An Affair To Remember

Fashion on Display for Creative Loafing's Birthday

Story by Leslie Joy Ickowitz  ❧  Photography by BrianJamesGallery.com

It all started innocently enough.

"I want you to create a fashion presentation for our 25th Birthday celebration on 4/20," Creative Loafing Publisher James Howard said. "And I want something no one has ever seen before."

That's a tall order. But things are often pretty lofty in VERTICAL-world, so I made a date with my imagination and called in reinforcements: Pamela Bloomgren, MOD Productions.

Hmmmm, how to loaf creatively? In lingerie! On a cool—in this case vintage—couch on loan from the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn. Let's see...CL's got girl fans, guy fans, gay fans, straight fans and bi-fans. "Candy for everyone!" we declared before recruiting two female and two male models to be featured in lingerie (and underwear respectively).

The pretty, delicate things (and some naughty ones too) were found treasure from La Violette Boutique. One-of-a-kind wearable art by Spathose adorned the boys. A harness and gauntlet, and a collar and leash were commissioned solely for CL's Birthday Bash—along with the thing no one had ever seen before—the masquerade mask. Mission accomplie!

The models took their places on the couch. The flashbulbs snapped and the rest was an affair to remember.

Very VERTICAL thanks to the models: 

Amanda Faulk, Greg Gushall, Jr. (in harness), Melissa Zinge (blonde), Pasha Bmocloh (in mask)

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