



Style's more than just fashion. It's more than just clothing, bags and all that other couture clutter. It's the details, the thoughts and the theories that go into the minutiae of our everyday existence.
Style's the painting you picked up at the flea market, technologically-advanced fabrics, an poet's sonnet, young designers, the way you crack a joke, the way you brush your teeth. Over the next few weeks we'll be exploring the ins and outs of what we feel are some of the most "stylish" people, places and things. But, never fear, we will be talking about fashion. You gotta look good, right?
One-half NelSon knows a thing of two about looking good. The New York artist and party promoter has made a career of it. NelSon's look didn't spring from some fashionista caldron. It's a plotted, polished piece of work that stems as much from a creative spirit as a need to communicate.
We wanted to pass his word along, so we asked Interview's Justin Conner to sit down with the one known as NelSon. Of course Conner had no trouble tracking NelSon down - those kids have been vamping it up together for years. And on this particular night, they found themselves at Mr. Black, where NelSon hosts a weekly Thursday party, "Feelings".
Get a feeling for NelSon's fashion philosophy, performative personality and stylish spirit, after the jump. We promise one-half NelSon will have your heart in a strong hold!!
(Oh, c'mon! We couldn't resist. That's our style. And we'll be flashing it tonight at "Feelings". No doubt we want to see yours.)
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A big tsk, tsk to former View co-host and forever airhead, Debbie Matenopoulos. The E! correspondent caused a bit of a scandal at last night's Knocked Up premiere after shrugging off an alleged queer's queries about her tacky shoes (pictured).
Via Open All Night:
Barbara Walters and company may want to consider bringing back long-ago The View co-host Debbie Matenopoulos to stir up controversy once outspoken Rosie O’Donnell leaves the show. When a man inquired if the stones inlaid in Matenopoulos’ shoes were tiger eyes, she looked at him and said, “Are you gay?”, and walked away. The shocked gentleman told us that he is simply a gemstone enthusiast, and felt offended by the rude remark.That's what you get when you talk to

Gay designer Tom Ford knows a thing or two about S-E-X. The Santa Fe-bred stunner practically reinvented copulation with his work at Italian fashion house, Gucci. It's been a few years since Ford left the brand and, as we're sure you've heard, Ford recently opened an eponymous store on Madison Avenue. And - surprise, surprise! - he's been making the press rounds.
This week's New York contains a hefty profile of the sex-crazed sartorialist, in which Ford laments our culture's rigid sex laws:
It’s part of our nature, wanting sex; you eat tonight and you think you’re full, but then tomorrow you’re hungry again. Now there’s all this cartoon sex because porn is so widespread—the girl going he he he he and the guy going uh uh uh uh—so boring. Imagine a hundred years ago, when you were just drawn to the person—imagine all the weird sex that happened! They didn’t know what to do, they just did what they liked. Think of how perverted it must’ve been…Oh, don't worry, Tom, we have. Rest assured you had a starring role. And trust when we don't know anyone quite so pervy! CONTINUED »

French design visionary Philippe Starck really shoots for the stars.
In addition to designing Mexico's space port for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, Starck has been commissioned to design a new, more fashionable space suit. Don't expect any clunky helmuts or cumbersome padding, however. Like so many of his designs, Starck's suit screams "stream-lined":
The whole style of the rocket on the inside, the clothes and accessories, I have tried to make the most immaterial as possible. The style is dematerialization.Starck finds the idea of material so vulgar, NY Times' Eric Wilson explains, that he originally envisioned Virgin Galactic's passengers naked.
As Virgin Galactic gears up for its first flight, Starck also struck a deal with Louis Vuitton to design a line of space age. Starck kept his trap shut on the details, but Wilson writes:
Starck would only hint at what they are developing: something made of transparent materials, roomy enough for cosmic incidentals so that an astronaut could strap it onto a spacesuit and not look lame.Who knew the future would be so fashionable?

Alright, we know some of you fashion fags are all up in one another's business, so please don't let us down. Via Gatecrasher:
Which married-with-offspring designer has been regularly leaving the office for dangerous liaisons with his much younger, reed-thin, male paramour?

The world's most stylish fashionistas, singers, actors and hangers-on made their way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art last night for the Costume Institute's Gala. This year the institute honored the late, great French designer Paul Poiret. Poiret's stunning designs drew on both Oriental and art deco aesthetic, but constantly revolved around his favorite flower: the rose.
Our invitation must have gotten lost in the mail, so we had to live vicariously through press images. Shame, because we would have loved to pick Tom Ford and French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld's respective brains. Oh well, there's always next year.
Take a look at some more shots, after the jump...
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We're sure Tim Gunn's tickled pink that Bravo has offered him his own show. According to Radar, however, producers aren't entirely convinced Gunn's capable of holding his own:
Sources say that his producers have mounted a furious search for a female cohost for Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, a makeover show that was initially scheduled to air this summer as a replacement for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. A source who auditioned for the job was told that the show's producers felt Gunn, who will offer up style and make-up advice to schlubby civilians, was a bit "too highbrow" for viewers, and they needed a "more down-to-earth and fun" female presence to balance him out.Sounds like this fag needs a hag. If only we had a vagina...

Fashion's all about timing. And Refinery29 wants to make sure you're synchronised. As part of their never-ending style quest, the ever-dashing website has teamed up with downtown boutique, BBlessing for an exclusive virtual shop. The sartorially-minded site includes such designers as, Surface to Air, Rag & Bone, Raf by Raf Simons and, yes, BBlessing's eponymous label. Shoppers can also snag some exclusive t-shirts from New York-based artist, Nicholas Kratochvil and two necklaces from Digby & Iona.
Situated down on Orchard Street in lovely NYC, the extant BBlessing aims to take men's shopping in a new direction. Their's is no seasonal style. Owners Sean Shuter and Daniel Jackson - who also designs for Surface to Air - have gone to great lengths to blend fashion with art, music and the literary oddities. Though the fashion calendar may change, they're always down with the forward thinking fashionista. Pop on over to BBlessin'g Refinery29 pop-up shop to get the goods.
But hurry - like so many things in fashion, the site's only available for a limited time. As of this writing, you have: 31 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes and 48 seconds.

Iran's war on the West has a new front: the barber shop. Pushing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conservative traditionalism, Iranian police have issued an edict prohibiting barbers from coiffing the Western way.
Under their orders, barber union head Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard ordered:
Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones. The union has repeatedly announced the restrictions against unconventional grooming when issuing permits to each of the barber shops. Hence barbers, knowing these rules, should not pursue the wrong methods. The union will withdraw its support from those barbers who cut hairstyles that are out of line with the norms of the system.Those norms include no "big" hair (which we think means spiky), no eyebrow plucking and, apparently, barbers are "not to apply make-up on men's faces". Wait - Iranian men wear make-up? That's why Ahmadinejad always looks so sexy.
In addition, men are forbidden from wearing ties. Apparently it's a symbol of Western decadence. Who knew? Also, men caught with "big" (spiky) hair will have a stripe shaved down their head. Won't that just make the remaining hair look bigger and, thus, spiky? Talk about a two-headed monster...
Iran cracks down on wacky male hairdos [The Daily Star]
Iran cracks down on 'Western' hairdos [Ynet]

• Tyra Banks loves Rosie O'Donnell's ta-tas.
• Friday's 20/20 features a Barbara Walters piece on transgender children and their families. Discussing the experience, Walters tells Dan Avery: "I am astounded by their courage. I think these children have a very hard future to face. In some ways it’s heartbreaking, but in other ways it’s uplifting. I had heard of the diagnosis and knew people went through this, but nothing prepared me for the love and sensitivity these people have for their children. That’s what this is about." If only all journalists were so altruistic.
• Colombia grows more than coca. Gay activists have been pushing for expanded rights. And people are getting hooked...
• "Obama The Magic Negro"? How does Rush Limbaugh's butt boy, Paul Shanklin still have a job. Seriously...
• The European Union may be gearing up for a bit of a gay battle with Poland. Our money's on The Union.
• Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands vow to stop hiring such nasty, snotty cunts.

Who says print media's dead? Fashion rag 10 proves the ink-stained species has some blood left - and, what's more - it's hot.
The current edition of the "unabashedly aspirational" magazine - which also describes itself as "a celebration of the most creative and original brands and designers" - features a magnetic spread from London-based photographer, Mariano Vivanco. Model Sean looked appropriately epic for the 300-page quarterly.
See more shots over at American Urge. For more information on 10, click here.

• Vacation's can be a refreshing experience. So can shopping. And there ain't no item more refreshing than a finely pressed white shirt. Yeah, they can get a little boring, but Refinery 29's got the skinny on Surface to Air's new "Vent" shirt. It's anything but...
• Talk about unmotherly love: Britain's Zara Care has lost custody of her two-year old son and three-year daughter children after forcing them to fight on camera. As the little boy punched his old sis, 21-year old Care repeatedly called him a "wimp" and a "bloody faggot". We call her a shitting shit mum.
• Scary Spice also trotted her tot in front of the camera, only these were for OK! Too bad Eddie Murphy couldn't make it, because the cover acts as a familial introduction. Or does it?
• Human Rights Campaign wants to make sure your trans coming out is a happy trans coming out.
• Robots! They're more common (and scarier) than you think.
• Kryptonite! Scientists have discovered a mineral resembling kryptonite. It's official. Reality's become a comic book.