Ritz more fully in her burlesque show.





So red. Matching red shoes are de riguer.

Minneapolis Int'l Film Festival

I liked the contrast, on the right, between her subtle buttoned boots and layered dresses (Scandinavian looking) and the goofy horned backpack. On the left, she pimped out her jacket and skirt with patches, though she says her sewing skills are nothing to write home about. The red lips, sky blue glasses and lank hair have a sort of John Lennon/peacenik air, n'est ce pas?

9th Ave. North, Minneapolis

If Roy Orbison and Rod Stewart had a baby (very disturbing thought) with mad rollerblading skillz, he might look like this -- Chris Farmer. Being a career cynic, I did not believe him when he said he got paid for doing unusual things in rollerblades (out of frame are his home brothers, one with a video camera and the other throwing himself at a bridge girder with rollerblades on). I was content with the flat black Rod Stewart 'do, the bolo tie and the Wayfarers. His hair's been black for about eight years. Last year it was quite a bit longer.


He prefers Savers for fashion. But there is so much more....


Naturally I got home and Google-verified and holy unintelligible jargon, he was not making this stuff up. He really does have his own skate stuff, see above. He really does rollerhuck every day, all day. He really does get paid for it. Rollerblading really is crazy different than skateboarding (he said that but i don't really buy it). Observe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcHwv5baoMc. And http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QYc2sfHnSg&feature=related. And to think that I often fall down stairs while wearing shoes and holding the handrail. Wait for it... his style is fearless.

Lake Street bridge

She's coming from the art supply store on E. Lake fully loaded including a roll of paper rubber-banded onto the bike's cross bar, so it was generous of her to stop. I was drawn to the yellow pants neatly tucked in and the breath of spring white button-down. Also nice shadow on the bridge from the mid-day sun.

still outside Voltage

His yellow sweatie and her apricot tights -- if these two aren't the cutest spring chickens, I don't know squat (hush awful people, I'm even now getting new friends). But beyond an Audrey Tatou vibe, this woman has skillz. She designed and sewed her dress which, under the pragmatic sweater was a sweet empire frock with cool braided fabric trimming the V-neck. In fact, she has a design business, j-fi fashion design, jfifashion.com. Go there now. Her subtly sexy designs are available directly or at Cliche.


Even before I found out she was a designer, I dug her d'orsay pumps.

outside Voltage

Not a vintage top but I loved the open back and the coordinated black/white statement these two made together.





Shoot, I knew it would be hard to capture the beauty of her swingin' 60s dress -- those are not stripes on the front but rather fabric loops attached at the hem and the top but loose and groovy in the middle. Please note her black and white earrings and how very well her compatriot wears close-cropped 'do. Really sharp.

outside Voltage

W7 Collective

This is Veronica in a sweet buckskin jacket and a dress she slashed herself, many seasons old Calvin Klein as her inspiration. Love her gathered tights and towering heels.



And speaking of towering, this is one long-legged fashion enthusiast in tough studded heels.



Charming. She's an intern wearing designer Laura Nelli's headband.

This is our lady of Nelli rocking turquoise nails and sweet ruffled suede t-strap heels.

tribal references

True this Maori look is not exactly day-to-evening versatile but it's a vivid example of what folks have been doing with cosmetics and how very dull by comparison makeup is now. Winged eyeliner gets noticed. Ho hum. Count me as a fan of face decoration, the face as a canvas.

still Envisioning

Ooooo models backstage. Aren't they cute? Yes but wounded. The lad on the right was summarily rejected from the interactive hairstyling portion of the event and we all know it's because he's black. Can you believe it?




He's a hair stylist and he did this himself with an edger. Wait, a trimmer, you know, on an electric shaver. His friend helped him in the back and the other side of his face was a different pattern. Again, I'm loving efforts at inventive personal decoration as our tribal friends have been doing for millennia (see: Maori, New Guinea, Native Americans).


She was working the event for City Pages, a sponsor. It's got vintage flair but is of contemporary provenance: she just waited and waited for it to go on sale.

Envision again

This is not artful cropping but rather a result of getting jostled while shooting. Nonetheless relevant details remain: one-shoulder + lovely color, man-cessory and happy to do it, crazy-for-ruching. Not sure if these friends planned it but their collective color scheme is just gorgeous.


This is a convertible dress from Victoria Secret demonstrating top-down glamor (you knew I was going to go for that cheap play on words, right?). The wide stretchy swaths on top can be arranged in all sorts of clever configurations, as she's demonstrating. She says she orders extensively from VS online so she can test drive items at her leisure rather than hurrying in a cramped store dressing room.

Envision, 601 Graves

This is another instance where I'm going to have to ask you to click on this photo for the detail. Let's start at the top: we shared a love of tribal cosmetics and she's carried through with The New Native American. That's a belt she's rocking as a necklace, vintage frock, a convertible vintage bag (she's got the peau de soie side out, the other is patent) and, the deal breaker/jaw breaker, candy dish of a ring. It will come as no surprise that the vintage kicks below are hers, on loan to her sister for the night. That's right, there's no heel per se, they're kind of cantilevered out over a metal sole. I'd like to name them The Guthries. The wearer was deeply grateful for carpeting as these shoes are every bit as awesome as they are uncomfortable. Worth it.

University of Minnesota

She was on her way to take a test and still looked cool, especially the ankle-wrap sandals that I originally thought was leggings that tied at the bottom. Either way.

Oxford Street, St. Paul

She was on her way to work at Chico's on Grand and her space-age silver trench caught my eye. Then when I got home and reviewed the photo the harsh mid-day light made it look plain old grey, so I messed around and tried to show you its true wonderfulness. Oh and don't pay any mind to her sneakers -- they're just reliable transportation, she says.

more stuff I'm selling

This is brand spanking new Banana Republic in a soft, snow bunny wool with knitted Mr. Rogers collar. Wait, is this a bathrobe? It's got pockets and covered seams, so if it is, it's by far the warmest, most highly finished bathrobe ever. But I think it's a coat.

Light light light as air. Isn't that trite? Pleated and full and ruffled so it's about 91% girly. The black accounts for the 9% bad/mysterious. Made by Chan Luu in size L, though that would be Asian Large which equates to American small.
Again, all of the items in the next few posts was selected from the Rockford, IL Salvation Army and will be available to all at My Sister's Closet on Hennepin. Even by my standards, this was an outrageous haul. And I haven't even included the orange shiny shorts and red gingham Wrangler western shirt "for females" that I'm keeping for my own hideous purposes.

like it? My Sister's Closet

What the holy... Talk about following through with a design theme. I don't agree with it but they not only carried through the ingenue thing to the very nth degree, but they did it well -- silk faille fabric, 24 covered buttons on the front, french seams, lined. Leslie Caron in American in Paris, non? Very snug.

Nice cotton sundress but you probably can't see the gathering at the neckline and the wrap back that make it a bird of a different feather.


A lot of times I hit the Enhance button and indeed it does enhance, but in this case it freaked about the hot hot pink color and created a featureless red blob. Which does not do this awesomely pieced Girbaud jacket its due. Also, I have a soft spot for Girbaud. I don't think I had one single Girbaud item in the 80s, though I coveted them. The back of this has some horizontal pleats. It's shiny.

more stuff I'm selling

I felt the coming romper rage and bought accordingly. If I put a quarter next to this one for scale, you could see that it's really small but very flattering with a snug rib-hugging bodice and tap pant bottom. If you like, you should run on over to My Sister's Closet on Hennepin in uptown.



Lovely grape/green Cynthia Steffe.

Gathered on top, sleek below and full-on royal blue. Feels a little clubby but could be made respectable with sandals.

my haul, Rockford, IL Salvation Army

Can you see the D&G label? I did. I'm not comfortable with the princess sleeves but was way into the assymetric big-button closure. The hood buttons off too. It's labeled as a Medium, though not all that big on me and I'm of the concentration camp survivor upper body type.


The nylon big bell pants I've had for some time but this very worn tiny floral print collarless shirt I is my new love. Full sleeves, gathered at the bottom, kind of purple/grey/pink/red color scheme. I'm going to go put on my Carole King album right now.