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.

For the Edwardian Ball, we found ourselves needing instruction on how to make a spat, so we searched, and searched, and searched for instructions that seemed … inspiring.  We were about to give up when we found something that matched our desires perfectly.  An instructional video titled: How-To Make Spats (Spat vid here).  The production quality on this video how-to blew us away and we became instant fans of ThreadBanger.Com

We anticipate that you will the find the below video about how to make dreadfalls useful and engaging.  Do note that it is of a vintage which is no longer being produced.  The two dynamic hosts have since moved on for reasons unknown but the site, and especially the forums, continue to generate valuable content.

It gives a good idea of what’s possible though.  Check it out and tell us if you want more resources like it!

The styles being rocked speak for themselves once again but the next and final installment will feature a commentary track by our very own Dusty Bacon!  See you at Decom this weekend and remember: Reno’s Decom goes ALL NIGHT LONG

This video finishes with some great hooping footage from Spin Cycle’s annual all-star hoop jam.  We love the costumes that hoopers wear and it’s amazing that they still allow for the hoop to maneuver all over their body.

We shot enough footage on playa this year for a total of four of these Vfash videos: the first one mentioned above, this one, a “Friends of Friends” edition, and a personal favorites reel which will feature a commentary track by Dusty Bacon.  There’s also some handcar regatta vids from last weekend coming your way so stay tuned for lots more!

This is a rough edit of our forthcoming Virtual Fashion Show that we are still putting the finishing touches on.  This version or edition features our local Reno crew struttin’ their stuff on the virtual catwalk.  It debuted at the yearly September Bday Tri-Fecta last Saturday night to much fanfare.  Enjoy.

Lauren Mari Hufft Gifford of Prism Magic Clothing & Imports located in Sparks Nevada on Pyramid Highway (hey … that’s the sweet scenic route to Burning Man!) put together a rainbow of colorful looks that honor your inner funk monkey.

*Take advantage of the full screen and higher resolution options (only accessible once you’ve pressed play)
**Peep the sweet intro as well.  There really was lighting!

Check The Designers & The Location

Photo By Dana PhotoZen Nollsch

Today’s video is a brief prelude to a series of video blogs about this fascinating burner owned business that will be posted here over the next couple weeks. If you visit them, don’t forget to mention “DustyCouture.Com” for 10% off your purchase.

Check back soon for videos showing the rest of the 3rd Annual Reno Midtown Burner Fashion Show.
*Note: Take advantage of the full screen options and higher resolution (only available once video starts)!

The Melting Pot models pose in their rainbow colorful, playa ready outfits.

The Lucsious Ladies of the Fat Girls fashion show took back control of the runway and in doing so manifested the re-envisioning of everything a sensual woman can be.  These incredible feme-fatales walked the room in an array of off-the-rack and custom sewn creations, that highlighted the reality of their beauty, power, and energy.

Lauren Mari Hufft Gifford of Prism Magic and Meredith Tanzer of La Bussola brought together a tremendous stable of talent for a revolutionary show that incorporated Burlesque, Lounge Singing, Belly Dancing, and Body Painting performances in addition to epic fashion.  An especially notable highlight was the most over-the-top, steamiest, sinful cupcake eating performance we can imagine!

There was a deep sense of knowing surrounding the paradigm shift our community was manifesting that night.  Amidst the laughter and wild cheering we all seemed to know that this happening was bringing a much needed counter-balance to the over-sold and brutal “ideal” image of the female form that western culture is currently plagued by.  With their own sexual energy and clothing our voluptuous vixens shed the omnipresent awareness of the body a woman is “supposed” to have and transcended all comparisons while giving the finger to any who would scheme to alienate them from their own bodies.

We citizens of Black Rock City are familiar with the conscious act of taking control of our image.  Burning man has always been a deliciously deconstructed platform to reform how we see ourselves.  Radical self expression is a common description of what we are up to out on the playa but perhaps Larry Harvey said it best in the 2000 SUMMER NEWSLETTER Burning Man Journal ” … participants commune with themselves, … regard their own reality, that essential inner portion of experience that makes them feel real, as if it were a vision. I like to say that visions aren’t defined by light which falls upon them, but that they shine forth with their own light – they radiate outward, they illumine the world, they redefine reality.”

Special thanks to our co-author for this piece Mairin Kareli, Artist and Owner of Kareli Kairos www.karelikairos.com
Mairin’s unique insights can be attributed to her background as an extremely intelligent luscious lady, visual artist, business owner, and fashion designer, as well as multiple other pursuits she is engaged in many of which she excels at beautifully.

New categories, challenges to returning designers, a new venue and heightened public awareness produced an evolved event with ensembles that redefined the creative constraints of conscious clothing reconstructionistas.  Those who attended this fourth annual fashion design contest described the atmosphere as “electrifying”.

The most popular upcycled materials at this year’s show were coffee filters (remember, this is Portland) and bike parts (remember, this is Portland).  The winner of the show was “Chastity Blinds” by Jen Lamastra, a spanish armor/alice in wonderland-esque piece made out of mini blinds, sewn with bike tire tubes all topped by a bike tire tube wig all of which is pictured to the left.

A pair of animal hoof shoes constructed from the industrial waste of a meat-packing facility also garnered significant interest.  Another crowd favorite was the elegant and very burnerly Trash-Fence Gown pictured at the bottom of this post.

Jaysun Spieth & Jos Smith (The Photographers), Darcie Radke (Truth in Light Photography), and Aisha Harley (Aisha Harley Photography) did an amazing job photographing the abundant magic overflowing every square inch of the Crystal Ballroom that night.  Many thanks to all of them for the spectacular slideshow which beautifully showcases this thrilling night.

While there were significant financial incentives, the real rewards were a sensational show and a mass expansion of consciousness in terms of the creative fun we can have with recycling not the thousands of dollars in prizes.  The new format, twenty nine fashion designer entrants, and near capacity attendance are just a few of the factors indicating that the 5th annual Junk To Funk show will be worth planning your 2010 November around.

One of the most anticipated and popular events in the default world fashion community, the annual VS fashion show has a reputation for being a sensational smorgasbord of perfect bodies in sexy undies.  This year’s presentation, however, is generating even more buzz than usual due to a bevy of the buxom barbies sporting pieces clearly inspired by alternative fashion sub-cultures, most notably Steampunk.

VS continued their angels-wearing-wings theme but added a daring new twist by replacing feathers with balloons, gears, patchwork quilts, and other nontraditional  items.  It will be fun to see who from our community will one-up these designers with the wings they construct for this coming year’s burn.

This show reminds us how effective skimpy undergarment outfits are on the Playa.  They’re also easy to pack and practically keep themselves organized.  Just imagine only needing a medium sized purse for all your Playa outfits! (Well, that and a really warm fur coat.)

Plus, consider the off-playa benefits: cleaning them is a breeze, they’re great for the bedroom or the beach/pool/hot-tub, and they almost never go out of style.  The bottom line is, they create a titillating opportunity for adding potent sexual energy to the atmosphere of any situation.

VS’s notable departure from their typically blase’ style campaigns of the past resulted in Playa-worthy looks that are every bit as glamorous while being immensely more fun!  Whether or not this is a continuation of the BRC-inspired trendsetting announced during the Milan fashion show is unclear at this point but we’ll take this as a strong indication that the paradigm shift isn’t over yet …

If you’re interested in wings, we’ll be posting soon about a radical pair we are currently crafting.  Click the subscribe links to the right and you will be notified!

UPDATE: Watched this show online (click here) 3 times yesterday with a large group and everyone LOVED it.  It’s great entertainment in addition to the incredible fashions (many of which I had not seen pictures of yet).  I recommend that you skip the “reality show” portions but plan on watching it more than once!