A few months back we profiled a gay named Thom Elsemiller and his adorable dogs, including Catie The Amazing Polkadotted Pooch. Well, late last night, as we edited pictures for a forthcoming feature, we came across a video of the aforesaid Katie The Amazing Polkadotted Pooch. "That's queer," we thought, "We didn't even know our camera had video!" Curious to see what snippet of life had been captured, we viewed the four-second video and proceeded to waste about three minutes watching it on repeat.

After much soul - and memory - searching, we've decided that those initial four seconds were the best four seconds of our gay lives. As you'll see, there are immeasurable amounts of humor in the unexpected, inexplicable and, most importantly, immature.

Thom Elsemiller may not rock the latest fashions or trends, but this man's got style down to a science.

Elsemiller first caught eye years ago, when we'd see him walking his three miniature schnauzers around Chelsea. Sure, a man walking his dogs isn't particularly interesting in this gayborhood, but when one of the dogs sports purple mohawks and polkadots, one definitely take notice. Aside from the pup's unique breed of style, Thom's very being counts as one of the warmest, most welcoming aura's we've encountered in this usually chilly city. And his threads are fly, too. So, when we sat down to plan out The Style Issue, we made sure to leave room for one of our favorite New Yorkers.

Welcoming as always, Thom, who works as a Cranial Follicular Specialist (read: hairstylist) invited editor Andrew Belonsky into his one bedroom home for a little tour. One bedroom may not sound like a lot - and, really, it isn't - but Thom's created a space as cozy as it is eclectic, thus giving his twenty-by-twenty living room turned bedroom a spacious, homey feel. (As a true style maven, he's turned the 'bedroom' into a closet.)

While Belonsky went there to talk about the dogs and the apartment, the boys conversation took the predictably unpredictable twists and turns. Read the results, after the jump…

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Relationships can be a real bitch, especially when the lovers in question have opposing tastes. After the jump, Scott Rosenzweig of Some Like It Scott offers some tips on how to settle with a lover whose style ain't your cup of tea.

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You’d be hard pressed not to have seen at least one shot snapped by German photographer, Horst.

If nothing else, you’ve probably seen the video for Madonna’s “Vogue” in which the iconic pop star imitates Horst’s iconic 1939 image, "Mainbocher Corset". Not incidentally, Horst shot that image for French Vogue, just one of the magazine chain's international spin-offs for which he’d shoot over the course of his 69-year long career.

With his signature lighting style – he used four spotlights aimed from above - helped Horst turn subjects into pillars of personality. Even his still life pop as if they’re posing. No wonder his inimitable style influenced the works of Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe and countless imitators.

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There's no artist quite like Christian Holstad. Hopefully educational and culturally critical, Holstad's drawings, sculptures, installations and performances address everything from social evolution (and devolution), humanity's greatest gambles and sensuality to create an inimitable aesthetic experience.

Find out what the prolific 35-year old American has to say about gender roles, working outside the gallery system and vegetable leather, after the jump.

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Fashion's a multi-billion dollar industry, but it wasn't always the cream of the cultural crop. In fact, many governments once intentionally squashed fashion, sacrificing style for the good of nascent nation-states. Political energy, economic bounty and cultural cache helped reinforce architectural development, forming city centers and back alleys to organize - and control - citizens. Now, after centuries of being on the back burner, fashion's taking the world by storm. In more ways than one.

After the jump, Queerty contributor Jesse Finkelstein again employs his schizophrenic style and offers an interview with the venerable - and imaginary - Director of the J. Peterman Institute on Technology Apparel Projects, Dr. George Mendhelsonn.

Read what the boys had to "say" about the rise of the city state, how the government's pumping money into technologically advanced textiles and why your architecture controls you and how what you wear becomes you. Literally.

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While we're on the subject of AIDS - always a good lede, huh? - you may recall our recent piece on AIDS Walk's new ad campaign. In that piece, we touched upon an artistic movement called social realism, which attempted to capture the lived experience of the masses.

During the movement's hey-day (the 1930s-1940s), the American government launched the Works Progress Administration. Later renamed the Works Project Administration, this New Deal institution enlisted the nation's artists to help spread the good governmental word.

Though most of the artists were straight, there's always one fag in the bunch and the WPA's fag went by the name of Paul Cadmus.

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Music and style have always gone hand-in-hand. David Bowie helped bring glam to the mainstream. Kurt Cobain's greasy hair and seemingly unstylish self gave us grunge. And now rockers The Cliks and their well-suited image may change the way people look at female fashion - and gender.

For this installment of The Style Issue, we sat down with The Cliks lead singer and founder, Lucas Silveira, a trans man who knows a thing or two about looking good.

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It's Friday, reader. You know what that means - it's Queerty ReBUTTal time! Yay!

You guys did super with the comments. Really. Just super - lisp and all. While we have plenty of thoughts on your thoughts on our thoughts, we're switching it up these week. As you're well aware, we've just kicked off The Style Issue.

Before things go too far, however, we'd like to have a brief look back on some of our other issues and some of the bits that didn't make it. Take a look at some unpublished excerpts, after the jump.

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Wordsmiths T Cooper and Felicia Luna Lemus certainly have their own storytelling styles, but these lovers' respective works follow similar trajectories. Nothing is every permanent in their stories.

The sand shifts at the precise moment their protagonists seem to have it all worked out. Their impermanence bleeds into everything, from family history to gender and sexuality to interpersonal relations. Lemus’ new novel Like Son follows Frank, a thirty-year old who has to unearth the meaning of a photograph his dying father hands him.

In Cooper’s Lipshitz 6, or Two Angry Blondes, recently released in paperback, the 100-year-old history of a family starts in the pogroms of Europe and ends with the last offspring impersonating Eminem.

This queer couple's unique manner of brandishing the written word make them a perfect addition to The Style Issue.

We sent their friend and Queerty contributor, James Withers on a mission to mine their minds for a look into their literary idiosyncrasies, the evolution of their relationship and the difference between German and American readers. And, as we find out - um - straight away, this trio has more in common than just writing. They all love gay porn. Who knew?

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Ever wonder what goes into the making of a drag performer? Well, now's your chance. The Power Issue feature subject Adrian L. Acosta has passed along this video of his very queer transformation into loud mouthed Amnesia Sparkles. With a Madonna soundtrack, naturally.

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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