Dress Codes in New York Clubs: Will This Get Me In?
GENTLEMEN who prefer Ed Hardy shirts, those dragon-happy hallmarks of “Jersey Shore” chic, will not be getting into the Mulberry Project, the subterranean speakeasy cocktail lounge in Little Italy, any time soon. If you prefer your dress shirts colorful and boldly striped, don't bother with the club Provocateur, in the meatpacking district. Baggy, low-slung jeans your style? Lots of East Village bars may be O.K. with that, but there will be no Continental for you tonight.
Dress codes have long been the secret language of New York City night life; fluency can mean the difference between an epic night out and a humiliating kick to the curb. “There's nothing that dresses a room like a crowd,” said Ian Parms, an owner of the Mulberry Project. “The ambience of the experience is the people around you, so it's important for us to keep those people fashion-forward and eclectic and interesting and engaging.”
Beyond being inherently snobbish, such selectivity has invited charges of racism. In December, the New York City Commission on Human Rights opened an investigation (still in progress) into the Continental, a sports bar in the East Village on Third Avenue, for its “no baggy jeans or bling” policy, which civil rights groups called a barely concealed ploy to keep out blacks. Trigger Smith, the owner of the Continental, denied that he was trying to exclude people of a certain race. “It just so happens that more minorities wear these” kinds of clothes, he told The New York Times in January. “There isn't a racist bone in my body.” One reason some may have found the Continental's policy hard to swallow is the bar's otherwise obvious lack of interest in fashion. On a typical Saturday night, the Continental's mixture of frat boys and barflies sports an unironic mélange of ripped blue jeans, grubby backpacks, baseball hats and sneakers. (And for what it's worth, the crowd was about 30 percent black on a visit in April.)
But Mr. Smith's defense illuminates a truth about dress codes at even the most exclusive velvet-roped clubs: they are frequently intended to keep out a certain type of person. The clothes themselves are secondary.
Michael Satsky, proprietor of Provocateur, at the Gansevoort Hotel (but now on a brief summer hiatus), admitted that he strived to keep his bar free of the randy bridge-and-tunnel boys who prowl the neighborhood on weekends. Luckily for him, they apparently self-identify through their shirts.
“We do not do plaid, and we don't do stripes,” he said. The ideal Provocateur guest “doesn't have to wear crazy stripes on his shirt to draw attention to himself.” (Plaid was just fine, however, at the closing night of Beige in the East Village a few months ago, where nearly every fashionable gay man who showed up seemed to be clad in a gingham shirt.)
Mr. Satsky suggests that his male patrons wear “a blazer, a solid button-down or a solid sweater.” For women, shoes are key. “Minimum five-inch heel,” he said. “Christians are our favorite,” he added, referring not to the faithful but to Christian Louboutin, the designer known for his red soles. Jimmy Choo and Christian Dior are also welcome. If the crowd in Provocateur on any given night is a gauge, being European, gorgeous and at least 5-foot-10 is good, too.
Christina Milian Flaunts Beach Body in Malibu
Hot mama alert! Christina Milian heat up Malibu with her girlfriends for some fun in the sun on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 20). The “Dip It Low” singer showed off her curvaceous body in a pink bikini while throwing her girlfriend a bridal shower on the beach. The sexy ladies laughed while posing for photos and playing games.
“Throwing @felisamirasol a Malibu Beach Bridal Shower with all the girls!!!” wrote Christina, who is still busy recording her new album. “Toilet Paper wedding dresses being made as we speak.”
Juicy Couture kicks off ‘Couture is Here’
This fall, Juicy Couture debuts its new fashion campaign "Couture is Here" with a bolder is better aesthetic celebrating the evolution of the iconic track suit by tempering it with tailored essentials. Shot in New York City, by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and featuring Brazilian model Raquel Zimmermann, the imagery has a playful edge that is both flirty and sophisticated, capturing the moment when "that" impossibly cool girl returns home from a fantastic night out—sparkling with mischievousness.
"We really wanted to stand behind the couture in Juicy Couture with this campaign so we played more to our fun, glamorous, unapologetic side. We also wanted to showcase the true evolution of the brand's most iconic item, the tracksuit, styled with modern, ready-to-wear pieces," says LeAnn Nealz, President and Chief Creative Officer of Juicy Couture. "It's a fresh, bold look for us—definitely an exciting time."
Daring, bright and confident, the Juicy Couture girl is fearlessly reenergized for fall. The main spread juxtaposes two images of Zimmermann -- one in black and white, clad in a tartan plaid kilt, double breasted blazer and a "Couture is Here" emblazoned tee piled with layers of necklaces; the other in vivid color, featuring a black faux fur "Teddy Bear" jacket and red tricot track pant.
Featuring some of the biggest names in fashion, the campaign was styled by George Cortina, with makeup by Dick Page, hair styling by Eugene Souleiman and set design by Stefan Beckman. The "Couture is Here" advertising campaign will debut across the country in stores in late August 2011, and follow with a comprehensive media plan spanning national magazines including Vogue, Teen Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Interview as well as digital and outdoor advertising beginning September 2011.
Juicy Couture is a glamorous, irreverent and fun lifestyle brand for the decidedly fashionable. Known for ascending the track suit to its status as a casual luxury icon, juicy couture continues to evolve, bringing the same confident, whimsical and feminine attitude to all its designs. Founded in 1997 by Pamela Skaist-levy and Gela Nash Taylor, Juicy Couture was acquired by industry titan Liz Claiborne Inc. in 2003. Today, the global phenomenon offers an assortment that spans fashion apparel for women, girls and baby, handbags, shoes, intimates, swimwear, fragrance, accessories, jewelry, sunglasses and small goods.
Chilik Frank Brings Soul of Hasidism to Klezmer
For my bar mitzvah, my great-uncle gave me a cheap GPX stereo system. Despite the fact that it was a piece of junk from the bargain retailer Jamesway (remember Jamesway?), given by a self-proclaimed audiophile who had promised to get me something good, that stereo had a huge impact on my musical life.
That year, I often fell asleep while listening to two cassettes set to play one after the other. The first was the 1979 Andy Statman and Zev Feldman album, titled simply, “Jewish Klezmer Music," a seminal recording of the klezmer revival. The other was Giora Feidman's “Viva El Klezmer."
For some reason, the sound of a klezmer clarinet spoke to me even then, in a way that it did not to my friends. While my schoolmates were listening to religious groups such as the Miami Boys Choir, or debating the merits of singers such as Mordechai Ben David and Avraham Fried, I was in a very different musical world.
The next year, my parents sent me to an out-of-town yeshiva high school where nonreligious music was prohibited. But after high school, in the early 1990s, a chance encounter with virtuoso klezmer clarinetist Michael Heitzler on a New York bandstand rekindled my interest in this music.
From Heitzler I experienced firsthand how beautifully nuanced klezmer clarinet can be. Becoming a connoisseur had its downside, however, particularly since I was a working musician. It meant that when a saxophone player at a frum wedding would haul out a clarinet for the obligatory rendition of “Der Heyser Bulgar" (“The Hot Bulgar") or some other klezmer standard, to make Grandma happy, I'd suffer more than most other accompanists at that gig.
Given the lack of interest in klezmer music among most musicians and listeners in the frum community today, I was pleasantly surprised when a relative in Israel gave me a CD a few years back, titled “Chasdei Hashem" (“God's Kindness"). The album features stunning klezmer-style clarinet by Chilik Frank, who wails masterfully on long sets of Hasidic dance music. Here was the sound of Hasidic clarinet played the way I'd heard it in my head for years.
Intrigued, I picked up all of Frank's available output. This included “Menagen Meron" (“Play Meron"), an energetic collection of dance tunes from Meron, a center of Breslov Hasidic culture in Israel; “Simu Lev El Haneshama" (“Be Mindful of My Soul"), which features exquisite arrangements of soulful Hasidic melodies, accompanied by piano and string quartet, and even “Tikun Chatzot" (“Midnight Remedy"), a keyboard and clarinet rendition of meditative melodies associated with the midnight prayers recited by some mystics to mourn the Temple's destruction. I found these albums to be some of the most moving Jewish music I had heard in a long time.
It turns out that Frank is a Breslover Hasid from Jerusalem and a student of Moshe (Musa) Berlin, a well-known Israeli klezmer revivalist. He also studied with Feidman, the internationally renowned concert artist whose music I used to fall asleep to years ago.
This combination of influences and training means that Frank has both the studied knowledge of classic klezmorim like Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein and a more rare grasp of the spirit of Hasidic music, especially the music of Meron, as it has been played and danced to within the Breslov Hasidic community in Israel.
Forum Shops at Caesars Plan to Crown a New Designer on Fashion’s Night Out
Matt Goss plans to crown Vegas' newest fashion designer at the Forum Shops at Caesars during Fashion's Night Out.
The Forum Shops at Caesars plans a full night of excitement for Fashion's Night Out this year. On Sept. 8 from 6 to 11 p.m., the mall will celebrate the global shopping celebration by naming Las Vegas' Best New Designer with the help of Caesars Palace entertainment headliner and fashion icon Matt Goss. The Forum Shops has undertaken an online search to discover what could become tomorrow's next big fashion icon.
The top three finalists from the contest will be featured in their very own fashion show and have their work highlighted inside the Forum Shops. Once revealed, the top designer will receive a $500 shopping spree to and bragging rights to the title. Additionally, The Forum Shops will provide The Art Institute of Las Vegas with a $2,000 scholarship dedicated to assisting an aspiring designer with their studies.
High fashion will also be in the house with several fashion shows featuring more than 20 fabulous models and most exciting retail partners. A specially designed runway has been created and will be placed over The Forum Shops famed reflecting pool providing three floors of unique viewing areas. Special lounge areas, photo booths and entertainment can be discovered throughout the retail destination.
With 75 participating retailers, there will be plenty of fun things to see and do for fashion's biggest party during Fashion's Night Out at the Forum Shops. Enjoy makeovers with the talented experts at Dior Beauty where you'll find a special makeup artist in-store. See what good fortune is in your cards with astrology and Chinese tarot readings at Eric Andrew Collection. Help Haiti with the purchase of a special T-shirt at Valentino, where you'll also find champagne and appetizers.
Enjoy special refreshments in-store at Custo Barcelona, DKNY, Giuseppe Zanotti, James Perse, St. John, Swarovski, Tadashi and Vilebrequin. Elie Tahari has exciting festivities in store as will Emporio Armani, Gucci and Longchamp. Stop by Michael Kors for chocolates, champagne and a raffle and Montblanc will have a fine jewelry trunk show. David Yurman is offering champagne and light fare and Donald J Pliner is hosting an in-store fashion show. There will be a deejay and party inside Y-3, H&M and Emilio Pucci and a celebration going on at John Varvatos, Anne Fontaine, Ted Baker London, Bettie Page, Jimmy Choo and Fendi. Treat yourself to complimentary facials and martinis inside Fresh and mini makeovers and refreshments at GUESS and GUESS by Marciano.
Additional participating retailers in this year's Fashion's Night Out at The Forum Shops include: Agent Provocateur, Ann Taylor, Baccarat, Bally, Brighton Collectibles, Brooks Brthers, Cache', Coach, Casa Fuente Cigar Bar, Couture Collections, DeBeers, Dolce & Gabbana, Gap, Hyde Park, Inglot, Intermix, Judith Leiber, Judith Ripka, Juicy Couture, Kids Kastle, Kiehl's Since 1851 and Lacoste.
Fashion's Night Out festivities are also in store at MAC Cosmetics, Marc Jacobs, Marshall Russo, Reed Krakoff, Salvatore Ferragamo, Scoop NYC, SHOOZ at The Forum, Sony Style, Tod's, Tommy Bahama, Tourneau, Tumi and UGG Australia.
In addition to the shopping festivities, many of The Forum Shops restaurants including BOA Steakhouse, Max Brenner – Chocolate by the Bald Man, P.J. Clarke's, Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab, Planet Hollywood, Spago, The Palm Las Vegas, Trevi Italian Restaurant and Sushi Roku are participating by presenting palette-pleasing Fashion's Night Out menu items, signature drinks, special offers and activities.