Blog: Clash Couture a rhapsody of improvised fashion

There wasn’t a second of Clash Couture that I didn’t enjoy. The music was great, loud, and dance inducing. The designers, hair stylists and make-up artists were all on their A-game producing gorgeous effects and styles in the time it takes some people to walk from class to class. And the models, well let’s just say any straight guy who writes off fashion shows as gay may want to reconsider his assessment. Never in my life have I seen so many svelte, chic and plain drop dead gorgeous women under one roof.

But to the beginning, shall we? I arrived late, as I am apt to do and Wool Warehouse was already jam packed with people. I couldn’t even find parking in the relatively spacious area of First Street and Lomas Boulevard. Earlier in the day, event organizer Joe LiRosi told me tickets sales weren’t as high as he would have liked, but as it was he had nothing to worry about. It proved a challenge to get around the event floor. There was quite a bit of mingling going on between well-dressed urbanites. I would say the average cost of an outfit was anywhere from $300 to $500. Naturally, some of the fashion disappointed, but for the most part everyone was dressed to a tee.

The actual competition was everything you could expect from a make-up, hair dressing, outfit designing. Make-up had five minutes to create a great look, which led to a lot of rushed mascara lining, glitter application and powder dusting. I am sure more than one model was poked in the eye by a rogue brush, but you got to hand to the make-up designers for not removing someone’s eye entirely. The designs stretched from eyebrow amplification, necks covered wholly in glitter or one model whose face was half pink.

The hair was more interesting, if only for the increased amount of time allowed on the designs, 10 minutes. I thought maybe someone’s hair would get lopped off, but no. Most designers focused on up-dos or blowouts or hair extensions. Of particular note was the Inspire’s design, a sort of neon pink barrel roll of fake pink hair extension decked out with black spray paint. Actually, there’s was a lot of spray paint going about to color hair fast. I doubt you could get that sort of service in a salon, but the concept might be one worth remembering.

The design, actually, was not the most interesting part of the night. Don’t get me wrong. I was entranced as outfits began to take shape. I mean seeing a shower curtain transform into a full-length dress or pieces of Styrofoam become shoulder pads. Perhaps the most interesting was the use of random pieces of fur as wrist and ankle bracelets. Again, I must point out I have never seen so many safety pins in one place, and I bet they didn’t feel so safe when poked with them. The issue with design was the lengthy amount of time allowed. Most designers had the main outfit done with 15 minutes, but then again I guess you can’t keep the whole thing moving the whole time.

As is standard for me, the dynamics of the crowd really captured my attention. The audience would burst into action anytime a designer, hair stylist, or make-up artist would fashion something unique. For example, when a designer fashioned a Christmas ornament into a necklace the crowd freaked; when a make-up artist shadowed one eye blue and one eye red the audience shouted with glee. This also happened when a hair stylist whipped out a can of spray paint for extra flair. After a while, I lost the sense of being in a fashion event all together. It seemed more like a basketball game with the audience cheering as its team performed excellently.

Really, the whole thing was a big competition. After all the models had been designed, a makeshift walkway was made, and then the crowd cheered its head off for its desired winner. It’s here that the sound surpassed that of any sporting event I had been to. When women want to shout they can outdo any man, and trust me, they did. When the cheering was through my ears rang terribly, like rock concert loud.

But maybe that was due to my own screaming.

My favorite did win, which made the night that much better since I had snuck a photo with her earlier. I now can say I’ve been photographed with an award-winning model, but I digress.

LiRosi said he would do the show next year. You can bet I’ll be there, and if you have any love of fashion you will be too.