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Here’s the final installment of the Ariel Attack court fashion! She’s free! Yay! There’s still a lot of support we can give her though, she has to pay a hefty restitution so stay tuned for her benefit that’s coming up! For all the info on her case visit the Denver ABC. As well you know, Ariel is one of 5 Denver anarchists that are in prison now or are in the court system, keep supporting them! Up with fashion! Down with the prisons!
I just found out that Free Boutique model, Noah was arrested yesterday in relation to the Cop-15 and will be held in basically a holding pen for at least 3 weeks until his preliminary hearing. He was arrested for violating the citywide ban on high fives to bull shit, I warned him about it, but he didn’t listen. J/k! The cops have been stalking anarchists there for months and passed this law that they could arrest anyone without charges just for being suspicious, and well Noah’s got that tattooed on his forehead.
But things in general are pretty bleak in Copenhagen right now, it sounds like at least 1,200 people have been arrested, though Noah is one of only about 12 with potential felony charges. I just hope he’s doing alright, the poor baby is pretty helpless, about a week before he left to Copenhagen I had to teach him how to tie a granny knot… damn. So please show some love and affection for our friend, donate some money, spread the word, give some extra high fives, send him some clothes, do your part, so that we can get Noah out of there and back on the streets so he can strut and pout in glorious freedom.
From the Denver Anarchist Black Cross:
Today we learned that an anarchist comrade and dear friend of ours has been arrested on two charges at the ongoing Cop15 actions in Copenhagen, Denmark and will be held without possibility of bail for at least three weeks. Solidarity in the form of letters of support (free to send), as well as legal donations, is urgently needed.
Noah “Rockslide” of Denver, Colorado moved to Copenhagen several months ago and has been active in the organizing of resistance to the Cop 15 Summit. He has been arrested and charged with two counts (one is the Danish equivalent of a felony, the other a misdemeanor): Violence Towards Police and Disturbing the Public Peace. He is being held on remand at a jail outside Copenhagen awaiting a preliminary hearing on Jan 4th 2009, when he will be able make a petition for his release. It is possible that this preliminary hearing could be his trial, though this is unexpected because they normally take longer to prepare and the courts will be on holiday because of Christmas.
The state of Denmark does not allow for bail, so defendants are either released on their own recognizance or are remanded for trial. Noah was remanded, so the first opportunity for his release is his January 4th courtdate!
Until that time, people are encouraged to send letters and clothes to Noah, though nothing else as we understand that only these are allowed entrance. Letters are screened by the police, so of course don’t write anything that could get you or Noah in trouble. Copenhagen Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) has volunteered to print out emails to Noah and mail them to him. Just write an email and send it tosupportrockslide@gmail.com — we’ll make sure it gets to him via the ABC chapter.
To send a paper letter, the address is:
ABC
postbox 604
2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
We have been told the legal system in Denmark runs a little quicker than here in the States, and we can expect Noah to go to trial in the next couple months. People in Copenhagen have said not to expect more than a year imprisonment if he is found guilty on all charges. We aren’t sure of his risk of deportation, though if he is released on remand he will most likely be expected to stay in Denmark until trial, and could possibly stay after any potentional sentence.
If Noah is found guilty, he will be required to pay all legal fees and fines as well as any jail time, and lawyer fees. Rockslide was a given the contacts for a lawyer who is trustworthy and not as expensive, but we do not have an estimation of what the final total might be.
If you would like to donate you can do so through the Support Noah Rockslide! paypal account here.
That’s all we have for now. There are people in Europe who are pulling together to support him as well as all the other people arrested. A copy of The Lorax has been dropped off already, and clothes were graciously brought out to him.
We want to give a super big ups to Copenhagen ABC for kicking ass and being patient as we figure out what we’re doing here in the states. Mad love to y’alls.
Up with Fashion! Down with Prisons!
Support Noah!
supportrockslide@gmail.com
Here’s the third installment of Ariel’s court fashion series, and once again to get all the updates on her case and to find out when the next benefit will be, check out the Denver ABC website.
Note the shard of glass fan… We’ll be selling accessories made from glass shards to benefit Ariel’s court fee’s, they’re a little pricey, starting at $200 for a necklace, and significantly more for the glass fans, but they are genuine Democratic Headquarters glass, so they are totally collector items.
I can’t even explain how great it’s been dressing Ariel, it’s really reinforced my passion for… um fashion, just in the sense that having the opportunity to share clothes and style with someone is so warm and intimate. It’s such a great way to make and deepen friendships, I just love the whole process! I can see why fashion is at the heart of so many gift based indigenous communities, it’s because caring for someone’s image is the collective celebration of that person’s agency and self mythology and in that sense it is a perfect metaphor for the intersection of individuality and collectivism.
Ariel and I were discussing the fucking maoists walking back from this photo shoot and she remarked that fashion parties are perhaps a uniquely anarchist activity, something that would be difficult to imagine happening in any other political persuasion, and I think it’s because of the reasons above. It’s because both fashion and anarchism are this perpetual discussion of combining d.i.y. or die egoism with consensus decision making and concerns for personal image within the greater community. That and because everyone knows how much queers love looking sexy! psh… But yeah, the next court date is in late December, so keep supporting Ariel and buy one of our glass shards!
My goodness, one year old! What a great year for fashion! Here’s a few highlights from the past year, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as I have writing! Yay! These are some of my favorites, some articles that maybe didn’t get enough love in my huuuuumble opinion and a few little updates… and yes I know it’s really self congratulatory, but thus is the life of the Boulevardier!
Favorite drag look from this year:
This one again! I could have easily also called this most vindicated or most colorful/belligerent comments but yeeeeah, this was pretty outrageous, all in all. Everything seemed to turn out alright though, and ended up being a grand victory for feminism I’d say! The Cycle Jerks broke up and never did their little Gang Bang b.s. and Jen ended up putting together an all women’s alley race. As well, the venue where the all male art show was held featured about 5 local women artists in a row, so yay for feminism! Also thanks so much to all my friends for being so supportive and talking with me for hours and hours about the same thing for that week! You all are gems!
The first post, a sort of tongue and cheek look at the ridiculous garments we get at the Free Boutique and they’re colorful history. This sweater was donated by Rod Kershenstein, the octogenarian homophobic staunch republican, went up the beaches in Normandy grandfather of Kate. I wore this sweater for a while then gave it up for the recent Lorca memorial, where Dylan picked it up for his annual Christmas walk down the beach in California with his mom. What a life, I wonder where it will go from there!
AAAAH Chuck Bass! I still love him! Recently Ed Westwick was featured in the uber chic uber snobby Arena Homme Plus, with a lovely photo shoot likening him to Marlon Brando, I agree! Within the last year Chuck has admitted to be bisexual, cleaned up his act (perhaps too much) and done a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember because the plotline of Gossip Girl is written by a poodle. But Chuck’s fashion has also taken a turn for the worse, Eric Daman apparently got another job making his own fashion line and I get the impression he’s been calling it in. Apparently, after the Hamptons outfit, pictured prominently above, the producers told Daman to tone it down because Chuck was looking too gay… even though in the books his flamboyancy is off the charts to the point that he has a pet monkey that wears coordinated outfits, not to mention steals teeth sharpening Dan Humprey’s beau right under his nose. We want more of that.
Tom Ford: Apparently he is making a new movie with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore based on the Christopher Isherwood book, Single Man, Yay! I can’t wait! I hope he does a better job fashion wise than he did in James Bond! Oh did I ever mention that I heart heart Colin Firth, he’s lovely, no? It is widely acknowledged that his role as Mr. Darcy set the stage for all Darcys to follow, he is the original, which is hilahrious because in an interview he claimed that in order to get into the character of Mr. Darcy he simply pretended that he had a huge boner and was constantly trying to hide it… Interesting, yes?
Face steam, do it now! More Spa.wn of Satan coming soon!
I’m still obsessed with the adult contemporary mustache. It’s not for everyone, me in particular, but I know fashion when I see it and there it is. But yeah, if you are inclined towards irony in your attire or Americana, forget about it, you’ll just end up looking like an extra from Captain Kangaroo.
I still crack myself up with that female alterego/mother/savior/judas (pictured above) joke…
Wrestling Fashion Smackdown: This was hands down the most fun I had with fashion this year, and turned out to be rather influential I would say. In NYC they started an anarchist wrestling party and we were declared the best party of the weekend by at least one fancy gay magazine as well, all the singlets have been gifted out into the world and who knows where they’ll surface next!
Soon after I wrote this post I got to meet one of the artists listed, Edie Fake, and Ariel I forgot to tell you, but she says hi!
If you didn’t catch it when I wrote it, there’s a lovely quote by Gogol about a suit made of the flames of Navarro… the feeling described is what we should all strive for when we get dressed!
Cutest Birdle! Coccinelle!
Last week, Ariel, Israel and I all dressed as Molly Macguires for the Martyr’s Ball, a benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross where everyone was to dress as anarchist martyr’s throughout history. I hadn’t heard of them before, but Ariel informed me that they were this gang of Irish peasants in the 1760’s that wore dresses and sabotaged the landlord’s fences, reclaimed properties, freed bound apprentices and sent nasty letters. It was successful enough to gain massive popularity and inspire dozens of similar groups though the uprising was brutally crushed by the state’s militia. After reading the timeline of queer anarchist precedents over here and from the little that I’ve been able to uncover about the topic there’s a *rich* history of transwomen in Irish liberation struggles.
(Mexican cowboy boots found by kate)
A chapter of the Molly Macquires was started in the US as well, in the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania, where they were a militant union who also dressed in drag and was of the first groups to be targeted by the Pinkerton vigilantes, the name for the early FBI. Like the FBI, the Pinkertons used extralegal methods to spy on them, create infighting, organize lynch mobs, then when the Molly’s were caught, they fabricated evidence and had them all hung. Government.
But not everything here is ancient history ending in the state killing a bunch of anarchists, (though it often seems that way!) a lot of the Molly Macguires refused to settle into the indentured servitude that the English wanted them to, and became what we now call Irish Travellers, which are modern day grifters that live out of trailer homes and go from town to town scamming and hoodwinking for a living. There might not be a lot of politics going down in these groups these days but their heart seems to be in the right place. As you’ll note, though all accounts say it’s a pretty rough life, they still manage to keep up their appearances. Fashion!
a cat hat worn by an irish traveler
That last one is a picture taken from Paula Allen, who has traveled around the world capturing all sorts of amazing cultures, here’s an lovely but unrelated picture from when she spent time in the Cuban underground queer scene…
There are Irish Travelers in the US as well, mostly in the South and a lot of them live in South Carolina in a town called Murphy Village, here is an article in Time about them and here is another good one as well. And history comes alive!
Speaking of Irish Travellers, there’s something that’s been on my mind recently. This whole time, I have been crystal clear in my stance on loving melodramatic, gender bending telenovelas based on grifters and con-folk, and yet, AND YET not one of you informed me about a magical little show about Irish travelers called The Riches. Hmph. I had to find it myself, and you know what, thanks to you it’s already cancelled. Thanks a lot for keeping my in the loop. You people…
Anyway, so it’s a great show. I gobbled it up in no time. [speaking of gobble, turkeys are extremely intelligent, magnificent creatures, and not to infantilize them, but rather cute little dinosaurs as well, so don't eat them please.] Eddie Izzard, that hilarious babbling t-girl, is the producer and it is all about a family of southern Irish travelers that steal the identities of these dead yuppies and squat their McMansion in a ridiculous gated community, and in the meanwhile posing as lawyers and what not to keep up the facade.
Sound dramatic? Well, throw in Minni Driver with a meth addiction, a sociopath that bribes them and murders a couple people on the way, an endless slew of almost getting busted, the russian mob, another scary Irish Traveller that’s even scarier than the first, teenage runaways, mobs of angry football fans, and yeah it’s stressful. I don’t know, it raised my blood pressure about a 1000%, but then again I’m a sensitive tv watcher, my claim to fame is the time that I cried while watching a clip from Transformers while walking around a Best Buy when it was playing on their like 50 screens… [btw speaking of Best Buy, isn't this interesting?] But check it out if you get a chance, this is a good site to watch them all on, all it takes is one episode to get hooked. There are so many fantastic parts, Eddie Izzards attempts at being a high powered lawyer, the drag queen disco party, an investment grift that they pull or the constant crazy crazy drama. As far as fashion goes, one of my favorite characters is Sam, the youngest of the family who wants to be a girl but has to be a boy to keep up the grift, though ends up with her own gender bending fashion that offers some great examples of grifter tranny fashion.
There's Sam on the left, while the family is being held up by these rednecks that catch them trying to steal their car and take them hostage because they were cheated by other travelers who said they were going to check their house for termites, then released termites into the house and offered to remove them then skipped town...
But to return to our t-girl theme and to Ireland, I would also recommend one last movie, Breakfast on Pluto if you haven’t seen it already, which is about a transwoman who participates in the IRA in the 70’s and her experiences with being an outcast as being Irish and being transgender. It’s just a really pleasant movie.
So yeah, I’m not really sure if this post has or needs a point but if there was one, it would be that radical Irish history is sparkling with angry grifty T-girls willing to do what it takes to really show ‘em!
Here’s the latest look from the series I’m doing on court fashion for Ariel Attack. If you remember, she was arrested for smashing the windows at the Democratic Headquarters a couple months back, and today was her second court date. Things seem to be looking good for her, to get the whole scoop, check out the Denver ABC’s website here. For this session we decided to go for something related to Guy Fawkes, being November 5th and all. Not wanting to look too costumey we wanted a more muted palette, once again harkening back to the notion of innocence that I discussed last time.
The cape, or pièce de résistance, was made from a suit jacket that had a matching skirt and is sort of my take on a formal fall cape. Underneath, is the classic tie, oxford and cardigan getup, albeit keeping within a strict monochromatic palate.
This look once again addresses the formality demanded within court, but because she is overdressed, she has a greater freedom to express her resistance to both gender norms and the sobriety of the state. This is certainly a truism for court fashion, but can be applied to most situations, I find that the “casual” look is only comfortable in its acquiescence to the status quo, whether it be through militaristic, gender normative or cultural appropriative garments. With a little planning, one can choose a set of confrontational and attractive staples that you can wear continuously as your own regalia. No matter how “formal” they appear, clothes have a long life and when worn in this manner gain a certian wabi sabi, a term Dylan recently turned me onto that I believe finds a comfortable home in fashion.
Artist Statement: On the morning of August 19th, 1936 Spain’s most beloved poet, Federico García Lorca, was shot near an olive tree, his body thrown into a pit with thousands of others. He was murdered by nationalist insurgents, at the age of 38, because he was gay and an anarchist sympathizer. Last week, after 70 years, began the excavation of Lorca’s grave – a tentative step towards addressing the atrocities that happened under the Falangist regime. There is a saying in Spain: everyone within this grave, all mass graves, all the disappeared, are all Lorca’s.
The installation is a take on the free store, a concept popular during the Spanish Civil War, where clothes are donated by the community and gifted back into the community without any direct exchange. Viewers are encouraged to participate in this memorial by taking a gift and/or leaving one- clothing, notes, trinkets.
An Experimental Memorial for Federico García Lorcainvestigates the use of gift economy to explore the way we interact with the past and how we collectively process and heal. In that context these gifts become talismans that carry the memory of Lorca, and all the disappeared, on our bodies and act as a lens by which we are able to create a collective memory of their work and their lives.
pictures by Sabin Aell!
Sooooo! This Friday is the opening of the Free Boutique’s most ambitious project yet, An Experimental Memorial for Federico García Lorca and whew! It has been a ton of work… check it out! the Boulevardier using heavy machinery!
For more info about the piece, read the press release after the jump:
