Lesbian Fashion: Appreciating Women In and Out of Their Clothes - Liz Collins

I was asked to write a piece on fall fashion trends for lesbians across the spectrum, but upon reflection I've determined it's all about the way you wear the clothes, not exactly the type and style of clothing that make a look. Femme girls in a t-shirt still look girly and soft and a rockabilly girl in the same shirt will still make me swoon with rolled up sleeves and slicked back hair...

So instead I looked to Lesbian Fashion Designers and was reintroduced to Liz Collins.

She had a top fashion line from 2000-04 and currently teaches fashion.

She said this about her desire to design:

"I find women's bodies perpetually inspiring. Not that men's bodies
can't be beautiful - I enjoy the human structure, but i love the female form and queer womens bodies is what inspires me." - Liz Collins
Plus, her aesthetic combines some of my favorite things: bondage and super heroes.

If Fashion is Your Passion...

Hi, I'm Sylvia, I typically write about pop culture, politics, and recently, about my own long distance relationship for Lesbiatopia, but Renee has approached me about tackling fashion, and it seems like a perfect fit.

Friends tease me about not being able to walk in a room or pose for a picture without voguing, my room mates and I have designated our apartment hallway The Catwalk/Runway.


On top of that, I look to every day to dress to a theme. I get told often that my wardrobe is more costumes than clothing, but that' part of the fun. Dinner Party: Where's my 1950s style polka dot house dress? Dance Performance: You can bet I'll attend wearing footless tights and a flowing skirt. Book Signing: Playing my best sexy librarian.


Personally, I see too much sameness within the lesbian community when it comes to "fashion." Cargo shorts and a polo, or the ubiquous v-neck, vest and skinny jeans do not count as a look, they don't speak to a personal style choice if it just makes you look like every other dyke at the club.

Butch, femme and anything in-between, I'm all about being comfortable and
dressing how * you * want, not how other people want you to, but don't fall into stereotypes just because you get overwhelmed when staring at your closet and know it'll make you easily identifiable as family. Show off a bit of your personality in your outfit choices, whether it be a signature color, an unusual hat, or vintage piece.

Next time: Re-Fashioning: Ties are not just for your neck, or for your Avril Lavigne Halloween Costume

In the meantime: http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/model-morphosis/
Check out this photo series of the metamorphosis models go through during a
single runway show.

Long Distance Relationships: Sylvia's Side of the Story

This is Sylvia's response to Mr. Leigh's take on their Long Distance Relationship. Sylvia departed in August. You may think they're handling this well. Just wait until they reveal how many minutes they spend on the phone per month, or try and calculate how much postage they've used. Currently they are counting the days until they see each other in November. What is the longest amount of time you've gone between seeing your significant other? How long would you be willing to wait? 

I’d like to think that a year from now we will have forgotten what this feels like. All that will remain is the outcome.

Somewhere in the recesses of our minds we will recall all the thousands of tiny tears that joined together to rip at the cloth of our fabricated stability and expose what we weren’t hiding well anyway: our feelings for each other.I never planned it this way.

The very idea of us ever being together seemed so impossible and idealistic even sixty days prior to my departure, and yet weeks before I was set to move, lease papers signed, I found myself falling asleep each night to the rhythm of her breathing and waking up to her smile.

And those days passed perfectly. The only complaint I had is that they came to an end and soon it was August and I felt cheated out of something I had hoped for with such devotion.We joked about our timing. Meeting when deeply entrenched in other relationships. Finally being able to be together only to race against the clock to get in as much time as possible before binding contracts and responsibilities whisked me away.


Reluctantly it was decided that we would part with no labels and no expectations, and I silently told myself I was just grateful for the whirlwind romance, even if it never developed beyond that.

Through tearful goodbyes that exhausted our lungs and reddened our eyes for days, it became evident neither of us had any intention of letting the other go.While driving cross-country I had plenty of time to reflect and remember, her music providing the soundtrack to the thoughts I bounced off the Colorado Mountains and Nebraska plains.

Every night we’d whisper into our phones and each morning I’d drop a letter into the mail heading back to her door.I arrived in Chicago to a mailbox full of letters and postcards, and knew I had fallen even harder in love than before.

At first my roommates didn’t get it. I felt and looked silly walking around with a cell phone attached to my hand at all times. The sharp short tone of an incoming text message elicited a pavlovion response in me. It sill does.
I never meant to have it happen this way. Long distance is never what one dreams of. It is so difficult and can be debilitating in its loneliness. But I look at it this way: The phone calls, the text messages, the letters and e-mails, all of it translates to the amount I’d be communicating with her if I were with her in California.

And I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I live in an amazing city and I’ve experienced concerts in Millennium Park, readings at Women and Children First, strolls on Lake Michigan and evenings at some of the most impressive museums in the world. But mostly I go through those things wishing I was experiencing them with her.

There are those who say I need to experience the single life while young and new in the city. If I wanted to, I could have a few prospects, but I haven’t met anyone that even remotely compares to her, and to be honest, I’m not interested in looking.

There has been an instance or two where I will idly find myself engaging in some innocent flirtation as I go about my day, but the words taste sour as they fall from my mouth and I’m left making quick retractions and awkward exits as I confirm that nothing that cute bartender or very attentive Trader Joe’s check out girl could do or say would have even 1/100th of the impact as the postcard that is waiting for me in my mailbox.

Ellen Degeneres: An Unconventional Covergirl

I'm so conflicted!

I have an enormous amount of respect for Ellen and how she conducts herself. I think she makes good choices for herself and her career and doesn't let middle america twist her into something she's not.

That's not to say she isn't presenting an edited version of herself on her weekday talk show, but I never get the sense she is presenting an inauthentic version of herself to her audience.

Today it was announced that Degeneres will be the face of Cover Girl in a new campaign for the make up company, and I don't know what to think.

It is definitely an interesting choice. Ellen is very attractive but by her own admissions, she is not a fan of make up and I believe the closest Ellen gets to any make up when she's not on her T.V. set is the lip gloss she kisses off of Portia.

I'm all for visibility, but I'm perplexed. If she doesn't wear make up herself, why promote it?

Pass Cisco 642-975 and 640-553 confidently. Cisco 642-524 is 90minutes exam with 60 questions. Get certified IBM 000-206 and HP HP2-Q01 questions and answers.

We'll Take What We Can Get

Straight women and gay men get to gaze longingly at Michael Phelps and other scantily clad swimmers during NBC's prime time Olympic coverage. But for lesbians, getting a glimpse of inspiring and drool-worthy female athletes can be difficult, especially when Women's Gymnastics takes up such a large segment of air time.

Which is not to say that gymnastics isn't beautiful to watch. It happens to be one of my favorite Olympic events. It just feels inappropriate to lust after athletes that look like they're fourteen (and if you believe some reports, certain athletes might be).

Still, we take any real or perceived lesbian action where we can get it... and this image of Romania's Sandra Izbasa celebrating her gold medal winning floor exercise with her coach is probably as close as we'll get. And Sandra is 18.

5 Olympians You Might Find At The Gay Bar

1. Lauren Lappin (USA, Softball)

Stanford grad Lappin, 24, came out after a teammate’s openness inspired her. Lappin is a catcher on the U.S. team.

2. Natasha Kai (USA, Soccer)

The heavily tattooed Kai, 24, of Hawaii off-handedly came out in a June interview with NBCOlympics.com when she mentioned breaking up with her girlfriend. She's a forward on the U.S. women's national team.

3. Linda Bresonik (Germany, Soccer)

Bresonik has brought the drama to the forefront after being involved in a highly publicized love triangle with a former teammate and coach.

4. Rennae Stubbs ( Australia, Tennis)

Beijing is Stubbs’ fourth Olympics. The women's doubles player used to date her former doubles partner, Lisa Raymond, and is very vocal in her desire for more prominent tennis players to come out.

5. Imke Duplitzer (Germany, Fencing)

Duplitzer, 33, is the 2004 Silver Medalist in fencing. This is her fourth Olympics. She opted to skip the opening ceremonies in protest of the Chinese government.

Technorati Tags: gay,, olympics,, beijing,, china,, 2008, olympics,, lesbian, athletes

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Where Are All The Queers?

Finding queer athletes to look up to at the Olympics is akin to looking for a four-leaf clover. Occasionally one will appear, but they are rare, mysterious and guarded. Many athletes can’t afford to come out because it could be detrimental to their career and result in the loss of support from their countries.

If we don’t know who is queer, we definitely know who is straight. Olympic coverage is hell bent on broadcasting any signs of heterosexuality in both the male and female athletes.

This was evident in the amount of media coverage American Beach Volleyball player Kerri Walsh received when she lost her wedding ring during a qualifying match over the weekend.




Her ring was eventually found by a volunteer and returned promptly. Commentators mentioned the ring repeatedly during another match on Monday night, as well as Walsh’s husband.

The whole event was just one of those things that bring the audience in and inspire a connection to an athlete and not just a sport, but I couldn’t help but think that a possible reason NBC spent so much airtime on a lost and found wedding ring was to counteract the attention Walsh and Misty May got in 2004 for their extended victory embrace.

It was two toned, beautiful, barely-clothed girls rolling around in the sand in each other’s arms in a moment of passion and celebration. And it was hot.

That clip also got aired and re-aired and Walsh and May hit the radar of lesbians around the world.

This time around the media is focused on leaving no room for error in terms of Walsh and May’s sexuality. With both married since the Athen’s games, commentators use every opportunity to talk about their marriages to men.

Which is fine, I just don’t think it would be that way if their significant others were women.