Down and Out in Style: High Voltage!

On a particularly blah Friday last week, I moseyed down to the capitol's cafeteria for some bland fish tacos and pinto beans. On a whim, I grabbed a copy of City Pages (which is like the East Bay Express or SF Guardian in the Bay or Village Voice in NY). While browsing through, I noticed an ad for Voltage: Fashion Amplified 2011 which is essentially a fashion show featuring looks by local clothing and accessory designers, and music by local indie rock bands. After a bit of hand wringing about the $30 ticket, I decided to suck it up and go.

Voltage is apparently the culmination of Minnesota fashion week, which I was unaware existed until last Friday. Anyway, I thought about just going for fun and not posting about it since I am not one of those fancy bloggers who gets to have a folding chair in the front row with a bottled water and a camera with a giant lens and a press pass and double kiss everyone I see on the cheeks. Plus, fashion shows don't seem like the kind of place poor chicks get to go.

But then, I am hella poor and I was going to a fashion show... so I said to myself: "Fuck that! I am going to weasel my 5'2" ass right up to the barricade and take lots of pictures with my crappy digital camera and show what it is like to cover a fashion show for a blog without having a bunch of BFFs as designers or promoters or having a fancy press pass." Because really, that's what this blog is about--not giving up on your love of fashion just because you can't afford to live like a Vogue staffer with a trust fund.

So with that, I give you my experience at Voltage 2011:

Hastings 3000

Looks above by Kathryn Sterner

I thought Sterner's stuff was cute, but not all that exciting. However, her line features entirely sustainable fabrics, so she should definitely be applauded for that.

Looks above by Danielle Everine

Showing off your undies seems to be a theme throughout the show (as you will see), which is cool with me. I have been known to wear a see through dress with a black bra and boyshorts every now and then, but I think that for actual life a sheer top should be paired with a solid skirt or pants. All in all I thought Everine's line was very pretty if not practical, and I adore the frizzed out mess + bow styling. The bows are from Freedom From Doubt who also designs amazing bow ties.

After the first couple designers, there was a break while the next band set up, so I started looking around at the crowd to see what kind of fabulous outfits ladies like me had put together for the occasion. Slightly tipsy from my cocktail on an empty stomach, I decided to go one step further and take pictures of a few of them.

I had caught a glimpse of Hannah's outfit at the beginning of the night and was glad I ended up with a spot near her so I could document her amazing outfit for your viewing pleasure.

Not only was this girl a print-mixing genius, she was friendly and adorable. AND she apparently got almost her entire outfit from swapping and a "free" clothing box at college. BAD ASS.

I also happened to get a spot next to another very fashionable young lady named Amanda.

Amanda, also friendly and adorable, was at the show with her equally fashionable and gorgeous mom who got tickets for Amanda's birthday present. Amanda is apparently going to school for fashion design at the U of M, so hopefully we'll be seeing some of her looks at a Voltage show in the near future.

Later, I spotted another stylish lady, also named Amanda.

I loved the dress/belt combo and her purse gave an awesome splash of color to her outfit. She exudes cool-girl style and has the cutest fucking pixie cut I have seen in long time.

Ok, back to the "professionals."

Looks above by Frances Zerr. I thought Zerr's line was nice, but not super exciting.

Looks above by Rachel Blomgren. I was definitely a fan of these. The first two looks above have a kind of Southwest American desert tribal look that I'm pretty into, but at this point in the show I was kind of over the whole "here are my panties and side boob" look.

Next up was Terri Martin. I like the first look. The second look? Meh. I did enjoy the bizarre neon makeup though.

Looks above by Sarah Holm. As you can probably infer from the amount of photos I took, I was a fan of her kooky cut-outs, bright colors, and triple Princess Leia buns. Bitch knows how to put on a show.

Next up: Tim and Thom. Oooooh shit! Menswear time!

This lady model was fierce as fuck. There was a whole lot of amateur hour going down on this runway that would've made even Miss Jay roll her eyes, but this chick was confident, hot, and had a bad ass runway walk. Hands down best model of the night.

I was standing next to this model's friends for most of the night, and they were awesome and very supportive of their hot model buddy. He is totes rocking those suspenders.

It was nice to see some menswear and nice, structured pieces. Apparently, Tim and Thom are inspired by Minneapolis bike culture, which I think is fanfuckingtastic.

Looks above by Ivan Idland.

Normally, I'm not a huge fan of the structured-bordering-on-nautical look, but I really like the first two looks above. And I am pretty much in love with the last two.

More see-through pants! Hooray!

Looks above by Raul Osorio. Muy bonita, no?

Looks above by Max Lohrbach. Yes, those ARE kittens in hearts on the skirt above. And yes, that is fucking awesome. I love a designer with a sense of humor and playfulness, and I love Lohrbach's line. I think he was a great choice to close the show. Check out the hand-painted looking skirt in the second photo above.

Also, I ended up standing next to Lohrbach's very excited aunt during his show, which was fantastic. You could tell how proud she was. Her and all the other incredibly friendly appreciators of fashion I met while squirming through the crowd is part of why I'm not disappointed that I didn't have an all-access, insider's perspective on the show. I was pretty much deliriously happy during the entire show, and found most people to be very friendly and enthusiastic about the whole experience, with the exception of one pair of unpleasant beezies behind me who took it upon themselves to talk non-stop shit about the models who, while often painfully amateur, were at least putting themselves out there--undies and side boob and all.

I guess all I am saying is that there is a way for us financially-challenged ladies to get a small taste of the whole fashion show scene. Most cities have fashion weeks, and even those that don't will often have local designers and/or boutiques that will put on fashion shows every now and then. If you love fashion, I would encourage you to go sometime. Just because you can't afford to go to fashion week in Milan and sit in the front row with Anna Wintour, and just because you can't even afford the clothes at a local fashion show, doesn't mean you should deprive yourself of the experience and inspiration.

Ok. Enough preachy kumbaya hippie magic lecturing. Speaking of shit I can't afford, I took some photos of the wares in the Voltage shop.