Styles of the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit event
So I hit up that event for the Need For Speed - Hot Pursuit game premier with Trevz the other night for The New Pop. I was in hot pursuit of some great fashion, and of course, this being NYC, I found it. I couldn’t help but notice that style was out in droves. I felt inspired by what I saw at the Classic Car Club – the dope fashions ranged from a vintage couture look to empire-shouldered frocks in the vein of pop starlets like Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
Enjoy.
M
Light Asylum, Asa Ransom, These Are Powers (and more!) @ Cameo Gallery!
Yo kids,
So I had a great time last night and I’m here to fill you in. My girl Amber filled me in on another show happening in good ol’ BK, so I had to hit it up. This time, we, and a new friend, an indie artist named Lelia Broussard from LA, hopped the L to Cameo Gallery. (Check out her tunes, by the way!)
I’d never been, but was immediately impressed by the sort of cocktail lounge feel in the front, and the standing room only stage part in the back. We sipped a couple $4 Miller High Lifes and (FREE!) shots of bourbon, and headed to the dance floor.
In the back, the room was lit up with strobes and stage lights of every color imaginable. People were dancing and the energy was perfect.
The first group I caught was Light Asylum, which is fronted by Shannon, whom I met after the set. We caught the last song, but I want to hear more. There was something vaguely Crystal Castles meets Yeasayer about them. Shannon announced a (FREE!) show Wednesday on 12th and Bedford, I believe…. you guys should check them out. Whatever it was, it was hot!
As the speakers boomed hood joints all night long (Soulja Boy and Ciara club mixes), I was meeting people. This hot couple below, Marie and Joe, head the band Hexa-Whorra. Their mashup of electronica and acoustic music would’ve suit them well for the venue.
Next up was Asa Ransom – Amber had heard them before and told me great things, so I went in with high expectations. They were exceeded. They had a very dark, Bowie-glam vs. She Wants Revenge stomp to it. The guitars crunched and buzzed and the bass driven beats evoked something delightfully evil.
I ran into The Loneliest Monk’s Michelle and Miles, from the last post, who were still in town, heading to Providence, Rhode Island for a show. Michelle and Miles played in Chicago with Asa Ransom a few times.
This is how I officially decided they were good.
Finally, I saw These Are Powers. Before and during the show, lead singer Anna Barie was handing out popcorn and candy. When I interned at Secretly Canadian in Bloomington, I remember they were a band signed to SC’s sister label, Dead Oceans. My, has their sound (and look!) evolved.
They hit the stage with what I’d like to call “electro-hood.” Anna caught my attention with her Karen O-isms. She squealed and squawked and purred and harmonized (while breakin’ it down) over some of the hottest beats I’ve ever heard. I hadn’t heard much of their new material til now. Check out their MySpace for more. My fave is “Candyman,” naturally. I’d love to catch up with them for an interview.
It was also during this time that I met a “chocolate Marilyn Monroe,” in the form of a man in drag. His explanation?
“Marilyn’s been sleeping.” Marilyn did go onstage during These Are Powers to sing “Happy Birthday” Mr. President-style to a friend.
Tomorrow, I head to an EA Sports event with Trevz- should be loads of fun. In the meantime check out the hot pics after the jump.
XO,
M
NYC Pride Overview: The fierce, the fab, the fantasy
Hey kids,
So I checked out NYC Pride the other day. My first time experiencing it was nothing short of incredible.
The only thing I did mind was the heat. I must have walked approximately five miles. I showered three times yesterday.
Things got started with the Pride parade, which was the most interesting mix of crazy, hot, sickly fierce and original fashion, politics, art, expression, and love.
Check out some of these pics from the festivities. Me and my friends got front row at the barricades!
My voice went hoarse from yelling “WORK!” to those deserving of such a catcall.
Sidenote, speaking of “workin’ it,” I loved the way the New Yorkers booed the new mayor when he was announced on the float. They keep it real all day, everyday.
PrideFest (the annual street fair of sorts) was next – over on Hudson. There was a slew of local and up-coming national performers, including headliner Antigone Rising. I only saw two acts. One’s name is fuzzy but his song /dance moves was hot.
The other was Lex Z. Check out her website at lexzoutloud.com. I’ll just leave it at that.
Anyway, after a wonderful $10 dinner at Cafe Tasia (appetizer, Merlot AND entree), I slept, showered and recharged before hitting up Phoenix on 13th and Ave A. It was like a hipster version of gay pride, if you will. There, I met up with Carolina and Jason, whom you will remember from The Scene’s Episode 3.
We watched as the band Little Victory revved up their guitars and cruised through sociopolitical songs bashing bitchy gays and homophobes.
They had a fabulous, radiant energy. The bar was dark and packed body to body, and surprisingly, it was cooler inside than it was outside! I only had room to sip my ($5!) Long Island.
After that, we went back to Carolina’s to get dolled up for Greenhouse Sundays, which is notable for its guests in costume.
Time for more sweat. The club was packed.
Me and the crew got on top of a booth adjacent to the DJ booth and danced like it was 1999. We had a great time, but my camera died in the midst of grinding and droppin’ it like it was hot (because it was hot, in the club, I mean).
So no pictures from that…
But check these out:
Overall, NYC Pride gets an A+ for being the most diverse, intense, saturated, and expressionist event I’ve seen since I’ve been here. Can’t wait for next year.
XO,
M
Contessa Making Moves!
Looks like they finally coming around to the force that is Cuntmafia. Check out Contessa’s interview and cool photos in tangentmag.com. Thanks for the New Pop shout. She also had a feature in V Mag which I missed. Gotta get a copy.
Congrats!
TrevzNewPop
Theophilus London in Complex Mag
Theophilus London The Hip Hop Crooner who has hosted a couple of episodes on New Pop has a feature in the February/March issue of Complex magazine. It’s a fashion feature so there isn’t much substance in terms of the Q & A, but the photos are great. Also there is a cool little widget where you can mouse over the fashion pieces and see a pop up window that tells you everything you need to know about the gear. Check it out here.
TrevzNewPop
Sophomore
I recently came across a short film shot as a look-book for the Downtown label Sophomore. Beautifully shot by LA-based photographer Cass Bird. It’s a fascinating look at local NY kids hanging out in Coney Island. This short bypasses the nauseating trend of spotlighting hipster transplants that many contemporary artist (present company included) seem to be fascinated with. Instead Sophomore focuses on the genuinely cool locals that make this city the hipster draw that it is. There is a unpretentious unapologetic confidence that jumps off the screen and draws you in by giving us a refreshing look at a city many of us only know from movies like KIDS. These kids remind me of the mid 70′s multicultural East Flatbush I grew up in. A place where Blacks, Puerto Ricans and a diminishing Jewish population lived side by side always looking for mischief always looking for love. There is a restlessness that Cass captures in ten plus minutes with ease.
Sophomore will inevitably draw comparisons to KIDS. I find it even more compelling because the story-line does not get in its own way. In Sophomore we see the characters talking to the camera with all their quirks in plain sight and without inhibition. Unlike KIDS we don’t get the feeling that there is an agenda that needs to be pushed on you to justify the otherwise superficial story-line. Sophomore allows itself to be itself. Between the quirky sound-bytes and delightful b-roll it is compelling and engaging. The best scene captures a couple of girl-friends (who can easily be mistaken as twins) talking about sharing everything including boyfriends. The sound-byte and visual in this scene are priceless.
Now I mentioned that this is a Look Book video for the Downtown label Sophomore. The Viral Look-Book as video short is a trend that has been gaining momentum over the past couple of years. In this case I had no idea what items were from the fashion line Sophomore and what was not. I think this was intentional evidenced by the title where there is also no distinction. Some may say that this is bad marketing I say it is genius. The fact is I never heard of Sophomore until I saw this piece. Now that brand is imprinted in my memory. A brave product placement strategy that I find very difficult to sell to my clients. Next time I will show them this video as a shinning example.
Enjoy
TrevzNewPop
Sophomore Spring 2010 from SophomoreNYC on Vimeo.
Erica & David at it again
A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of meeting stylist Erica & David of LP Fashion Philosophy when I was crewing up for my short film. We never got to work together due to scheduling conflicts but we have kept in contact ever since. Erica and David were like two peas in a pod and had a keen eye for fashion and a unique point of view on trends. Check out this video post they did with Nando (@Nandoism) on What NOT to wear, and HOW TO Edit Your Closet. It’s their version of “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy”. It might not be an original concept and I would have loved to hear more from David but overall it’s still a pretty interesting video.
Enjoy
TrevzNewPop
Life @_lovebrigade
I spent fashion week with my old friends at Love Brigade as they put together the show for their SS10 line. Soundtrack courtesy of Tecla Esposito.
Life With Contessa at Beauty Bar First Fridays
The first in my “LIFE” portraits. This one features one of my favorite people to document Contessa, as she deals with the stress of putting on a fashion show at the Beauty Bar. I actually find the photos to be much more revealing than the video so I embedded it first.
Elle (Wilhelmina Models) X Fashion Photoshoot

On a hot summers day we trucked a very young Wilhemina model Elle (from Oregon) to my current neighborhood Bushwhick, Brooklyn for a photo-shoot for her look book.
I was inspired by her youth, and her bratty girl looks. I played with a bad girl that can transcend location (from the suburbs to the city), her sex appeal isn’t vulgar, she look sweets & innocent while maintaining her bad girl virtues.
Clothing Stylist: Contessa Stuto
Photographer: The Incredible MARLEY KATE
Hair & Make-Up: Jillian
I declare this shoot: DUST






XOXO CONTESSA STUTO
TWITTER: CUNTMAFIA
The Kid’s Day Off
One of these sunny spring afternoons in May, The New Pop and Urb Mag collaborated on video\photo shoot and interview with Kid Cudi..

I just lurked on the set and took some photos of the days events…
Run Into The New Pop…
In front of the BAPE store, I head on in too see whats goody?
Contessa conducts her interview with Kid Cudi..


Tone starts flicking it up
Then more photos outside the American Apparel store


It was a good day…mad chill vibes the whole day…Kid Cudi explained his story in his words to The New Pop and Urb Magazine which btw is a cover story… should be hitting newstands in the near future…I let you guys have a sneak peak.. hopefully I didn’t give away storylines n shit…smh…but if you wanna see more check out Tone’s sick BTS shots..
VINTAGE STREET SALE W/KESH! (HUSTLE N GRIND)
SALE THIS SUNDAY JUNE 7TH !!!
STAY TUNED FOR MORE VINTAGE SALES THIS JUNE AND JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!

KESH N CONTESSA
Kesh and I met on the streets of Bed Stuy at around 4 am two years ago. I hadn’t a clue who this beautiful tall amazon was, but I thought I’d just stop and holla at a shorty (she is much taller than I). I just came home from a dyke bar, so I thought, why not continue the cruising?
Kesh called me to go out one night, and we ended up at Roxy Cottontails old wednesday party at Room Service. Roxy then showed us a FABULOUS time, and took us (Kesh, M.I.A., Amanda Blank, Daft Punk, Spank Rock, Leif…etc.) into a strip club and bought us lap dances, champagne and so on. For me, picking out the stripper was the best part, but I would have rather Kesh give me the lap dance that night.

KESH, ALI and CONTESSA circa 2007
Ever since then we have a beautiful relationship with out sex. We are vintage partners and collaborators. I trust and value her opinion – and that doesn’t HAPPEN very often. She is really one of the truest people out there, and deserves all the success in the world.
Doing photo-shoots and vintage with her i’d have to say she has a sharp business eye, and really pays attention to detail. So when we decided to sell on the streets of Williamsburg, I know that we’d have great pieces to sell! anywhere from $3 – 30 (Recession prices, honey!)
All pictures below are from Kesh blog! (some pictures were taken by me, her, and anyone else who got their paws on the camera, including Antwan from ithinkyoureswell.com!)
FIRST SALE -
10:00 AM We were greeted with Kesh fans from New Jersey! through out the day fans of Contessa and Kesh were coming and buying. It was a WILD success! cha-ching!

JORDAN FOX SHOPS






After a wild success of Kesh and I’s first Vintage Sale, we decided to take over the streets again Sunday (April 26th) – This time it was bitter sweet – Kesh is moving to Chicago for a hot minute.
This time it was sweltering hot out, and we were a bit cranky at times, ALSO this time we had some fierce competition – I ended up buying a dress off of another vendor!
We stuck it out, and it ended up being a really chill time because of all our friends, and customers that stopped by!
Here is pictures from my camera phone
KEEP A MOTHA FUCKIN’ HEADS-UP FOR THE NEXT VINTAGE SALE! CUNTY LOOKS!
Fashion and Queer undercurrent at Sway ONCE A MONTH!
What happens when you take ROXY COTTONTAILS biggest “profiling” Hip Hop party and infuse it with Queer hosts (Contessa) and DJ’s (Telfar and Kingdom from MR. BLACK’S CASTLE SATURDAYS) ?!!! You get a melange of “Industry” and/or Underground party people coming out of the wood work.
Typically Sway is known for it’s Mondays Electric Punanni, and Rice and Pea’s but something was missing for fashion hip hop heads.
Adding elements of queer friendly, fashion forward and Industry thinking – we get a balance of crazy partying and the ability (which Sway Mondays was missing for a while) NETWORKING.
With that being said, being involved on a Sway Monday that speaks to me, makes me very happy to be apart of a creative scene.

MAY 11TH 2009
Not to mention the first Fruity Cocomuffs Diplo did a surprise DJ set after miss Mad Decent’s MALUCA performed! This EDITION our home girl Shyvonne and Shamz Le Roc KILLED it.
So Queers, and Fashionista’s who like to bump and grind and dutty wine to a party with an undercurrent of Queer friendly energy, this is it ONCE A MONTH AT FRUITY COCOMUFFS!
I LOVE SWAY MONDAYS! The best hip hop party in NYC, EVER, PERIOD.
Check out PHOTO by TONE FRUITY COCO MUFFS MAY 11TH 2009. CLICK PICTURE BELOW!
FIRST FRUITY COCO MUFFS W/ MALUCA, DIPLO, CONTESSA, ROXY COTTONAIL, TELFAR AND KINGDOM

CONTESSA GETTIN NASTY

DIPLO AND KINGDOM

MALUCA KILLING IT
XOXO CONTESSA
TWITTER: CUNTMAFIA





































