FASHION'S VICTIMS

NY PRESS LOOKS BEHIND THE SCENES OF A HARD-HIT GARMENT DISTRICT:



This year’s Fashion Week remains a well-oiled machine; too much money’s at stake for it not to look good on the cable networks. Behind the scenes, however, it’s a shaky edifice built on youthful fantasies of making it. Several labels— including bigwigs Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan and Vera Wang—have cancelled their tent shows this year in favor of smaller “presentations.” After-parties are going to be hit even harder.

From an aesthetic level, it’s easy to long for the whole structure of excess that Fashion Week embodies to be wiped from the cityscape. But a lot of working people make a living during Fashion Week, and for them, the downturn means losing a paycheck. There’s a ripple effect that starts with full-time employees of labels—like Allie— and moves outward.

WHOLE ARTICLE: NYPRESS.COM

BUT THE GAY CLUB SCENE SEEMS TO BE GETTING A MUCH NEEDED SHOT IN THE ARM! OR SHOULD THAT BE SHOT IN HE ASS? We ain't got no mortgages! And we don't need to take out loans for our drug dealers! Maybe the depression will drive down astronomical drink prices and cover charges and make going out a bit more fun again. And it's funny that they mention smoking popping up in clubs. I don't smoke, but I occasionally like a cigarette when I'm out on the town--ie drunk. Although it is nice to come home and have your wig and outfit not reek of tobacco smoke, for some reason, the permissiveness of smoking in a club is something I really miss. I understand no smoking bans in milder climates, but it's a bitch to go uncheck your coat, go outside and then possibly wait on line to get back in. Kind of a buzz-killer.


THE NY OBSERVER INTERVIEWS DOWNTOWN DENIZENS LIKE MISTRESS FORMIKA NAD CHI CHI VALENTI ON THE CHANGING GAY BAR SCENE.

VIA TOWLEROAD:



With the recession in full swing, we’re detecting a definite uptick in the gay downtown demimonde … Could it be that the gays you remember from before Will and Grace—from such depressions as the ’30s, ’70s and early ’90s—are back in the saddle again.

AN EXCERPT FROM GAYS LOVE A DEPRESSION!

Over the past few months, while the straight party scene has been left for dead, gay nights and venues look like they are surviving, with new ones sprouting up everywhere. And, in some cases, like this night at the Hose, they really are Events (not vodka promotions!) with Themes! There is buzz! Costumes! Sleaze! There is planning, for a whole week before, aimed at getting into the right place at the perfect time of the night.

“Given the news about the economy that came out of the late summer and fall, when we were in November, I was saying that all of us have to hope for a mild winter,” said Bob Pontarelli, the longtime co-owner of Chelsea gay bar Barracuda and of the very gay-friendly Elmo restaurant on Seventh Avenue. “I was anticipating a perfect storm of cold weather and the economy. And then we had a worse winter than we’ve had in five years. So it’s been very, very, very cold and add to that the recession. But you know what? We haven’t been affected by a percentage point. In some places, we’re doing better. What I was worried about actually hasn’t happened, and it hasn’t affected us.”

According to some of his patrons, the downturn has, if anything, redirected their budgets to Going Out.
“I mean, we’ll skip going out to dinner and go out for drinks instead now,” said Christian, a 27-year-old in fashion PR, to his 27-year-old friend Jon at Barracuda on Friday night.

They both agreed, emphatically, that giving up on their night on the Crawl, whether it be on Eighth Avenue or Avenue A, was not an option.

Michael Formika Jones has been promoting gay-themed parties and nightclub evenings for 18 years in New York, but has found himself without much to do over the last three years.
“Oh I’m loving the recession!” he said. “I’m jumping on this recession bandwagon. I haven’t done a big party. Period. In three years.”

But in the next eight weeks, he’s booked three big events. One of them is at 55 Gansevoort, a two-floor restaurant and a loft apartment above it, as well as a basement bar. It’s always been one of those straight, bottle-service type clubs on weekends before.
“Buh-bye to that!” Mr. Jones chirped. “No more $15 drinks!”

MORE: OBSERVER.COM