anyone can get in nowadays if they have the cash.“ But I then realized that when I had been thrown out of a VIP area during the pre-show part of the evening, it was because that section was reserved for the unwashed masses who’d paid, as opposed to dazzling journalists like myself! You’re right, Nigel. F*ck you, Fashion Week!It was all pretty fun anyway, and I got to catch up with Countess LuAnn (She spent lockdown promoting a sparkling, non-alcoholic wine and hanging in the Hamptons) and party-throwing queen Susanne Bartsch, who said Janet Jackson recently came to her On Top party and was really nice.
“And last night, I had 1,000 people there at 4 a.m.,” laughed Bartsch, “and I don’t even get a cut of the door because it’s free!” Ah! The way Fashion Week used to be.Downtown came uptown for Machine Dazzle’s “Queer Maximalism” opening at MAD Museum (Museum of Arts and Design) on Columbus Circle, where our nosebleeds matched our outfits. Justin Vivian Bond, Dirty Martini, Darlinda Just Darlinda, Christeene, John Epperson, and many other boho icons turned out to celebrate the flamboyant designer of collagey ensembles of pure magical madness.
“Less is more” is not Machine’s motto — and if it was, we wouldn’t have been there!Related: Mx. Justin Vivan Bond accepts Queerty’s Pride50 Catalyst AwardThe gala opening was adorned with performances by the reunited Dazzle Dancers, a semi-clad group of sparkly interpretive performers that always seemed catapulted out of a 1960s variety show, but with extra LSD.
Machine was part of the group — and also their designer — and at MAD, announced to them, “You are my original family. You were my first guinea pigs.
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Billy Eichner
Janet Jackson