Street Style: MOD, Portland Mercury

Portland's Pretty In Pendleton

Marissa Sullivan — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:59:00 -0700

People who wore Pendleton to Pendleton's The Portland Collection show at Rontoms:

Nancy Hales!

A Lover.

More wool and such after the jump...

TPC babe.

Another Lover.

Local designer Emily Katz and her bf!

This guy!

TPC designer Nathaniel Crissman

For more stylish attendees check out Portland's Pretty.

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Open Season Day One: Who's The Prettiest?

Marissa Sullivan — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:44:00 -0700

Hey y'all!!! Without making this be a complete plug for my street style blog, Portland's Pretty, I'd like to share with you what I found to be the greatest hits of the night, street style-wise, in what was the kick off to a four-day fashion fest brought to you by The Mercury.

To see the rest of the pretty patrons click here to my blog Portland's Pretty...maybe you made the cut.

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The Malt Ball on Portland's Pretty

Marjorie Skinner — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:29:00 -0800

Perhaps I'm unfairly stereotyping here, but normally a beer event wouldn't inspire me with the potential for street-style photos. But, the Mercury's Malt Ball on Saturday, which combined a crap-ton of the region's best breweries with a crap-ton of the region's best bands, resulting in a surprisingly fruitful evening for Portland's Pretty blogger Marissa Sullivan (who doubles as one of the Mercury's account managers). According to her findings, the common consensus on what to wear to such an event is strangely near-unanimous: a hat, some glasses, and at least one thing that's blue.

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A 100% Scientific Graph of What You Are Wearing

Marjorie Skinner — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:44:00 -0800

As part of a giant marketing campaign on behalf of cotton (which everybody already likes), the cotton people scoured the entire country, documenting street styles that included cotton (99% of street styles include cotton). From this data, they were able to scientifically graph what each region in the US is wearing, and here's what they uncovered regarding the Northwest:

Wow, guys. Great job.

All sarcasm aside, though, they did have the good sense to team up with Portland photographer and Urban Weeds blogger Lisa Warninger, who is essentially tasked with judging the regional finalists, and the gallery makes for some Tuesday anthropology-lite. Not that cotton (Cotton?) asked, but I've gone ahead and selected who I think our top contenders should be:

You can check out the whole gallery here, just watch out for that big rough patch near the end that appears to have been taken at a college campus in Idaho. Yeesh.

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House of Coco Presents: Seeing Stripes

Coco Madrid — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:59:00 -0800

Trend Alert!!! Stripes are all the rage for Spring/Summer which doesn't seem that exciting but for one reason or another I have become obsessed just like everyone else. From the colorful Holiday inspired ethnic prints plus stripes of Dolce and Gabbana to the Beetlejuice-esque prints of Marc Jacobs, this trend has been re-imagined to fit anyone's style.

The fact that some fashion rules have been challenged in recent years for the plus size community means more exploration for anyone that was too shy to embrace the pattern. It's in my opinion that ANYONE can pull off stripes, whether its in the form of a blazer, jeans, dress, or an accessory (Successory if you nasty!) like a scarf.

Below I have given three different ways you can pull a single stripe piece together with whatever is in your closet.

Mademoiselle Coco's Country Club
A perfect juxtaposition of styles - On top says we are riding on a sailboat this afternoon and the bottom says I am sassy and I know it!

Pattern Party
Mixing floral print with stripes is nothing new but always seems like a stylish way to freshen up your look for Spring.
Just like some animal prints I treat stripes like a neutral here. For an easy combination I picked a floral top that had a base color of black that ties the whole look together.

Pretty Tough
You can go so many ways with this dress. Add a denim shirt like in the 1st picture or keep it Parisian with a red flower and beret. However I love mixing girlie pieces with edgy accents so I had to add an old moto jacket and a spiked adorned leather hair bow.

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Vancouver to Portland and Back Again

Rose Finn — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:59:00 -0800

I recently visited my old college town, Vancouver BC, where a significant margin of the population dresses like this:

"East Van" is a little more hipster, and more closely resembles Southeast Portland (except they're a little more ennui about it).

Whether you're getting your morning cup of coffee on Main street, or going to a house party in south Granville, everyone looks like they fell out of a black-and-white spring issue of Vogue. Fashion is even more important to them than affordable craft beer (I know, what?). Though most of us would probably prefer a good sour beer than the perfect, yet costly, pair of eggplant jeans, we could still take a page from the Vancouver style book (while we sip our Ninkasi).

Here are some of my favorite Vancouver looks that are totally Portland do-able:

Stupidly simple, yet great. I love a good androgynous look, but with that tiny bit of flair that reminds everyone who wears the vagina around here.

I wouldn't normally wear something like this, but I love her color combination. In the winter all I want to wear is something oversized with some toasty leggings. Jen Tam reinvented this wheel, and even took it up a notch.

As far as men's looks go, you can't go wrong with this one (minus the necklace). This type of clean denim button-up with a blazer would even look good on Dick Cheney. I saw a lot of men wearing various shades of pants all around Vancouver, each looking hotter than the next. In these dreary months, we could all use that extra slap of "colour."

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Nights, Camera, Action: The Candids of Nightlifer Minh Tran

Marjorie Skinner — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:44:00 -0800

Minh Tran has long been a regular contributor to the pages and pixels of the Merc. I imagine he must go out eight nights a week, specializing as he does in the exploits of pretty party people, and yet he always seems composed and well rested, and supposedly has a day job, too. Some guys just don't need to sleep I guess. He recently published his vast archives of nightlife shots taken over the past two years. There are about four million of them, which you can peruse in full here, but if you have less than 45 minutes to devote to it, you can also check out an way-abbreviated collection of some of my favorites:

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The Fashion of Our Lives

Rose Finn — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:16:10 -0800

"What's better than a fashion show?" some might ask? Getting paid to go to a fashion show, that's what!

Cotton Incorporated (the corporation "of our lives") is sponsoring a nationwide search for the coolest street style. Amongst the 48 finalists chosen by "Fashion Influencers," one person per each of the 6 regions across America will win a weekly prize of $1,440 (an incredibly arbitrary amount), and an all-expenses paid trip to the 24 Runway Show next year put on by Cotton. Here are some samples, to get your creative juices flowin':

Also, one of our very own Portland fashion photographers, Lisa Warninger, will be one of the NW "fashion influencers" (time to start buying her gin and tonics).

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House of Coco Presents: Nightstalking

Coco Madrid — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:59:00 -0700

A sea of colorful hair and clothing plus gender-bending glamazons all at a punk art dance party on a Tuesday night. Hell yes! This was the scene at the SSION show this past Tuesday at Rotture. A unique lineup that featured the charismatic House of Ladosha and local up and coming soul superstars Magic Mouth.

I grabbed my gold lame disco jacket and headed out to find some party babes. Here is who I found!

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First Thursday Style

Toby Robboy — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:44:00 -0700

First Thursday always provides a great platform for the hottest people in town to rock their style, and last night was no exception. Prevalently on display was my favorite trend for any season: individuality. From the girl with a funky-chic spin on leather and denim layering to the guy successfully pairing a blazer with athletic sneakers to the girl personifying subdued '40s glam, the case for individuality was argued and won.

Check out some of my favorite looks of the night:

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Paris Fashion Week Street Style Trends

Kayla Rekofke — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:29:00 -0700

Everyone knows Paris Fashion Week is EVERYTHING. Paris is the home of haute couture and where the who's-who of the fashion elite attend the most exclusive and elaborate runway shows. Street style trends continue to be a mahjor influence over today’s fashion, so here’s a look into a few of my favorite looks fresh from the scene:

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Hot Child in the City

Elissa Hall — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:59:00 -0700

I snapped this style shot of Cody on a particularly warm evening in Southeast. However, as one friend pointed out, "it's always winter in Cody's soul." Not completely true, but funny. Cody channels the dark side in a thrifted skull tshirt and Henrik Vibskov pants. Find Henrik Vibskov at amazing Portland shop Stand Up Comedy and, regardless of what outfit you wear, enjoy these last days of summer heat.

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House of Coco Presents: Nightstalking

Coco Madrid — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:44:02 -0700

ECSTASY, the Portland-based blog/record label/party series, curated a dance party called SHADE on Friday August 24th showcasing contemporary vogue-house and ballroom sounds, with special guest MikeQ plus The Miracles Club, DJ Beyonda, and Magic Mouth band member and host Lady Serendipity Jones.

For those unfamiliar with the ballroom house scene: it's a mostly black, gay dance scene synonymous with New York and New Jersey and competitive dancing; in the '90s, the scene's emphasis on "throwing shade" — one queen giving attitude to another — reached new levels, and dancers battled on the floor for the glory of their house (House of Coco), in the spirit of a model representing a fashion house on the catwalk.

The energy in the room was electric! I swear I was really at a New York underground party with the beautiful children of night. Truly a great night in Portland music history with all sorts of people coming together in pure ecstasy!

and as if the night wasn't already at its height, here comes Mad Decent's newest artist Nicky Da B on the mic!

Here is what I was able to capture!

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Mississippi Flea Style Shots

Elissa Hall — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:24:56 -0700

With vendors like L O W E L L, Julia Barbee, Reif, Clever Nettle and Octopus Books, Portland's annual Mississippi Flea drew a sexy, styling crowd. Here are some snapshots:

Sarah of Sea Echo stopped by with a freshly designed clutch tucked under her arm and a freshly dyed lavender coif. Also, her Solestruck boots sort of re-define our concept of the buckle shoe. Hot.

Anja's Blue Hawaii vibes and sweet smile break my heart a little.

With pastels and brights in heavy circulation, Kim of PDX Black Lipstick Co. kept it minimalist goth, black lipstick and umbrella included.

And this guy was representin' the lady of the hour Lindsey Reif, in one of her signature turbans. HOW do you make that turban look so good Arian? Could be the motorcycle...

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Tie-Dye, Hair, and Leather: What the ZZ Top Concert Looked Like

Marjorie Skinner — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 12:14:00 -0700

Wednesday night at Edgefield, a multi-generational crowd of fans guzzled beer to the sounds of a flawless ZZ Top concert—props to them for developing personas that keep them looking like the coolest dudes in the room throughout decades. (There's a review of the show on End Hits.) Meanwhile in the crowd there was a mix of cute young rockers, middle aged norms, bikers, groupies, and lifers. Check out a sampling of the whole circus:

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Outside Lands: Adventures in SF

Kayla Rekofke — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:36:51 -0700

From hippies, to hipsters (and everything in between), this past weekend at Outside Lands music festival was a sight to be seen. San Francisco is one of my all time fave places to visit, the eclectic mix of styles and overall big city vibe made for the perfect weekend of music, fashion, and loads of fun. Here are a few of my favorite looks:

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Pajama Jam

Elissa Hall — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:15:04 -0700

See that striped dress? Once upon a time it was on clearance as pajamas. This hot woman re-styled it with a bright vintage scarf, leather belt and Sword + Fern earrings. I wonder what she could do with a pair of Pajama Jeans...

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House of Coco Presents: Night Stalking

Coco Madrid — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:59:00 -0700

I love club hopping around town during the summer. There is always some cute outfit passing me by!

Here is what I found on my latest outings:

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House of Coco Presents: SNAP! Style

Coco Madrid — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:59:00 -0700

This week Holocene and myself teamed up to do a screening of the classic '90s movie Clueless.

Here are some of the babes who showed up!

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Alexa Stark

Elissa Hall — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:59:00 -0700

The Alberta block is bumpin'. Abrahams & Duffy just celebrated their 1 year anniversary, Garnish expanded with a new NW location, The Shoe Store opened shop 2 months ago and dreamy designer Alexa Stark recently launched her first brick n mortar venture on 14th and Alberta. Dang!

A few days ago I stopped by to say hello and capture a few photos of Alexa's new space. Here, she delivers a fierce squint in one of her own designs,

and chillzzzz at her desk.

Alexa curates a slam dunk selection of emerging designers alongside her own line. Here is an excellent article on why it's a GREAT idea to support designers like these. Thanks to Alexa for making it easy. Check her out soon.

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House of Coco Presents: 4th of July - Start of PDX Summer

Coco Madrid — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:09:52 -0700

Had to work late but was able to make one BBQ before I went home for the night.

Portland style, I just walked into a backyard House party that had beats, babes, and the Popeye's Chicken I brought.

Here are all the hotties that I found!

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Rainbow Heads

Elissa Hall — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:56:44 -0700

For today's entry I am going to quote fellow dreamer and rainbow enthusiast Kermit the Frog:

"Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me."

Check out these kindred spirits:

The pink-haired lady works with Store Snaps. Portland artist Kayla Newell channels blue.

Meachell not only HAS great hair, she styles hair at Red Magnolia Salon like my purple ombre doo below:

photo: Kara Jean Caldwell

Feel the rainbow connection, folks.

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OMG HAIR!

Elissa Hall — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:34:10 -0700

We wear hair on our heads every day, folks. Every. Single. Day. So it's pretty important that it looks good. Well, these folks have what I call OMG HAIR. This occurs when I spot a particular hairstyle and do an "OH MY GOODNESS your hair is rad!" double take. Well this happened twice recently. Check it out:

Two tone, asymmetrical hair is sort of new wave and very cool. So is her necklace from Tender Loving Empire.

This guy was freshly coiffed and informed me that his hairstyle was inspired by Tupac in Juice. Were you that cool when you were 11? Didn't think so.

Now go get your OMG HAIR on!

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Proud! PDX Pride 2012 Highlights

Kayla Rekofke — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:17:29 -0700

This year’s Pride NW festivities were bigger and brighter than ever. Like watching RuPaul’s Drag Race come to life, it was just a dream come true. I was surprised to see how many churches were involved (one Morman church had signs that said “Sorry we’re late!”) along with big companies like Google, Nike, Zipcar rocking some seriously awesome floats. It was quite the celebration, filled with fancy outfits, plenty of glitter, and the ubiquitous rainbow color scheme as far as the eye could see. I'm personally very proud to be a member of such a supportive and accepting community. Here are some of my absolute favorite looks from the day:

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Black is the New Black.

Elissa Hall — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:59:00 -0700

Sure, black is classic but I dig this trio's voodoo twist on the staple. Check out the deets:

"I am Magical Motherfucker"? Yeah, awesome.

Check out these ska shoes, sheer maxis...

...and this David Higgs ring snagged from Paxton Gate.

They are like a sexy coven, right?

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