We were about to put Dusty Couture on the backburner and start a new blog when it happened: Los Angeles Magazine picked up the phone and called.  Their Buzz: Au Courant columnist Monica Corcoran needed a playa fashion expert to provide background info for an upcoming article on “Burning Man” being used as a buzz-word in the default fashion industry.  The end result?  Dusty Bacon ended up being quoted as saying that Alexander McQueen’s styles would “fly all night” at Burning Man.

Even though the article wasn’t specifically about the fashions of BRC, we appreciated receiving credit for our small portion and were proud to let the default fashion industry know that their works of art would be respected on the Playa.

That mention lead quickly to a much more fulfilling collaboration with LA Weekly’s Style Council author Sophie Duvernoy who allowed her interview with “Bacon” to become half the content of their 2011 Burning Man Fashion Survival Guide.  The article does what we believe to be a great job of translating a banquet of playalicious style concepts into tasty nibbles for default world fashionistas.

What really impressed us though was that Sophie paid heed to our passionate plea to her that she accurately represent our desert tribe by first researching for herself Burning Man’s 10 Guiding Principles and the true fashion ethos of Black Rock City which she concluded the article with: ” … don’t expect to go to Burning Man and dress to fit in — the whole idea of fashion there is to stand out as much as possible … ”

We finally felt like our message got through in an article that we got to guest-author for Heather Vaughan’s Fashion Historia blog.  In her recent series on the fashions of Burning Man entitled: “Nevada’s Desert Dress“, Heather invited several very knowledgeable fashion experts to share what they know about our tribe’s rapidly developing fashion palette.  Since each guest has a different background and relationship to the event, the series connects a wonderful variety of dusty dots.

Speaking of “Dusty”, Mr. Bacon was again the one who spearheaded the writing of this article and it is arguably his best work to date. Click Here to read A Liberation of Fashion.

Writing isn’t the only thing we’ve been collaborating with others on.  The newest urban-adventure hotel on Reno’s strip contacted us needing models for an upcoming advertising campaign.  They found out about us during our recent collaboration with Black Rock Arts Foundation for their 2011 Pre-Playa Party (click here to learn more).  While they asked for models in “burner costumes”, we just couldn’t put Burning Man up on a billboard for a commercial development.  Instead, the models (pictured throughout this article) were instructed to dress for a radical re-envisioning of what Reno could become in their wildest dreams.

As you can see they fused ne0-tribal with classic show-girl, a steamy future that never was with the classic styles of Reno’s last golden era.  The results (photographed by Frank Haxton at Digiman Studios) are stunning and the development (which will remain nameless for now) couldn’t believe their good fortune at having had access to such radical beauty.  As you can see, the ladies we called in to model thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

We hope these collaborations are the beginning of a significant trend.  We’ve been at this almost two years now with only one goal: to show the art-form that is Burning Man fashion to all who might be influenced by it.  We can say with certainty now that people are noticing, people are seeing, the message is getting through and we will be there to keep that message pure and in line with the 10 Principles.

UPDATE: Check back after the Burn for a very exciting announcement!

Recently, Junkee Clothing Exchange in Reno hosted it’s fourth annual Burner Fashion Show which featured fashion presentations by four designers who are also local vendors. The styles were amazing and continued the show’s tradition of evolving playa fashion into beautiful new realms of manifestation.

While our video coverage of last year’s third annual Junkee show was exhaustive, we were forced to take this year off from filming the event. Fortunately for you though, we were able to acquire some “bootleg” video of the Melting Pot World Emporium’s theatrical fashion presentation which features on-stage interaction that highlights the clothing and accessories in a very innovative way.

Thanks to Monkey Girl Monique for supplying with this exciting (if a bit out of focus) clip:

For those of you who will be traveling through Reno to get to Burning Man, here are some of the best stores to shop at for amazing Playa Wear and specialty Burner Supplies:

• Poly Esther’s Costume Boutique located at: 655 South Virginia, Reno, NV 89501
• Prism Magic located at: 2161 Pyramid Way, Sparks, NV 89431
• Junkee Clothing Exchange located at: 960 South Virginia, Reno, NV 89501
• The Melting Pot World Emporium located at: 1049 South Virginia, Reno, NV 89501

These stores are owned by veteran burners who have incorporated Burning Man’s 10 Guiding Principles into their businesses to a significant degree.  We have experienced the tremendously positive impact their entrepreneurship has on both Black Rock City and our Local Reno/Burner community.  For places to shop for things other than clohting & accessories, check out  BurningMan.Com’s Reno Downtown Shopping Directory.

This is likely our last post before we head out.  See you in the Dust!

xoxo-Dusty Couture

I was so blown away by the wonderful art and gifting at my first Burn in the year of Beyond Belief that I wanted to give something back.  As a virgin, I didn’t know about the costume part of Burning Man so I decided to do a Boutique to gift costumes primarily for virgins but it is open to all.

I focused on very naughty and sexy costumes. I bought a lot of see through stuff or modified clothing by cutting out the solid panels.

S E X Filth Avenue Boutique is self-service and open 24/7.  It will be located in Terminal City Village across from the BOOBY BAR @ 3:15 on Anniversary by the 3:00 Keyhole. This year we are featuring “REDNECK TANK TOPS” that can be worn as tops or crotchless undies.  You can get one new costume any time you want and as many times as you want.  The only requirement is that you bring back a new person who has not gotten a costume every time you get a new costume and they need to do the same.  You can keep your costume, return it or donate new costumes to share with other people.  Every day at 9:30 AM volunteers clean up the boutique and put out new costumes.  They get first pick of the new costumes.  Don’t miss out…become a volunteer.

We need lots of costumes…please donate by recyling your old burning man costumes…..

This will be my 9Th burn.  I have had a lot of different people help me with this camp over the 6 year history of SFA.  I started SFA my second year with my girlfriend Leather Loving Babe as an unofficial camp out in the suburbs.  I took the next year off.  Then I joined the Black Rock Bookmobile camp at Center Camp and set up SFA inside their camp with my new girlfriend Jewel.  I took the next year off.  Then I joined Terminal City Village with the help of Sabra.  The next year Carla helped me in Terminal City.  This will be my 4Th year in Terminal City.  Empress Rosa will be helping me this year.  This may be my last year doing SFA because of the cost and time.  I’d like to find some new people to take it over and keep it going.

We are looking for new people to join our camp and maybe take it over from us.

ManBabe and Sex Filth Ave can most easily be found/contacted on Facebook (search for “ManBabe Burning Man“).  Also, if you email us, we will be sure to put you in touch with him.

The event was a tremendous success and the energy coming back from the audience threatened to overwhelm us.  The crowd was really affected by the brilliant styles manifesting before them as well as Dusty’s heartfelt words regarding the magic of Burning Man Fashion.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSqCujSy1lE

As he mentions in the video, Dusty was really scrambling to put this together at the last minute.  What really inspired him to pull out all the stops was actually a negative experience he’d had at Reno radio station KTHX’s “Burner Costume Parade” at the Nevada Art Museum the night before.  Though there were some fantastic Burners dressed up brilliantly at the museum, the MC for the “costume parade” shared nothing with the audience regarding his familiarity with Playa fashion or the Burning Man event.  It did not seem to us that he was familiar with either subject and when he began goading the Burners to dance for the enjoyment of plain-clothed spectators we were forced to leave.

Because of that disappointing experience we urge you all to no longer participate in a “Burning Man” costume or fashion event unless it’s organized by Burners.  We need to take advantage of those opportunities to spread our fashion philosophy into the default world, however, if what it is that we truly find inspiring is not being presented then it might be better to wait for the next opportunity.

Since there were THREE Burning Man fashion shows in Reno alone this last weekend, we don’t think you’ll be waiting long … pictures of last Saturday’s annual Junkee fashion show will soon follow.

Immediately after our successful Burning Man Costume Swap, we walked across the street to enjoy the 4th annual Compression! Fire and Art Festival put on by Controlled Burn, Reno’s premier fire performance troupe.  There, we spent the early evening being amazed by talented local belly-dancers, circus freaks, drummers, hip hop dancers, and fire performers all while taking multiple breaks to photograph the incredible Reno Burner Fashion that we kept encountering as you’ll see in the video below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLCihVu3Zls

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnTPvixvTWg

We loved every minute and felt like we received a HUGE payoff for the months of effort and planning that went into this landmark event.  Just making our preparations was an incredible adventure in itself as this project grew to include:

• Costuming the entire cast of a Shakespearean Steampunk play (to obtain the venue).
• Teaming up with the troupe hosting the fire & art festival across the street (to obtain initial costumes).
• Gathering support from boutiques, vendors, and Burners throughout the Reno community.
• Discovering a dear ally in fellow blogger Jessica Reeder aka The Hun creator of Love And Trash (her idea).

Want to host a successful costume swap for your community?  After this year’s Burn we will be looking to take this Burning Man Costume Swap show on the road.  The only pre-requisite is that your community have two or more volunteers interested in coordinating with us.

For the lucky Reno Burners we are already planning the 2012 Burning Man Costume SwapS.  If they’re anything like this one was, it’ll be the dawning of new era.

And if you aren’t excited yet, check out our video below to see the PRIMO burner-outfits that we have already collected from other eager participants.  This is just a quarter of the excellent selection we’ll have when we open the doors at 3pm and can only imagine the offerings that will come through the doors during the event.

Remember there’s an incredible array of other activities that will be taking place at this landmark event including:  Live DJ set by Dusty Bacon, an Inspirational Fashion Show in which all are welcome to walk the runway, AND we’ll be right across the street from the Compression! Fire & Arts Fest, at 119 North Virginia St. in Reno.  See you there

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bZ0oqA8DHc

Last weekend in Reno, we hosted a costuming workshop with all proceeds going to the Temple and after raising over $200, we enjoyed an AMAZING time at the Temple of Transition’s UNITY Fundraiser in Reno.  Many in attendance were in full agreement that it was the ”Best Burner party yet” in a community known for incredible Burning Man-centric events.

We were kicking ourselves throughout the night though for not thinking ahead enough to bring our cameras!!!  Everyone was dressed up so beautifully.  It was a profound reminder how uber-fashionable and innovative Burners are.  The pics here were taken by Chris Fuqua and there’s a gallery of additional pics by Reno Metromix on our Facebook Page (More Article Below)

The night was filled with a palpable vibe of liberation.  Participants could do as they pleased in an open urban expanse beneath the bright half moon’s cloudless sky.  DJs were blasting beats from art-cars, fire-spinning jams were breaking out in multiple locations, and there were Burners performing on the official Temple stage (above) throughout the night.  It was a slice of Home in downtown Reno.  (Scroll down for more).

It seemed like everyone came out to enjoy the Salvagery artist collective & Temple Crew’s generous hospitality.  Popcorn Palace gave out fresh popcorn all night, Bohemian Burlesque stripped for our pleasure, Dragonfly Aerials gracefully defied gravity, Boho Hoops & Controlled Burn fire troupe danced amidst the flames, Playa art-installations both old and new were erected, numerous burn-barrels were fired up, and hundreds of local burners turned out to do what they do best: look good while partying hard.  It may not be the case on-Playa, but for at least one night the 2011 Temple of Transition was THE place to get your kicks!

For those of you who are unaware: there is a large Burner camp-out that takes place at Black Rock Desert the weekend of July 4th.  It is an unorganized scene during which we cohabitate on the Playa with many groups of people who aren’t burners that come to ride ATVs and shoot off fireworks.  The last two or three years though, we’ve seen a profound increase in Burner attendees who come out for a taste of what, “Burning Man used to be like.”

Before I get to telling you any more about what we saw out there, we know what you are dying to find out so here it is:  THE PLAYA’S SURFACE IS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL COMPACTED AND DUST-FREE.  We’ve been attending the burn for over a decade and have yet to see the Playa’s surface in this good a shape

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There were several theme-camps set up including the Esplanade’s infamous Spanky’s Wine Bar (which had the Frog Pond hot-springs looking better than we’ve seen it in years), Lunar Camp, Fandango, and Reno’s ever-loving BRCU which fed us paella!

It really is the people that make 4th of JuPlaya the incredible experience it is.  Erin, pictured above in her fabulous jewel studded goggles & rainbow neck sarong, immediately took us on a tour of her awesome hand-made faux fur wardrobe.

We met the Native American fellow pictured at right just before sunrise on Sunday.  He was in high spirits and happy to demonstrate the exceptional elements of his blazer which include hand-dyed cow-hide overlaying the shoulders (front/back) and dingo-ball trim on the sleeve as well as the butt-flap.

To see pictures of the unbelievable mobile command center we saw out there along with more angles and better detail of the outfits shown here, check out our JuPlaya Facebook Gallery by clicking here.

We meet Burners every year who choose to go to 4th of JuPlaya instead of Burning Man for various reasons.  It really is a fantastic alternative if you decide to forgo the biggest regional burn.  This Spring, the Playa was a bit too wet for us to consider the Black Rock Rendezvous.  We even thought about skipping the 4th of JuPlaya due to a significant rain-storm at the end of June and temps in the high 90s.  So glad we decided to go!

We are partnering with the famous DIY blog LoveAndTrash.Com to bring you an event with a LOT of everything you could hope for:

• Tremendous selection of the Reno Burner Community’s finest burner costumes.
• Dusty Couture one of a kind costume pieces and accessories (COME EARLY).
• Live Music by DJ Dusty Bacon.
• Photographers and Videographers
• All inclusive Fashion Show THROWDOWN where anyone can bring their best look and walk the runway.
• Guest Speakers who will be discussing their Burning Man Art Projects
• AND since we’re SO close you can enjoy the best Compression! performances immediately afterwards

RSVP on our Facebook Event Page by clicking here and you can look forward lots of updates coming your way on this event as well as ways you can host similar events in your local community.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact us by clicking here.

UPDATE - NEW “SNEAK PEEK” VIDEO POSTED: CLICK HERE