Recently featured as a Dazzler of the Day here, Dominic Albano launches his first foray into underwear this week, drawing on years of modeling and fashion experience. His self-monikered line features the sort of sexy designs he’s so proficient at showing off for other designers, and it’s always a treat when the designer can say they have walked a mile in the clothing they are selling.
Albano is coming off a scintillating retro-styled piece for the online version of Playgirl Magazine, and a retro-feel informs the promotional images for his current underwear campaign. The lighting and feel are moody, evoking and playing up the sultry gaze that Albano has come to embody in much of his modeling work. It’s the perfect sales pitch for underwear, which is largely about selling sex, but should also come with comfort and function. Both seem to play a part in the new line, which keeps the flashy and colorful excess of many other underwear offerings to a minimum, relying on basic neutrals and classic cuts.
Centering it all is Albano’s focused determination on building a brand and his familiarity with the product. There is a carefulness and deliberate cultivation of his image, but also a courage in doing things entirely his own way. Check out the new line of underwear at his website here.
Oh how I wish I understood these simple little things, instead of believing the far-fetched lies we tell ourselves, the yarns we spin endlessly, winding back on each other until the knots are impossible to untie. A different sort of unraveling happens then…
I wish I knew then that the finery you hang from your neck, the bracelet you slip onto your wrist, the rings on your fingers, and all the sartorial adornments you use to cover your gorgeously worn body have nothing to do with the power you have to sparkle. I also wish I knew then that it’s a power we all have. That would have made it easier to be kind.
Best believe I’m still bejeweled When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer…
Alas, such lessons are slow to be learned – but one must remember that the most rewarding wisdom comes from that which takes years to decipher. Instant gratification rarely yields lasting satisfaction. I had my eye on grander things, even if the fake gems and false jewels did their best to skew perception. Even if they were pretty enough to wear, even if they were pretty enough to fool the world.
Familiarity breeds contempt Don’t put me in the basement When I want the penthouse of your heart Diamonds in my eyes I polish up real, I polish up real nice
A jacket of pink velvet invites a brush with greatness.
Underneath it all the fragile beating of a heart, fluttering like a hummingbird and spending all the energy of a century in a single night, burns impossibly bright, summoning everything for this one evening.
We wage the battles, and we wage the wars, and it doesn’t matter if your armor is velvet and jewels – the wounds still wound, the hurt still hurts. But it’s nothing a flippant laugh won’t cure in an instant ~ the disarmament of a lifetime when you put your own torn cuff next to some real heartache and loss… and then you think, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.‘
Sapphire tears on my face Sadness became my whole sky But some guy said my aura’s moonstone Just ’cause he was high And we’re dancin’ all night And you can try to change my mind But you might have to wait in line What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine
Best believe I’m still bejeweled When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer (shimmer)
When the years have worn away the fuzzy film of superficial comforts, and all that remains is the sharply-faceted crystalline core of steely self-belief, there is, buried under all the dolled-up, dressed-up, fucked-up trappings, a different sort of shine, a more formidable sort of sparkle. It cuts across all insecurity and doubt, it lays flat all whispers of worry, and it poisons the very root of all unnecessary anguish. It is one of the secret gifts of age – the hidden golden underside of getting older.
Familiarity breeds contempt Don’t put me in the basement When I want the penthouse of your heart Diamonds in my eyes I polish up real (nice), I polish up real nice
This brave new world was here all along – how strange to think that so much of it has been mere perception, and to realize how easily it all falls so beautifully apart when the artifice is revealed. That makes the frivolity and fabulousness all the more fun. There is glory too in the fleeting and temporal – when one night is forever and never at once.
And we’re dancin’ all night And you can try to change my mind But you might have to wait in line What’s a girl gonna do? What’s a girl gonna do? I polish up nice Best believe I’m still bejeweled When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer.
If there’s a song that personifies what my website has been doing for almost an entire double-decade, this may be the one. Courtesy of the adorable Meghan Trainor (who doesn’t get enough credit for her song-crafting skills) give a listen to ‘Made You Look’ which is all about the bait-and-switch of the superficial versus the substance, and that battle has been gloriously waging here since we first went up way back in 2003.
I could have my Gucci on
I could wear my Louis Vuitton
But even with nothin’ on
Bet, I made you look (I made you look)
Given that timeframe, this blog has been doing its thing since before Instagram, Twitter or FaceBook even existed. Those social media outlets took the work by storm, and I use my accounts mainly to drive visitors here, to these blog posts, and the daily writing and photographic rituals that have been cathartic artistic outlets. How to get noticed in an increasingly-fractured and splintered world, where content turns over within seconds, and the average lifespan of a website is under three years. The lifespan of a personal blog is probably much lower. Simply being here, almost twenty years now, is a feat in and of itself, and the recipe for my success is simply making this a labor of love and creative expression. That said, it’s always more fun when guests visit, and to make that happen I’ve employed a simple thirst-bait-and-switch formula, where provocative images draw the viewers in, and then the words, ideally, get them to stay for a bit.
I’ll make you double take
Soon as I walk away
Call up your chiropractor
Just in case your neck break
Ooh, tell me what ya, what ya, what you gon’ do? Ooh
‘Cause I’m ’bout to make a scene
Double up that sunscreen
I’m ’bout to turn the heat up
Gonna make your glasses steam
Ooh, tell me what ya, what ya, what you gon’ do? Ooh
Sadly, I realize that ideal scenario is preciously rare; it’s a losing game trying to convince even my closest friends to stop by these parts. That used to bother me, before I understood how it drove my pathology and inspired me to create things that were worth reading, that would get even those weary and worn down by my antics to take a moment and check in. That was also the sort of guy for whom I fell, over and over: the one who wanted nothing to do with me. When the people who matter most to you don’t seem to notice anything you do, you learn to thrill the world, or you give up on it. For all my jaded cynicism, I haven’t given up on anything.
When I do my walk, walk
I can guarantee your jaw will drop, drop
‘Cause they don’t make a lot of what I got, got
Ladies if you feel me, this your bop, bop
(Bop bop, bop)
I could have my Gucci on (Gucci on)
I could wear my Louis Vuitton
But even with nothin’ on
Bet, I made you look (I made you look)
Yeah, I look good in my Versace dress (take it off)
But I’m hotter when my morning hair’s a mess
But even with my hoodie on
Bet, I made you look (I made you look)
And once you get a taste (woo)
You’ll never be the same
This ain’t that ordinary
It’s that fourteen karat cake
Ooh, tell me, what ya, what ya, what you gon’ do? Ooh
When I do my walk, walk
I can guarantee your jaw will drop, drop
‘Cause they don’t make a lot of what I got, got
Ladies if you feel me, this your bop, bop
(Bop bop, bop) ohh
This little bop reminds me of a simpler time, back when the internet was a safer, softer, sillier place. It gives off a sense of superficial glam, only to reveal something sweeter and slightly more substantial – the hat trick of what has kept this blog going. A bit of a tease, a bit of a please, and a bit of the bee’s knees. Nothing too serious, unless you look beneath the surface. Most won’t bother making it this far, but for those who do, and those who continue to return, I’ll do my best to make it worth your while. If I happen to fail, which will sometimes occur, then I will play this song and try to remember the fun in life, the frivolity, and all the foolishness that once made the world go round.
I could have my Gucci on (Gucci on)
I could wear my Louis Vuitton
But even with nothin’ on
Bet, I made you look (said, I made you look)
Yeah, I look good in my Versace dress (take it off, baby)
But I’m hotter when my morning hair’s a mess
But even with my hoodie on
Bet, I made you look (said, I made you look)
Spring and summer get all the glory when it comes to seasonal color – and rightfully so; no other seasons come close to their fresh chartreuse brilliance, the infinite strong shades of flower blooms, the sunsets and rises, and the way they world feels somehow more alive when it’s warmer out.
Don’t sleep on fall though, whose enchantments may be more subtle, but are just as divine.
It’s up to us to fill in the dearth of color with a snazzy shirt and necklaces of brightly-hued braids and beads. Fall will do the rest, with its gourds and amber waves and rainbow harvest.
Fall blazes its own colorful path, you just have to look a little closer for it, dive in to deeper depths to experience its hidden beauty. It’s there for the finding, there for discovery, there to celebrate and enjoy if we allow ourselves to feel it. Perhaps it’s a quieter show, and all the more wondrous for it. It demands we lean in a little closer, and in so doing provides a greater intimacy that might otherwise be lost amid the cacophony of summer.
Behold the humble recap, repository of the past, and too often ignored or crafted hastily because of it. As someone who doesn’t like to indulge in nostalgia all that often, I find fall returns me to the past more than perhaps any other season. This year, I am allowing myself a few looks back, and honoring the process of acknowledging what came before. That bleeds into this recap, for which I’m donning a new jacket in honor of that sort of honoring. To truly bury the demons of the past, we must fully face them. Whenever I’ve done that, I usually find they’re not really demons at all – just the faded remnants of memory and circumstance, assembled into something far more sinister in my imagined memory palace. Let’s look over the past week, then lay it to rest. Coming later this week, the online premiere of a long-forgotten project from 2009… and it’s going to be on fire…
Many people feel that we come closest to magic during the holiday season – when Christmas carries its enchantment and sprinkles Santa dust throughout the land – but I’m more of a believer in magic in the fall. This is when the spells of the year are cast, and Halloween only adds to the eerie belief in contacting other realms. The veil between here and such places feels thinnest in the fall, when smoke rises from burning leaves, and the air is fit for carrying such entities as witches and warlocks. Travel between worlds seems more possible at this time of the year.
The pointy hat seen here is a nod to the season. I will pair it with a copper-colored woolen cape, to ward off the wind as well as any other ill-intending-spirits. When you open up your mind to such possibilities, the bad can enter as easily as the good. One wants to be careful, as with any invitation. The days of inviting the entire world to my parties are done.
A candle of bitter orange & cardamom burns, its spicy scent a balm for the cooler nights we’ve had. Who knows what it might attract? In the attic, rain sounds on the roof. Closer to the sky, and whatever hides above the clouds.
His fashion site just launched some fabulous terry cloth shorts, and ever since I was a kid celebrating a birthday at Burger King in a terry cloth romper, I’ve adored the fabric, especially for summer. For Fabio Bonavento, combining fashion and feel-good moments is one of life’s greatest pleasures. He earns this Dazzler of the Day feature for all of his creative endeavors, more of which can be found here. His Fafabon brand celebrates a lifestyle of inclusivity and pride, perfect for this particular month.
Sometimes all it takes for someone to be named Dazzler of the Day is the right ball outfit. Case in point is Manu Rios, who earns his this Dazzler thanks to this magnificent suit by Jeremy Scott for Moschino. It was part of Moschino’s well-dressed entourage for this year’s Met Gala, and while I’m not sure what this had to do with Gilded Glamour, themes were meant to be broken if done in such an impressive manner. Rios is an actor, model, and singer who can now add Dazzler to that line-up.
Just when I felt a lull in creative and artistic inspiration, along came Tom Ford returning as an honorary co-chair for this year’s Met Gala, and suddenly the pump is primed and the juices are flowing again. Fresh off his Rose collection (I won’t say which one I indulged in just yet as it was recently yanked from the shelves – shhhhh!) I wasn’t sure what hat-trick he’d pull next, but if his gorgeous touch is involved in this year’s gala, it will be dramatic and darkly beautiful.
After the traumatic disappointment of this year’s Oscar ceremony, I’m foolishly counting on the Met Gala to bring a bit of decadent over-the-top frivolity back into the world, even if it’s just for one night, even if it’s absolutely ridiculous and nothing more than an excuse to show off questionable fashion. I am desperate for that kind of nonsense, and will do nothing but ogle and ohh and ahh at whatever looks we get that night. The dress code is reportedly ‘gilded glamour’ which, considering my obsession with ‘The Gilded Age’, sounds like a tailor-made delight.
These are a few of my favorite things? Continuing the idea of an afternoon cocktail hour as posited in this post, I’m putting up the New Year’s episode of ‘The Lawrence Welk Show’ as brought to you by Geritol. (Should I be looking into whether I need Geritol? Seems like something that should be part of my pill program at this age…)
My family used to watch this every week when I was a wee one, and I still recall some of the songs (especially the classic good-night closing theme). It’s ideal background fodder for passing a winter evening, recalling a time that feels very innocent and easy when compared to today’s world. Nostalgia never held much appeal for me, but I’m slowly coming around to it. Any other time feels better than the present.
It’s easy to poke fun at old Mr. Welk and this earnest show that teeters into cheesy territory, but then something like ‘Try to Remember’ comes along and I’m reminded of the way things used to be. A wistful, faded memory, packed away in crinkled tissue paper with the faintest scent of lavender that is probably more imagined than actually present, it brings me back to an era I didn’t even experience firsthand, yet somehow I remember…
With its kitschy living room sets, lacquered sky-high hair, and divine dresses beaded with beauty and shrouded in chiffon, the setting and style may seem crazy to modern audiences, but I absolutely adore it. It appeals to an idea of our champagne dreams – once so pure and simple – when dressing up and having a conversation was enough.
For anyone who needs a bit of escapism, and almost everyone I know is in that boat, this one’s for you. I’m going to put on some ridiculous caftan, make a mocktail in some nonsensical cocktail glass, find a sparkly necklace, and luxuriate the afternoon away. (Helpful hint: if you want to just fast-forward to the best part, hit 33:51 and watch that lady go!)
My friend JoAnn has exquisite taste – not only in fashion and interior design, but in music and art, so when she alerted me to the fabulousness that is Jake Wesley Rogers, he became an instant Dazzler of the Day. Rogers is that wonderful mix of music and fashion maven who knows how to put on a show. Dazzling is practically an understatement, but it’s the best I can give. Check out his website for further sparkle and pizzazz.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 17: Jake Wesley Rogers performs onstage during The Elizabeth Taylor Ball To End AIDS on September 17, 2021 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)
As someone who loves writing, I usually like to tell a story or ten behind the photos I post here. On this day, I’m going to let other more capable artists tell hints of what inspired these pictures, while letting the pictures speak for themselves, no matter what they might say.
“A funny person is funny only for so long, but a wit can sit down and go on being spellbinding forever. One is not meant to laugh. One stays quiet and marvels. Spontaneously witty talk is without question the most fascinating entertainment there is.” ~ Diana Vreeland
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” ~ Oscar Wilde
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death–ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” ~ James Baldwin
“I just feel like we as a human race tend to fear that which we don’t understand. It’s cause for a lot of bad things and bad behavior to exist on the planet. Artists have a way of touching people and changing minds in a way that sometimes other mediums don’t.” ~ Billy Porter
“The letter, written in absorbed solitude, is an act of faith: it assumes the presence of humanity: world and self are generated from within: loneliness is courted, not feared. To write a letter is to be alone with my thoughts in the conjured presence of another person. I keep myself imaginative company. I occupy the empty room.” ~ Vivian Gornick
“History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” ~ Marsha P. Johnson
“Some people are born in the mountains, while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow. Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.” ~ Maia Kobabe
“You are a ghost. Filled with stardust, wearing the bones as the shield and the skin as the cape. Fighting every day and opening up for the new wounds in the hustle of hiding the old scars.” ~ Akshay Vasu
At various points, we are all called to be superheroes. It usually doesn’t come in the form of crime-fighting or cape-wearing glory, bur rather in the smaller heroic acts that constitute being a good person. The older I get, the more conflicted I feel about whether it’s easier to be good or bad. There are so many ways where being good and doing the right thing is more difficult, uncomfortable and trying than taking an easier way out. And then there are times when I realize how much more work it is to be bad – to be the perceived villain, to go out of your way to be mean when it’s simpler to live and let live.
Whichever road you take – whether it’s hero or villain – a proper cape is always the way to go. For this time of the year, I’m employing a rust colored woolen beauty that simply reeks of autumnal splendor. It keeps the wind at bay, quieting the world and even warming my head when the hood is on. Functional and flamboyant and just a little bit of a fuck-off to society’s dull trappings of what’s appropriate. Perfect for the fall, when the sweetness or bitterness of certain berries works like a tonic to steer us into good witch or bad witch territory. I haven’t quite made up my mind as to which witch I want to be… either way, I intend to fly.
“You will never become a hero if you keep waiting for someone else to bring a cape for you.” ~ Akshay Vasu
My little pal Cameron just won Halloween with his spot-on depiction of the legendary Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Down to the hat and bag and sunglasses, he personifies the former First-Lady-turned-powerhouse-Editor, unmistakably channeling her glamour and elegance and strength. In a lot of ways, those are all elements of Cameron’s own style and personality, and seeing him display it brings a tear to my eye, because this was something I wish I had seen (or been) in my childhood.
“The children have been a wonderful gift to me, and I’m thankful to have once again seen our world through their eyes. They restore my faith in the family’s future.” ~Jackie Kennedy Onassis
Cameron has spent the last few months extolling the virtues of Jackie O and Princess Diana, so I’m not surprised he chose Jackie as his Halloween costume. She’s also not a bad role model to have. She always inspired my mother, who saw behind the phenomenal fashion and noble elegance to something deeper and more powerful: the grace and grit to get through the most unimaginably horrific events of the 60’s and survive with children and integrity intact.
For Cameron, I hope it’s still mostly an appreciation for her fabulousness and sense of fashion. In his case, he’s pondering a career either as a fashion designer or a fashion historian – both of which he’s well on his way toward accomplishing. (He’s only nine years old, so he has some time…)
“Once you can express yourself, you can tell the world what you want from it… All the changes in the world, for good or evil, were first brought about by words.” – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
