12 May 2009

A Man In A Red Tutu

Among the great pleasures to be found in the New York Times are the often witty photo essays by Bill Cunningham. He rides 'round town on a bicycle, taking pictures on the street and at various benefit parties.

Last week, I got an invitation* to the opening of the Design on a Dime benefit for Housing Works. Housing Works is a dual purpose organization, "committed to ending the twin crises of AIDS and homelessness", and they run some fabulous thrift shops in support of their mission. The Design on a Dime event gathered designery types, and let them loose to create stylish "room vignettes" with materials gathered from the thrift shops.

It was all very entertaining, and there was plenty of wine, and enough food, and at least 90% of the men were gay, and Peter claims they all go to his gym, and they were all very beautiful, and it's too bad for Peter that he had to be my walker, and even the staffers in t-shirts were fabulous, like this bald man in a red tutu and fishnet tights and high-heeled boots, but none of that is the point.

The best part of the night was spotting Bill Cunningham tap a woman on the shoulder. She demurred, and turned away, but then came to her senses (after conferring with a friend) and followed him. We watched as he asked her to sit on the arm of a chair, a wing chair covered in a black fabric with gold squiggles, a chair that well matched her black jacket with gold squiggles. It was entirely charming to watch him in action, and I was sorely disappointed that the lady and the chair didn't make it into Sunday's Evening Hours.






*BlogHer's doing something with Kmart, and Kmart was one of the underwriters of the benefit, and BlogHer got them to invite the NY-metro area bloggers, or that's what I was led to believe. I checked in at the press table. Where's my press pass?

10 comments:

Woman in a Window said...

I'm so sad we've no celebrities, no men in fishnet, and no nofing 'round here but cows.

S said...

fascinating. wish i'd been there.

Bennie said...

Very cool! I'm so glad I have famous friends! BTW, I have worn Spandex but I have to draw the line at tutus.

Mayberry said...

Oh, how fun! I used to shop at the HW shop on the Upper East Side when I lived there.

alejna said...

That does sound charming. I wish I could see a photo of the lady and the chair.

Gwen said...

I totally want that guy's skirt.

Mark Cialis said...

Are you sure that isn't Peter in the skirt? Those boobs look familiar.

Sandra said...

We don't have bald men in red tutus, not out here, but I'm sure they can be found in the city. We do have our share of unusual characters though. I think I would have really enjoyed the evening.

shrink on the couch said...

I would have liked to see that!

bipolarlawyercook said...

Bill Cunningham is one of my favorite things about the NYT, right after Mark Bittman. Did you know he was a milliner?