American soccer player Gaby Vincent earns her first Dazzler of the Day honor for her talent on the soccer field, as well as her LGBTQ+ community outreach and relations work. She is set to be a featured speaker at Athlete Ally’s Athlete Activism Summit in Louisville, Kentucky this June, as seen below:
Over the course of four days, college athletes, coaches, and administrators from across the country will convene to build community, gain knowledge, and commit to actions to help expand LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship on their campuses.
Athlete Ally staff and event co-hosts will share how they are using education, policy reform, athlete activism, and groundbreaking research to champion LGBTQI+ inclusion in and through sport. We will hear from athletes & activists on how visibility and representation can shape collective power, and from QTBIPOC athletes & allies on intersectional activism. Attendees will cycle through breakouts on storytelling and campus advocacy. To cap off the Summit, we will lay out a blueprint for where we go from here to maximize our collective impact.
While the title and flagrant featured photo for this post is admittedly nothing more than clickbait, the content is, like the subject at hand, much more substantial. This post is to celebrate the opening of BDXY – a clothing and lifestyle brand founded by actor Luke Evans, Fran Tomas and Christopher Brown. Already a favorite on these pages, and a beloved Dazzler of the Day here, Evans brings his own elegant sophistication and taste to his first fashion endeavor, lending a classic vibe to a new brand that aims to serve any gentleman with a desire for refinement, sexiness, and strength.
From the sexy basics of underwear to the sultry scented collection of candles, BDXY is laying a groundwork for a line that will undoubtedly expand. For now, keeping things simple and basic in underwear (briefs and boxer briefs in black, white, and green) and t-shirts and tank tops (vests) of multiple colors and logo options, along with some daringly sexy swimwear, is a very smart start, and once you have a stable customer base, the rest of the world will surely follow. Personally, I’m favoring ‘The Unit’ underwear in black or green, and ‘The Atmos’ Swimbrief Mirrorzag – both in size Medium for anyone considering future gifts (just saying!)
You know I love a company that gives some intriguing background to its inception, offering clients a glimpse into the creative spark that started it all, and a story of how it came to fruition. BDXY has a great origin, and a compelling mission, as seen on their website as follows:
Founded by actor Luke Evans in partnership with Fran Tomas (architect and project manager) and Christopher Brown (stylist and creative consultant). BDXY is an apparel and lifestyle brand with a strong focus on classic style with a contemporary twist.
Taking cues from the Classic Hollywood actor, BDXY mixes nostalgia with modern and sustainable everyday staples. We work with new technology, fabrics and manufacturing processes to deliver a wardrobe that exudes alluring appeal with considered design.
The Origin of ‘BDXY’
The letters are pronounced BDXY – the first two letters are from the word ‘Bold’, while the second two are from the word ‘Sexy’, which describes the aesthetic of the line.
“It’s as much a feeling and a personal energy, as a description of how one looks. You can feel bold and sexy in absolutely nothing, a ball gown, a tuxedo or any kind of attire you wear. Bold is a strong, confident word and sexy is something that is appealing in many different ways.”
“Bold” exudes a vibrant energy, a daring spirit that embraces challenges and stands out with confidence. On the other hand, “Sexy” carries a magnetic allure, creating a vibe that’s captivating and irresistible. Together, they evoke a dynamic aura, blending fearlessness with sensuality, leaving an impression that’s both powerful and enticing.
Starting Point ~ The starting point came from a T-shirt, our hero product, as a strong foundation piece inspired by screen icons of the Old Hollywood era – think Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen. With this in mind, the BDXY line is designed to make you feel comfortable and confident, everywhere, always.
Sustainability is an important factor close to all our hearts. BDXY pays attention to the planet by focusing on eco-friendly methods and natural fabrications. We use ethically sourced fibres as well as recycled and upcycled materials, while working closely with a family business in Portugal. This approach helps breathe new life into humble staples while honouring our commitment to minimising environmental impact.
Inspiration ~ The naming of each piece in the first collection was inspired by Luke’s profession: on a film set, every crew member has a specific job title unique to the industry. Most have been around since the dawn of film and television production. The Stunt, The Focus, The Gaffer, The Captain, The Boom… The legacy and essential nature of these roles and more, speaks to the enduring appeal of our garments.
Aspirational ~Travel is one of the most valuable gifts you can give to yourself and others. It is this love of travel, people and places that are at the core of our collections and capture a moment in time of memories and happiness. Each piece is rooted in a shared appreciation of quality fabrics and timeless design for all body shapes.
Thirty-five years ago, the bedrooms of many burgeoning gay boys were filled with the incense-like fragrance of patchouli, the hold-over hippie scent from the 60’s, thanks to Madonna including it as part of the packaging for the ‘Like A Prayer’ album. For perhaps the first time, a musical artist was pushing the notion of the artistic listening experience into one that went beyond sound and sight and included an actual scent. It was a powerful moment for me – not only being my first brush with patchouli (contrary to popular belief, I was not alive in the 60’s) but also my first experience with how an artistic project could be so powerfully immersive for the consumer and viewer. It was also a lesson in how scent can be one of the most power memory triggers, bringing us back to a time and place more effectively than any other sensory stimulus.
Since that time, patchouli has held a special place in my heart, though these days it’s in a more refined form, such as this delicious fragrance from the House of Guerlain Paris – ‘Patchouli Ardent’. Here, the patchouli runs through the fragrance arc, its golden threads shimmering at each stage of development, while a magnificently rich rose note works a velvety floral into the mix. At the start, some pink and black pepper brings a spicy accent to an almost-fruity and figgy voluptuousness, while a woody smokiness lends echoes of Tom Ford’s ‘Oud Fleur’ and Frederic Malle’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’ (both of which I adore). Meanwhile, layers of leather reveal themselves as it settles down, taking it blessedly further from the edge of sticky sweetness (the danger zone of many a rose and patchouli duet).
Taken together, this is a powerful perfume, perfect for these blustery days that feel more like winter than spring, when you need a little richness in the arid and barren landscape. The patchouli is prettily present throughout the story, bringing its years of memories into my mind, taking me back decades to a world that feels enchanted, as much by the rose-tinted-glass frame of time as by the sweet innocence I held onto as a thirteen-year-old boy.
Thirty-five years ago Madonna unleashed the iconic ‘Like A Prayer’ album upon a somewhat-suspecting world – a majestic and monumental album that has remained one of her most powerful musical statements all this time later. It formed an integral backdrop to some of the most formative years of my life, coming out at a time when I was thirteen going on fourteen – which is a key portion of life when music is often what matters most. I was lucky in that respect – lucky to have been alive and fully aware in the era of ‘Like A Prayer‘.
While that feels like a long time ago, it’s testament to Madonna’s enduring relevance and power that her recent take on the title track is still a compelling watch – see below before we go back in time…
In March of 1989, I was but a wee 13-year-old at Wilbur H. Lynch Middle School in Amsterdam, New York. It had been a school year plagued with illness – the wreckage and remaining lung function of a difficult turn with asthma left me drained and often gasping for breath, while a burgeoning and debilitating onset of undiagnosed social anxiety kept my mental engagement removed and woefully private from my classmates. I was looking for a source of power in every sense, and my thirst for such inspiration was satiated as Madonna released the ‘Like A Prayer’ single.
It was, and likely remains, the best kick-off single for any of her albums (with the possible exception of ‘Vogue’) and it was a critical, artistic, and commercial smash. In my life, I was equally thrilled and terrified by it – the flirtation with blasphemy, the undeniable pop-hook mastery of Patrick Leonard’s music, and the assertion of this woman as artistic provocateur proved impossible to resist. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that spoke so deeply to me, I just felt its power, physically pricked by its heat, and the abandon, when I fully gave in to it, was like some spiritual orgasm that shook my entire body out of its teenage trappings. (And at that point in my life the only kneeling I had done had been at church, serving as an altar boy.)
The entire album was filled with sonic surprises, perhaps because Madonna was finally going deep, as she explored her imploding marriage on ‘Til Death Do Us Part‘ or the death of her mother on ‘Promise to Try‘. There were some light-hearted moments, such as the whimsical ‘Dear Jessie‘ and lushly-romantic ‘Cherish‘, but the main themes were family (see ‘Oh Father‘ and ‘Keep It Together‘) and religion (see ‘Pray for Spanish Eyes‘ and ‘Act of Contrition‘). It was a combustible combination, and a musical collection that stands up to the ultimate test of time.
Three and a half decades later, I still find inspiration and strength in listening to this album, and music that manages to last that long is an artistic achievement. I leave you with this performance of ‘Like A Prayer’ from her 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour. It’s the stuff of immaculate pop icon history, and set the stage for a few decades of indelible ‘Prayer’ performances. Only the most powerful remain.
Not you finally responding after I call you out on not texting me back, and then getting mad when I don’t immediately reply.
Nope. No time for that sort of fuckery. Gaslight somebody else – I’m burned out.
PS – Is it funny or sad that a number of people in my life are going to think this is about them? Today I think it’s sad, but maybe that’s just because I’m feeling sad.
Our opening days of spring have been rather chilly, but the sun has been about, and the world seems to be moving in the right direction. A spot of spring music, then, for the afternoon hours, to celebrate the ‘Bluebird’ of this song’s title, and to celebrate the triumphant arrival of spring. Winter be banished!
Afternoon siestas pass more beautifully when something like this is playing in the background, or the foreground – choose your own volume and choose your own adventure. Spring demands we take charge and take control, if only because there is about to be much to do. On that clunky sentence, I’ll leave you to the music.
It’s been five relatively sad years since Mom and I have made a trip to Broadway, thanks to catastrophic events like a worldwide pandemic and my Dad’s decline, and it’s been one of the more heartbreaking things we’ve missed. This year we look to return to that happy tradition, and I’ve lined up a couple of shows that will hopefully thrill and entertain, as we need some escapism right now.
First up is ‘The Who’s Tommy’ – a revival of the 90’s stage musical that ran for raves. The new production is being heralded as a visual feast, with all the bells and whistles one might expect from a show celebrating the ‘Pinball Wizard’. Having never seen any of its iterations, this will be new to both of us.
Speaking of new, the next show is an original musical production of ‘The Great Gatsby‘ starring Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada (more on them in future Dazzler posts). While early reviews of a pre-Broadway run had been mixed, it’s one of my favorite stories, so we’ll immerse ourselves in the Roaring Twenties and make the most of the atmosphere and ambiance. (Any excuse to break out the fringe and fascinators…)
I’ve intentionally chosen a couple of ‘lighter’ shows, big on visual bombast and slim on serious soul-reckoning drama/trauma, as this will be the first trip we make without Dad waiting at home for our return. As such, it is somewhat of a sad return to things we did before, but also a new step forward, so we will focus on the new.
New steps require new accommodations, and the hunt for a pretty hotel is next…
A song, then, to echo the spring morning we’ve just had, perhaps with a sadder slant in the sweet care of Judy Garland. A few fanciful spring images too, for the season now at hand – now, after so much waiting and wanting – now, after this kind winter, now… yes, now. A word that lends spring its intrinsic urgency: now.
Last night when we were young Love was a star, a song unsung Life was so new, so real so right Ages ago last night
Today the world is old
You flew away and time grew cold
Where is that star that shone so bright
Ages ago last night?
Spring nights call for music like this, something that rings slightly of Savannah, maybe by Harold Arlen, something that speaks to the heart, and to the longing of the earth when she breaks open in an irreversible state of thaw. Release. And relief. I remember walking beneath a small stretch of flowering cherry trees in Boston one night, long before Andy, long before I even knew or loved myself, and spring felt like the only source of solace for an early twenty-something on the cusp of life.
To think that spring had depended On merely this: a look, a kiss To think that something so splendid Could slip away in one little daybreak
Such tenderness at the budding youth of the season carries a risk and a warning. There is still time for snowstorms and spring freezes; we might yet lose all the precarious flowers-in-bud, and the world is vicious in how unrelenting such acts can come upon our course. Winter may be harsh, but it would never pretend otherwise; spring is more cruel in what it can take away with its promise of hope, and promise of… promise.
So now, let’s reminisce And recollect the sighs and the kisses The arms that clung
The Dazzler of the Day goes out to Lena Waithe, for her reigning run as actor, producer, and writer. Waithe has created the Showtime series ‘The Chi’ as well as the BET series ‘Boomerang’ and ‘Twenties’, and acting as Executive Producer of ‘Them’. She’s received a Tony Award nomination (for ‘Ain’t No Mo’) and won an Outstanding Writing Emmy as well as a Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Queen and Slim’. That’s a lot of accomplishments, and it still feels like this is only the opening act.
When a Leap Year occurs, such as occurred last month with the extra day tacked onto February, spring comes early, so today marks the arrival of the season of hope. I’m all for an early spring, in every possible way. Perhaps you’ve noticed some ornamental changes happening here as this site enters the spring season – some vining florals have been winding their way along the borders and featured picture boxes. Spring is more than just flowers and vines – it speaks to something deeper, something more powerful. It speaks to hope, rebirth, and renewal.
This year, it also speaks to youth – lost, found, destroyed, and conjured. My niece and nephew turn 14 years old at the end of this month, and that was the age I remember coming into the voice and soul I still feel like I have today. Of course kids grow up a little quicker these days, so perhaps they’ve been in such headspace for a while. I was always a little slower and more hesitant to grow like that.
And so we enter spring with a slower step, a contemplative step, a step that moves us forward while taking a quick look back – something I am loathe to do, but willing to try for all the good that was in the past.
‘Last night when we were young’ might be a reference to the last day of winter, the last night of one’s youth, or the last bit of innocence before the world reveals some of its darker secrets. Whatever way one reads it, it’s a time for consideration of where we each stand. Slowly, I’m embracing what that means, even when it means growing up a little at this mid-to-late stage of life. There is always room to grow, and spring has often been the bearer of that beautiful lesson. Spring, with its air of hope, its sweet perfume of floral possibility ~ spring, with its tricky weather, its cold nights braced by its encroaching warm breezes ~ spring, with its green splendor and voluptuous buds, tight and hard and coiled…
Spring is when it all happens, even when it might not feel like it in its first few days. All I can promise is that the end will look nothing like the beginning. Take your time and stumble through it with me – spring is better when done with company.
Still enraptured by the new twist that Madonna gave to this iconic corset, I’m posting another pic of the ensemble from her Oscar party. That’s about all I have the energy or desire to do right now, so take a look back at the week that came before in this typical Monday morning recap.
I love a good spiritual trajectory, especially one that echoes the ups and downs most of us will have experienced if we make through any decent run at life. Nicholas Capolino is our Dazzler of the Day because he has gone on such a journey, and continues to follow his own path, through a practice of yoga and meditation and healing, which he now shares with the rest of us. But as they once said on ‘Reading Rainbow’, you don’t have to take my word for it – here’s a better description of his story from his website.
Nicholas cultivated his own yoga and meditation practice in 2008 while studying acting and graduating from Cal State University of Fullerton in 2012. Every day in the acting program, he learned in depth embodiment techniques and trained with world renowned teachers such as Fay Simpson , Kennedy Brown Katherine Fitzmaurice, and many more!
He learned how to tune into his own hormone centers (yogis call these “chakras”) with the Lucid Body Technique, various voice techniques including Fitzmaurice Voice work, and physical embodiment practices to bring classical characters from Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Moliere to life on the stage. He truly believed acting would be his career until he was cut from the program in his junior year. It was heart breaking…
He stopped doing yoga and meditating and instead started smoking cigarettes, and partying for the remainder of his college years. This downward spiral of feeling addicted to smoking, partying, and sex taught him the power of learning to live a life of discipline, moderation, and spirituality.
In 2016, Nicholas rediscovered his roots in yoga and meditation by becoming a certified Hatha yoga instructor at the Huntington Beach Wellness Center. Once he recognized his own healing transformation, Nick expanded his style of teaching by getting certified in Pranic Healing by Master Ko. In addition, he is certified and trained in Hatha, Tantra, Healing Qi Gong , Iyengar Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Restorative Yoga; which allowed him to become a E-RYT 500. (Expert Registered Yoga Teacher 500 hours of training + 200 hour of Healing Qi Gong) He is also certified as a group fitness instructor with expert knowledge in strength training and nutritional programming.
He has partnered and worked with companies like Nike, Equinox, Lululemon, Fabletics, MLB, Topo Chico, Vuori, Bay Clubs, and much more! Nick continues to teach yoga and meditation for hundreds of people by co facilitating health and wellness festivals and leading private retreats around the world.
His true purpose is to promote and inspire growth, healing, and transformation for each individual. Nick’s grounded nature, gentle guidance and spiritually-focused approach provides a welcoming and loving atmosphere for all ages and levels of students.
