Dress Code Cracker

29/06/2016

DCC Episode 35: Gigi Castorina “Everyday vintage at Gigi’s House of Frills!”

Gigi is a long time vintage collector, appreciator and wearer. And an even longer time lingerie enthusiast! She is the owner/operator of Toronto's only Vintage Style Lingerie Boutique : Gigi's House of Frills. We talked about 'everyday vintage', and her dedication to fashion and details from the 1930s to '50s. I love how her store makes you aspire to a more glamourous lifestyle, where you might entertain in loungewear or do your pincurls in a nightgown from the 1930s. [ 483 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-episode-35-gigi-castorini-everyday-vintage/

Gigi is a long time vintage collector, appreciator and wearer. And an even longer time lingerie enthusiast! She is the owner/operator of Toronto’s only Vintage Style Lingerie Boutique : Gigi’s House of Frills. We talked about ‘everyday vintage’, and her dedication to fashion and details from the 193...

31/05/2016

DCC 34: Amazon Syren — Little House on the Orchestral Pagan Folk Metal Prairie

Amazon Syren is a q***r, poly leather femme, a sex-workers' rights activist, and a Professional Naked Girl. She's also a witchy glamazon who sings opera, writes poetry, reads tarot, grows veggies, works magic, spins her own yarn, cooks, preserves, and darns a lot of socks. The secret ingredient is always love. She lives with her wife and an assortment of metamours in 1821. [ 292 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-34-amazon-syren-little-house-orchestral-pagan-folk-metal-prairie/

Amazon Syren is a q***r, poly leather femme, a sex-workers’ rights activist, and a Professional Naked Girl.  She’s also a witchy glamazon who sings opera, writes poetry, reads tarot, grows veggies, works magic, spins her own yarn, cooks, preserves, and darns a lot of socks.  The secret ingredient is...

26/05/2016

BUST Magazine

😻

We can ALL take some fashion inspiration from these ladies.

26/05/2016

Cracked.com

oh yes this should be helpful for summer outfit planning....plague mask? check!

Those creepy steampunk bird masks have creepier origins. During the Black Death, doctors would stuff the cavities with spices and rose petals, essentially creating a kind of medieval gas mask to ward off human rot.

04/05/2016

DCC 33: Femme Space — A Reclamation Project with Amanda Arkansassy Harris

I encountered Amanda Harris' work via a gender and media class. I love her Femme Space project and was so excited to talk to her for this episode! Amanda is a q***r high femme charmer from the South. She was the co-curator of Y'all Come Back: Stories of Q***r Southern Migration in the 2015 National Q***r Arts Festival, where she exhibited portraits in her… [ 551 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-33-femme-space-reclamation-project-amanda-arkansassy-harris/

I encountered Amanda Harris’ work via a gender and media class. I love her Femme Space project and was so excited to talk to her for this episode!  Amanda  is a q***r high femme charmer from the South. She was the co-curator of Y’all Come Back: Stories of Q***r Southern Migration in the 2015 Nationa...

04/05/2016

DCC 33: Femme Space Amanda Arkansassy Harris

I love Amanda Arkansassy Harris' Femme Space project, pretty sure you will too! On this episode we talked about femme visibility (and invisibility), q***r privileging of masc-of-centre identities, and separating femme from butch to let femmes claim their own spaces....Amanda's photography is also awesome and she let me use a bunch of photos for the blog post! Check it out on iTunes, stitcher and as always at www.dresscodecracker.com. :)

I encountered Amanda Harris’ work via a Gender and Media class. I love her Femme Spaceproject and was so excited to talk to her for this episode!  Amanda  is a q***r high femme charmer from the South. She was the co-curator of Y’all Come Back: Stories of Q***r Southern Migration in the 2015 National...

13/03/2016

SURPASSED 20,000 DOWNLOADS with my last episode! YAY!! Thanks for listening everyone :)

09/03/2016

Horror Inspired Fashion: SCREAM

Well holy sh*t. Reposted from the great minds at Faculty of Horror podcast! This makes me very happy. Doesn't take much.
http://mrandmrshalloween.com/2016/03/08/horror-inspired-fashion-scream/

For all you fashionistas out there, it’s that time of year again: fashion week, where thousands gather in cities like Paris and New York to see this season’s hottest trends. We may not …

08/03/2016

DCC 32: Crystal Kotow “Fat Feminist Killjoy”

Crystal is a fat activist who moved from fashion blogging to tackling more contested spaces in fat feminist thought: cultural hatred of fat bodies; and how fatphobia can manifest as violence in intimate partner relationships. She's in her second year of a PhD gender, feminist and women's studies. “I’m told to look good as a fat woman I’m supposed to dress a certain way, I’m supposed shrink my body, or bind my body in particular ways, that create a particular shape….that conforms to what we are told is feminine, but that’s completely unnatural to the way my body goes…” [ 276 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-32-crystal-kotow-fat-feminist-killjoy/

Crystal is a fat activist who moved from fashion blogging to tackling more contested spaces in fat feminist thought: cultural hatred of fat bodies; and how fatphobia can manifest as violence in intimate partner relationships. She’s in her second year of a PhD gender, feminist and women’s studies. “I…

08/03/2016

DCC 32: Crystal Kotow

This week I (finally!) got Crystal Kotow on the podcast! We talked about being a 'fat feminist killjoy', fat activism, her ambivalence about dressing up and getting compliments....and the obligatory regrettable punk phase, Stevie Nicks...and she had some cool stuff to say about the politics of representation! Suffice to say I love talking to this woman. Thanks Crystal!

Crystal is a fat activist who moved from fashion blogging to tackling more contested spaces in fat feminist thought: cultural hatred of fat bodies; and how fatphobia can manifest as violence in intimate partner relationships. She's in her second year of a PhD gender, feminist and women's studies. On…

12/01/2016

DCC 31: Jenna Danchuk “New Age Vamp”

Jenna Danchuk is a writer, researcher, and occasional maker of things. Jenna Danchuk is an Assistant Editor for Spiral Nature, a magazine style website dedicated to alternative spiritualities, practical magick, and exploring occulture. She is also a PhD student in the Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies program at York University where she studies the role of cultural production in feminist witchcraft and magical communities. [ 506 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-31-jenna-danchuk-new-age-vamp/

Jenna Danchuk is a writer, researcher, and occasional maker of things. Jenna Danchuk is an Assistant Editor for Spiral Nature, a magazine style website dedicated to alternative spiritualities, practical magick, and exploring occulture. She is also a PhD student in the Gender, Feminist, and Women’s S…

12/01/2016

DCC 31: Jenna Danchuk "New Age Vamp"

Drop everything and shove your earbuds in......I talked to Jenna Danchuk recently about the thift hunt, ceremonial magick, feminism, shopping guilt and kung fu! Listen at dresscodecracker.com, or iTunes, or stitcher :)

Jenna Danchuk is a writer, researcher, and occasional maker of things. Jenna Danchuk is an Assistant Editor for Spiral Nature, a magazine style website dedicated to alternative spiritualities, practical magick, and exploring occulture. She is also a PhD student in the Gender, Feminist, and Women’s S…

14/11/2015

Photographs of the ‘supreme Beatnik chick’ who inspired Patti Smith (NSFW)

wow so glamour.

In the early 1950s, a young Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken arrived in Paris to begin his career as a photographer. By day he worked for Magnum, by night—inspired by Weegee’s photographs in Picture Post—Van der Elsken documented the emerging underground youth culture of the city’s Left Bank.…

29/07/2015

DCC 28: Mimi Thi Nguyen "New Wave Party Girl....or Monster HIgh Doll"

Killer episode this week! None other than Mimi Thi Nguyen told me about her "New Wave Party Girl" (or as her 9 yo friend calls her "Monster High Doll") style....not to mention light topics like , and of course . From semi-crust to the academy, what does authority look like? How do you look 'capable' and not like you hate yourself? Plus her icons: Poly Styrene, Alice Bag and book and music recommendations!

Mimi Thi Nguyen is an associate professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois. Her research interests are war, empire and...zines!  I first encountered her work via her amazing blog (a collaboration with Minh Ha T Pham) called Threadbared. Her zine…

08/07/2015

DCC 27: Zoe Dodd "You're cool, stay weird, don't change"

"You're cool, stay weird, don't change" -- Zoe Dodd talked to me this week about what makes a 'solid look' plus Toronto's hardcore scene, harm reduction, her hippie side (peace, liberation and destroy the government). and feminist sci fi!

Another park interview! Zoe's an aspiring orthinologist and all the birds came out to see her. She's a harm reduction and hep C worker very dedicated to anti-poverty and social justice activism. Anarcho-feminism FTW!  She's a long term participant and contributor to Toronto's hardcore punk scene whi…

05/07/2015

The Rules of Style by Gloria Steinem - Man Repeller

OOOF this is so glamourous.

Gloria Steinem the female activist is also a style icon

17/06/2015

DCC Episode 26: Sam Conover “Lady drag”

Sam Conover is a bra fitter, blogger, artist and art conservator. Her fashion interests span the 1940s to early 1960s, and she describes it as deliberately feminine, modest and 'mumsy'. We talked about nostalgic fashion and the interesting effect it has on people, catcalling, the concept of 'normcore', and of course her obsession with lingerie. “I like a dress that looks like a conservative housewife from the fifties, rather than a cool, young pin-up....I like to look a little mumsy” [ 354 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-episode-26-sam-conover-lady-drag/

Sam Conover is a bra fitter, blogger, artist and art conservator.  Her fashion interests span the 1940s to early 1960s, and she describes it as deliberately feminine, modest and ‘mumsy’. We talked about nostalgic fashion and the interesting effect it has on people, catcalling, the concept of ‘normco…

04/06/2015

Dress Code Cracker: the podcast -- style and communication

ICYMI you might want to skip work today and devote yourself to consideration of Imbyr Montgomery and their band Antibody who talked to me about and looking like a !

Preview and download the podcast Dress Code Cracker: the podcast -- style and communication on iTunes. Read episode descriptions and customer reviews.

31/05/2015

DCC Episode 25: Imbyr “Power….and, control.”

Imbyr is a health sciences student and the vocalist for Antibody. Self described transmasculine harshfemme, their dress incorporates elements of 'skid aesthetic', wrestling and grandparent style. Understandably John Waters is a big fashion influence (I don't know why that doesn't come up more in these interviews...?). ‘Find power in your clothing, and if people think that’s ugly....f**k them. Yeah, just like, power. [ 357 more words. ]

http://www.dresscodecracker.com/dcc-episode-25-imbyr-power-and-control/

Imbyr is a health sciences student and the vocalist for Antibody.  Self described transmasculine harshfemme, their dress incorporates elements of ‘skid aesthetic’, wrestling and grandparent style. Understandably John Waters is a big fashion influence (I don’t know why that doesn’t come up more in th…

31/05/2015

DCC 25: Imbyr "Power....and Control"

Imbyr talks wrestling, 8lb dogs, science fiction, ugly dresses, John Waters, and dressing with POWER and CONTROL....this week on the podcast! First park interview of the year and we laughed about misandry....shocking I know.

I got to do my first park interview of 2015 with Imbyr, who describes their style as 'transmasculine harshfemme' and is obsessed with wrestling, dogs, and reading (mostly sci-fi). They are a health sciences student and the vocalist for Antibody, a gay doom sludge band based in Toronto.  We talked ab…

22/04/2015

DCC Episode 23: Merritt Kopas "Patti Smith Cyber Waif"

DCC Episode 23: Merritt Kopas “Patti Smith Cyber Waif” http://wp.me/p42as9-B9

'Weird, grungy, slightly crusty…I’m just thinking of as many gross adjectives as I can. Grungy, witchy floral mess’ Merritt Kopas is a multimedia artist, video game designer and writer whose focus of interest is digital play as an access point for exploring care relationships. Her first book came out in April 2015, Videogames for Humans, published by Instar Books; and she contributed to another recent book, …

22/04/2015

DCC 23 Merritt Kopas "Patti Smith Cyber Waif"

"Weird, grungy, slightly crusty…I’m just thinking of as many gross adjectives as I can….grungy witchy floral mess" Videogame designer, multimedia artist and writer Merritt Kopas talked to me on the new episode! She made me laugh, said some harsh things about consumer capitalism, and dispensed the best makeup advice ever: "All makeup advice is the worst! Everything looks good! Just do whatever you want!”

Merritt Kopas is a multimedia artist, video game designer and writer whose focus of interest is digital play as an access for exploring care relationships.  Her first book came out in April 2015, Videogames for Humans, published by Instar Books. She also contributed to another recent book, the State…

08/04/2015

DCC Episode 22: Amy Medvick of Os Tropies "Late '60s Brazilian Tropicalia, Liz Taylor as...

DCC Episode 22: Amy Medvick of Os Tropies “Late ’60s Brazilian Tropicalia, Liz Taylor as Cleopatra and Carmen Miranda” http://wp.me/p42as9-Az

Featured photo by Karri North. Amy Medvick is the vocalist and flautist with Os Tropies, and an ethnomusicology grad student studying the Brazilian diaspora and its musical legacy. Amy talked to me about Tropicalia and exotica from the 1950s through the 1970s. I loved how she talked about fashion and style using the metaphor (and literal practice) of cooking--studying spices to analyze composite and complex tastes. [ 189 more words. ]

08/04/2015

DCC Episode 22: Amy Medvick of Os Tropies "Tropicalia, Cleopatra and Carmen Miranda"

Amy Medvick from Toronto's Tropicalia band Os Tropies talked to me about Brazilian psychedelia, Liz Taylor's wardrobe in Cleopatra, and the Wilson sisters in Heart....all in a days podcast on Dress Code Cracker. Check it out at www.dresscodecracker.com, plus iTunes and stitcher!

Amy Medvick is the vocalist and flautist with Os Tropies, and an ethnomusicology grad student studying the Brazilian diaspora and its musical legacy. Her interests in culture, food and dress lie in Brazilian psychedelic rock (Tropicalia!), and she also referenced exotica, both as a musical and a fas…

06/04/2015

10 Lady Podcasts You Should Be Listening To Right Now

Hey! this is awesome, they did forget one though! but you're probably already listening to my show Dress Code Cracker right?

Women-hosted podcasts may be few and far between, but the lady shows that are out there are fabulous and well worth the listen. With so many women working in audio, it’s only a matter of time before more strike out in this indie-radio field—i...

25/03/2015

DCC Episode 21: Shannon Shaw (Shannon + the Clams/Hunx and his Punx) "Eccentric homemaker meets...

DCC Episode 21: Shannon Shaw (Shannon + the Clams/Hunx and his Punx) “Eccentric homemaker meets 80s Bad Kid” http://wp.me/p42as9-zV

Featured photo by Bywaters photography. Shannon Shaw sings and plays bass in Shannon and the Clams and Hunx and his Punx. She's also an amazing painter and all round snappy dresser. She was super busy earlier this year recording a new album, and now Shannon and the Clams are on tour....SO I got super lucky she made time to talk to me this episode! [ 301 more words. ]

25/03/2015

DCC Episode 21: Shannon Shaw (Shannon and the Clams) "Eccentric Homemaker meets '80s Bad Kid"

Is life real? Did Shannon Shaw from Shannon and the Clams and Hunx and his Punx talk to me on the show about her eccentric homemaker/80s bad kid style....and her love of Wanda Woodward from John Waters' Crybaby, and uniforms and baby clothes and which black eyeliner won't budge if you go swimming? uh, YEAH SHE DID!

Shannon Shaw almost catfished me, but I finally got to talk to her between recording the new Clams album and touring!  She told me about the books that keep her worrying about serial killers, her love of illustration, metal smithing and girl bands including the Ronettes! She is a black eyeliner affi…

10/03/2015

DCC Episode 20: Laina Dawes "Conservative with an Edge"

DCC Episode 20: Laina Dawes “Conservative with an Edge” http://wp.me/p42as9-zC

Laina Dawes is the author of What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal (Bazillion Points, 2012). What Are You Doing Here? is Laina’s first non-fiction book, and the first non-fiction, general interest book to specifically focus on race, gender and identity in metal, hardcore and punk music cultures. Laina is also a freelance music and cultural critic whose writing can be found in print and online magazines, and she is currently a 2nd year graduate student at The New School for Social Research in New York City. [ 344 more words. ]

10/03/2015

Dress Code Cracker Episode 20: Laina Dawes "Conservative with an Edge"

Laina Dawes talked to me about respectability politics, NYC vs TO street fashion (can you guess which city you're more likely to hear "B*tch have you lost your mind?!")....and intersections of race and gender in heavy metal, punk and hard core music scenes!

Laina Dawes is the author of What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal (Bazillion Points, 2012).What Are You Doing Here? is Laina’s first non-fiction book and the first non-fiction, general interest book to specifically focus on race, gender and identity in metal, h…

18/02/2015

DCC Episode 19: Virgie Tovar "Miss Piggy meets RuPaul"

DCC Episode 19: Virgie Tovar “Miss Piggy meets RuPaul” http://wp.me/p42as9-ze

"Fashion is a way of fighting; of being political around visibility" I was introduced to the work of VIrgie Tovar by way of reading about body politics a few years back. I picked up her book "Hot and Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on LIfe, Love and Fashion" and I loved how she and the essayists in the book connected fat fashion to political activism. [ 526 more words. ]

18/02/2015

DCC Episode 19: Virgie Tovar "Miss PIggy meets RuPaul"

Virgie Tovar talked to me about q***r theory, destabilizing wealth aesthetics....and her fashion icon Miss Piggy on the show this week. Gaudy, 'over the top' and high femme-- "My fashion sense became a really obvious entrée to fat activism." She is amazing we are so lucky to have her!

I was introduced to the work of VIrgie Tovar by way of reading about body politics a few years back. I picked up her book "Hot and Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on LIfe, Love and Fashion" and I loved how she and the essayists in the book connected fat fashion to political activism. She's one of North Amer…

04/02/2015

DCC Episode 18: Liza Kelly "I Like to Bounce Between Different Eras"

DCC Episode 18: Liza Kelly “I Like to Bounce Between Different Eras” http://wp.me/p42as9-ya

LIza Kelly is a theatre design student specializing in costuming. She has a passion for vintage clothes and gets inspired by film (Fellini, Ken Russell, Terry GIliam), old TV shows, classic musicals, theatre and ballet. Bright colours and eclectic vintage are her preferred clothes; she doesn't really have any use for mass market stuff. She talked about 'bouncing between the eras'--her appreciation for the way clothes from the 1970s reference the 1940s; or the '80s reference the '50s; and the 1990s again the '70s--observing the way time and culture reinterpret the fashion of the previous eras. [ 450 more words. ]

04/02/2015

DCC Episode 18: Liza Kelly "I like to bounce between different eras"

Come bounce between the eras with Liza Kelly and I as she tells me where the weird s**t is on the podcast this week!

Theatrical costuming student and vintage clothing expert Liza Kelly told me where the 'weird s**t' is this episode of the show! We talked about her love of film (old musicals, Fellini, Ken Russell, Terry Giliam), classic sitcoms (Rhoda and Maude), plus the ballet! She loves bright colours and eclect…

11/01/2015

DCC Episode 17: Charm Torres "Lazy Glam"

DCC Episode 17: Charm Torres “Lazy Glam” http://wp.me/p42as9-ue

Charm Torres is a force of nature! She has 2 careers, in health care and makeup artistry (freelance and professionally for MAC). In typical Aries fashion, takes hobbies to obsessions--astrology, tarot, music (electronic R & B at 90bpm, and trap music), and currently all things 90s. It was so fun to talk to--from her explanation of 'lazy glam' to talking about how fashion and style intersect with femmeness and being a person of colour. [ 476 more words. ]