That morning started out in a haze with my body's only fuel being that I was to attend an underground fashion show. My body was complacent but my mind was revving and ready to head out of the door. On my agenda that day was Scarborough Bluffs and to my luck my Ubër driver was an avid hiker and began rejoicing in his fondness for it. Not an expensive ride from Church and Front st, but we managed to fill our time trading hiking stories, and he recommended I access the park from the top and climb my way down. Just as we passed a sign that stated "NO CLIFF ACCESS" he said "almost there" ... Mental red flag went up, and I mentioned the sign to him, nonchalantly he responded oh yah that’s for the tourists so they don't fall down and die...I just burst out laughing at his blunt honesty (Anyone who knows me can tell you my honesty is sharper than Kate Moss's cheek Bones). He dropped me off behind an apartment complex, pointed in a general direction and instructed me to just look for an opening in the tree line. We said our good byes and I was on my way to either my naive demise or another adventure.....
So I get to this tree line right? What do I come face to face with? An angry overly excited pit bull 5 Samoan men in a circle and me in rolled up Forever 21 booty jean shorts, Palladium boots, H&M tank top, Dolce and Gabbana Sunnies, and my Camera...(what? a gay cant help hiking in style? lol ...I still remember the first thing my bestie Ruth said to me when we were off to hike the Shenandoah..."Did you come to hike or walk a runway?" ...to which I responded “Both and I might get some dick along the way don’t hate!" lol) Was I initially scared? Maybe, the dog didn't bother me so much but in my travels I just never know how my tatted masculine body adorned in androgynous garb and MAC’D out eyebrows will be received...but lets be real I'm from East LA and finished my adolescence riding the metro and bus into Anacostia in South East Washington DC so the heels WILL COME OFF IF NEED BE .... I can go from René Vincit to Nae Nae Holla Fo'A'Dolla with a side pony tail in 2.5 sec ....Try me if you want to! But before she came out I relied on my wholehearted belief that humans contain a strand of kindness and familiarity within them. To my charismatic surprise they chatted me up and pointed me in the right direction...a muddy and sandy trail that led down to the beachhead. I said my goodbyes and all I heard in the distance as I tripped on a branch and unintentionally sand surfed my way to the bottom, ironically, was "Oh yah be careful its slippery!" The rest of that afternoon consisted of snap chat videos and stare downs from locals trying to figure me out.
I rushed into my ubër as I quickly realized that I was to be at Cat Call in 45 minutes.... I managed to communicate with my deaf driver (there’s a pattern somewhere here....ever since that deaf guy from DC stood me up...I digress) to wait for me as I rushed up stairs running face first into a wall of stench wafting from my new geriatric hostel bunk mate. I stripped down put on the shortest black shorts I could find, a floral muscle tank from Zara, and slipped into a pair of vintage looking grey Aldo dress shoes. Before you knew it I was tapping the drivers shoulder and jumping out of the cab right into the heart of China town again. I ran 2 blocks camera in hand ready to go while reading a text from Wolfgang (One of the designers) telling me to hurry the show was starting. I rushed inside Bonsai aka 811 Art Gallery and started clicking away joining a surprisingly large crowd.
Being there the night before I knew that a motley crew of designers put this show together. So I knew not to expect a cohesive well thought out show but more of a foresight into the minds of the coming generations. The collection featured structured pieces intertwined with lucid form forgiving garments and over all had just enough fluidity to keep the spectators attention. Though a majority of the garments were translucent and steered away from a tailored structured look I couldn't help imagining a young wood nymph chasing an effervescent youthful and androgynous dream. Men were adorned in this over sized translucent dream and women took on the role of a subtle masculinity. Though each sex had its own overly exaggerated spotlight moment of androgyny glory. The winning look for the female models, by popular gasp, was the over sized pearlescent soft spoken lavender and crème de jaune power suits with beaded shoulders and drawstring parachute/jogger pants. For the males, it was the Annie Lennox twink in handmade ruffled white undergarments with a sheer two-piece nude gown with red stitching’s. To this I applaud these young minds that seek to unite what society for so long has told us to separate. Girls with boy hair cuts and boys in heels are now a thing but more than just a fad...more so a realization that human nature is more than just the reproductive wall we have for so long divided ourselves by. After the show I chatted up my new friends and conversed with some of the models and designers to get a more personal understanding of the direction some of them had in mind while designing their pieces. One thing remained consistent the remainder of the night and that was everyones excitement as guests buzzed on about the show.
My small list of MUSTS in Toronto:
Kintaro Izakaya (Ramen)
Hank's (For brunch)
Tequila Book Worm (Happy Hour or Dinner)
Bonsai...aka 811 Art Gallery
Graffiti Alley
Toronto Centre for the Arts
Cafe Furbo (Distillery District)
Kensington Market (Before 6pm)
