What Wendy Wore: Patrick Kelly, Kanye West, King Lear

This seems to be my month for dusting off dresses that have been hibernating in my closet for two years. On Saturday, I wore my gold-sequin Antik Batik dress — last worn in December 2009 — in Las Vegas. Then, on Monday, I wore the bow-covered vintage Patrick Kelly dress that I last wore out on the town with my gorgeous friends Rachel and Stacy … also in December 2009.

The dress in December 2009. From left: WendyB, Rachel, Stacy. Click for original post.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever wear the Patrick Kelly dress again. I got it online only to discover that it’s made of a puffy, spongy fabric that adds inches all over. The hundreds of tiny bows add to the bulk. When Jean of Ghost Tailor altered the dress for me in 2009, she recommended a belt to break up the bows. I hadn’t worn a belt in years, so I bought one on Bluefly, wore the dress out once with the ladies, and then stuck it back in the closet for a couple of years.

I figured I was ready to give the dress another try at the annual Knight-Bagehot fundraising dinner on Monday. The Knight-Bagehot program, run by Columbia University’s School of Journalism, offers qualified journalists a year-long fellowship in economics and business journalism. At last year’s dinner I was quite woozy, but this year I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, beribboned and belted. The dinner is held at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square and on my way there, I saw the Naked Cowboy, also for the first time in a couple of years. Everything old is new again — dresses and local characters!

I had a split second to snap a blurry Instagram shot of the Cowboy working the crowd.

The hotel is near all the Broadway theaters, so MrB asked me to pose like the ladies in the ad in back of me. I think the “Broadway triumphal moment” is a good variation on the standard WendyB Pose. I wound up feeling happy in the dress after all.

What Wendy Wore
Dress: ’80s Patrick Kelly (acquired 2009)
Belt: Calvin Klein (2009)
Shoes: Prada (2010)
Purse: Prada (2007)

I opted for jeans instead of a dress for the Kanye West/Jay-Z show at Madison Square Garden the following night, but Kanye made up for me by wearing a leather skirt over pants.

The camera that gave me a hard time at the Eminem concert didn't perform any better for Kanye. Click for Eminem post.

I love it. It’s such a “fuck you” to machismo. If Kanye could stick to dressing himself and making good music, I would love him, but he insists on being a jackhole. Why won’t Kanye let Kanye be great? He’s the only person screwing himself up. He admits he’s a douchebag and I thought admitting the problem was the first step towards recovery. Can’t we enroll him in Asshats Anonymous?

I didn’t take an outfit photo that night, so I’ll show you an old photo of the fringed Boudicca puffa jacket I wore.

The jacket seen earlier this year. Click for original post.

I wore that jacket because my gorgeous friend Debra, who came to the concert with me, always comments on its extreme puffiness. My father is amused by the jacket too. One time he pretended to blow into my sleeve to inflate me further. I think they just envy my pufftastic, Puff Mama status. Go ahead and laugh, jellus h8rs!  I flick my jacket fringe in your general direction.

Continuing an unusually busy week, I went to see my beloved Sam Waterston and his majestic eyebrows play the title role in King Lear at the Public Theater last night.

I enjoyed the three starring performances (Sam, Left Eyebrow and Right Eyebrow) and all the others immensely, as did my three companions. The less-glowing reviews are obviously written by jellus h8rs who don’t have Sam’s eyebrow game. His eyebrows are as desirable as my jacket puffiness. Sam and I will sit down and discuss this someday, after the restraining order is lifted and I kidnap him. (Somewhere in New York, Sam Waterston calls 911 and screams, “The eyebrow lady is writing about me again.”)

I wore the vintage Wendy Originals dress I got from Cherie at Shrimpton Couture. You can see a photo of me wearing it in the magic year of 2009 here, but I’ve worn it frequently since then. I always wear it with the same boots and purse. I’m the opposite of a wardrobe “remixer” and proud of it. I did change things up a bit by wearing a brown suede jacket that I got in Florence in the late ’90s, so I took a photo with the jacket on.

What Wendy Wore
Dress: Vintage from Shrimpton Couture (Cherie, when did I get this?)
Boots: Prada (2008 or 2009?)
Bag: Prada (Same year as the boots)
Jacket: From Florence (1998)
Necklace: My own Queen of Scots design

Most of my jewelry line is inspired by and named for real women of history but, once in a while, I do a fictional character. I can’t help thinking that Lear‘s Goneril might make a great poison ring … but I have other ideas for her too. We’ll see!

UPDATED TO ADD: At the end of King Lear, Lear is supposed to walk onto the stage carrying the corpse of his youngest daughter Cordelia. (Don’t complain about spoilers, bitches! This play has been around for 400 years.) Not every Lear can manage this single-handedly but Sam did. He came out carrying actress Kristen Connolly in his arms and continued to hold her while he delivered his lines. He’s 71! The magic eyebrows must give him extra strength! We were all in awe.