Through its numerous incarnations, the event has evolved from its original title of “Alternative Fashion Show” to the current “Queer Fashion Show” — and this year’s superhero themed extravaganza is sure to pack some Batman and Robin flavored POW!

“It’s a safe space and we try to get as much involvement as we can,” director Ben Flores said. “And we have fun.”

Courtesy of Molly Solomon.

Auditions for numbers in this spring’s show were held on Jan. 26. The show is scheduled to take place in May as a part of Pride Week, a campus-wide celebration of the queer and allied communities. Past performances of QFS have featured dance, spoken word and of course fashion. And Flores is open to “whatever people want to perform.”

The show is completely student-run and the leadership team of graduating seniors is comprised of Flores, producer Gabriela Espinal, Mariah Corbin, Baldemar Hernandez and David Wilmore. The five listened to proposals from artists on Saturday morning to discern which pieces would be a good match for this year’s production, but their work also extends far beyond the creative process.

“It’s all student-run so as far as performances, anything goes,” Flores said. “But we do have to think about a budget and reserving a venue and the business side of things.”

Though the Porter student activities office does provide some funds and advisors to keep the show on track, it’s up to the directors to make the rest of the magic happen. This involves asking college senates for potential funding, raising the rest of the money themselves through bake sales and reserving a space to actually hold the show. But volunteering their time isn’t a problem for these student organizers with a passion for the cause.

“I had recently come out as bisexual and I wasn’t really okay with myself but when you watch the show, you can relate,” said Flores on his first encounter with QFS in 2011.

QFS has meant a lot to them throughout their time at UCSC, whether they found the show when struggling with their own sexuality or were simply intrigued by the name.

“It’s a community to share and be yourself,” Hernandez said. “And a safe place for people to express themselves. You gain something from it no matter what you do.”

Queer Fashion Show leaders held auditions for numbers on Saturday morning for spring’s show. From left to right: Gabriela Espinal, Mariah Corbin, Ben Flores, Baldemar Hernandez and David Wilmore. Photo by Daniela Ruiz.

A second audition will be held Feb. 2 in the Porter Hitchcock Lounge — time TBD — for those looking to produce a piece. A general informational meeting will be held in the coming weeks for interested performers. Choreographers and designers will be looking for dancers and models from all communities, with no specific experience necessary. QFS strives to be open to as many people as possible.

“It’s really the Queer Family Show,” Espinal said.

All the directors endorse the opportunity as a meaningful way to get involved with a tight knit and supportive community.

“It’s a great way to connect with different people, have fun and make a lot of friends,” Flores said. “If you have the chance, do it.”

As part of the African Student Union performance of ‘Africa, My Africa,’ members of the organization participate in a fashion show displaying a variety of styles of dress from Africa. Photo by Morgan Grana.

The spicy smell of stewed meat in curry sauce permeated the air. Red, green and yellow fabrics draped around the bodies of young women, contrasting beautifully with the all-white attire of young men. Rhythmic, pulsing, bass-heavy music played in the background.

The scene was set last Friday, when an audience comprised mostly of students almost filled Kresge Town Hall. The African Student Union (ASU) artfully shattered prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions of Africa, African-Americans and the African diaspora through its performance of “Africa, My Africa.”

ASU transformed Kresge Town Hall, bringing the bright colors, inviting tastes and drum-laden sounds of the multicultural African continent to UC Santa Cruz, proving that future ASU events will be a prime setting for cultural experiences you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else on campus.

Although the show was advertised to begin at 7 p.m., activities were not underway until about an hour later. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, however, as almost everyone immediately took a place in the long food line, clearly eager to sample the dishes whose smells were hanging enticingly in the air.

The warm smells and richly spiced tastes of curried lamb, sambusas (a staple dish in the Horn of Africa, somewhat akin to an East Indian samosa) and rice with bright green peas strewn over it kept the attendees happy as ASU members buzzed about in their bright and flowing clothes, preparing to give the audience the show they eagerly came to see.

After the audience was finally seated with their bellies full, the room darkened. The sudden pounding of a lone drum sounded off the first half of the performances, which were devoted to recognizing the diversity of life, identity and culture in multiple African nations — nations represented by the 17 ASU members.

The drummer addressed the audience: “Where did it all begin?” The audience members were then exposed to snippets of culture from across the African continent through live musical performances of renditions of songs from Mali and Sudan. The crowd erupted into cheers and ear-splitting clapping at the song’s final note, and a proud motherly voice shouted, “That’s my Shadin!” from the front row, causing the on-stage vocalist to crack a wide, proud grin.

The event continued with spoken word and poetry readings from different ASU members, evoking with their words issues like media portrayal of Africa, the meaning of specific and pan-ethnic African identities, the African diaspora, the struggles of immigrating to the United States, and other important topics that deserve conversation and attention. The speakers’ poetic and passionate words were received by quick, successive snaps from the audience — a common method of showing appreciation and respect to a spoken word poet.

The loudest cheers and sounds of encouragement, however, came during the fashion show. ASU members strutted across the stage in colorful and stunning attire that was representative of several African regions, including Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and others. The models caused the audience to erupt in shouts, hoots, hollers and smiles of appreciation as they two-stepped and shimmied across the stage to the drum-heavy music that accompanied the show. The performers’ clear and emanating confidence reflected the fact that they had been working on the show for three to four months.

The finale continued in a musical vein. Several ASU members, still clad in their cultural attire, performed a dance that they also performed at this year’s Multicultural Festival. The crowd was brought to their feet, clapping furiously as the performers took their final bow.

ASU’s first cultural show, which member Iman Barre hopes will become an annual event, left audience members perhaps a bit more aware about the African diaspora than when they first took their seats. Recently formed as an organization on campus in fall 2011, ASU hopes to thrive for many generations of students to come, and continue to create enlightening, fun and open spaces where diverse cultures can be explored and appreciated.

Queer Fashion Show, hosted at Porter/Kresge Dining Hall, will feature several fashion lines and performances created by students. Photos by Molly Solomon.

One of UC Santa Cruz’s premier events has returned for another year. The Queer Fashion Show will be presenting “The Media in Rainbow Vision” at Porter College this Friday and Saturday. Not only does the event promise to be some of the most ambitious student theater on campus, but the sexy charity show will also donate all proceeds to the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center, Planned Parenthood and the Diversity Center.

Fourth-years Zackary Forcum of Oakes College and Jasmine Fernandez of Porter College will be directing this year’s Queer Fashion Show. The two former dancers have each been involved in the show’s last three performances, and share a passion for the causes advanced by the queer community.

“I love that there’s a night to celebrate queerness in performance,” Forcum said. “[During] my freshman year I saw the show, and it looked like so much fun. I immediately wanted to get involved.”

Queer Fashion Show has long been a part of UCSC culture. Forcum discussed some of the history behind the event.

“No one knows for sure when it began,” Forcum said. “The Queer Fashion Show started with queer individuals emptying out their closets and parading around the Porter quad.”

The UCSC university library documentary project “Out in the Redwoods” puts the origin of the show in the late 1980s, when it was known as the Alternative Fashion Show.

Since then, the show has become a mainstay at UCSC, and is emblematic of the school’s identity as a queer-friendly campus.

“We’ve come a long way in the last few years for queer representation,” Forcum said. “UCSC is one of the most openly queer schools in the U.S.”

The show has since grown from its humble beginnings. This year, in addition to the usual festivities, there will be a gallery showing before the performance. The show’s directors provided a few other glimpses of what to expect.

“You’re going to see four different fashion lines, each student-designed and all of them very different,” Forcum said. “We will be having spoken word, dance and comedic skits, all performed by a cast of more than 60 people, and it will be very, very sexy at times.”

The show’s reputation for being provocative is aided by the work of its designers. College Ten fourth-year and student designer Juliana Findlay discussed the inspiration for her fashion collection.

“My line focuses on a stripped-down version of the tuxedo,” Findlay said. “I took it apart, made it sexier, and did it in the vein of Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ music videos.”

The entire production is student-run, from the creation of advertising campaigns to the choreographing of dance routines, and students participate on a volunteer basis.

“Our actors don’t get material things or any sort of monetary value from the Queer Fashion Show,” Forcum said. “They only get a great experience. When you think about how busy life has gotten, it’s really beautiful that people commit so much time to put on a show for charity. The students get involved in this event because they care and because they love it.”

But supporting charity isn’t the only goal the Queer Fashion Show plans to accomplish. The directors also hope to help advance the queer community.

“The show is ‘Media in Rainbow Vision,’ and we’re basing it on the media’s portrayal of the queer community,” Fernandez said. “We want to break their perceptions. Instead of putting people in little boxes, we want to celebrate queerness and diversity. This is an opportunity to learn more about the queer community here at Santa Cruz and the student body as a whole. Hopefully we’ll open some minds.”

Pamela Whittington, the owner of Classic Cleaners, shows a few of the donated prom dresses in this year’s prom dress drive. The drive provides for high schoolers who cannot afford them. This annual event will be accepting donations throughout the month of February until March 31. Photo by Molly Solomon.

As the warm February sun shines in through the shop door, local business owner Pamela Whittington enthusiastically points out the rack of dresses near the front of her store, Classic Cleaners. A spectrum of brightly colored dresses await cleaning and sorting. These prom dresses will then be given to high schoolers who cannot afford a dress.

The third annual prom dress drive aims to give out prom dresses to local students who cannot afford one. The Santa Cruz and Watsonville areas grappled with 13.8 percent unemployment at the close of 2010, up 0.5 percent from December 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Organizers of the annual prom dress drive hope to reach more students across the Santa Cruz and Watsonville areas by holding two different shopping dates in March and April.

Council member Tony Madrigal, who brought the event to Santa Cruz after hearing of its success in other areas, explained that his goals for this year’s drive are “to do better outreach, reach more of the students and more of the schools.”

Classic Cleaners, on Soquel Avenue, offers free cleaning for all the donated dresses. Whittington’s shop, as well as the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center, Comerica Banks and Bailey Properties offices are all dress drop-off areas.

“[Prom] is … a milestone,” Whittington said. “It’s going to the next level of your life. The economy cannot let this rite of passage go away.”

Bridal Veil Fashions in Capitola has already donated new dresses to the event, despite the resulting loss in its own sales.

“This is competition [for Bridal Veil Fashion], and what do they do? They send brand-new dresses,” Whittington said as she pointed towards a row of dresses, many of which still had tags. “It just shows how much they value their community.”

As local support floods in, many people donate more than dresses. Whittington smiled and lifted up several bustiers that have been donated, explaining that the drive receives everything from shoes to makeup and jewelry.

Whittington said that the committee did not “solicit for the shoes, or the makeup, or the bustiers,” but still, community members took the initiative and brought unopened makeup, as well as accessories.

Cita Rasul, who works for the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center and serves on the committee for the dress drive, has seen firsthand the effect such generosity has on individuals. Rasul personally knew a young woman who received a dress the first year of the event. She now works on promotions, giving back to the community and the event that gave her the opportunity to fully experience her prom.

For those involved in the dress drive, a major concern is making sure the event is comfortable and accessible for the high schoolers who participate.

“We make sure this is a fun and exciting time and there is no shame at all,” Rasul said, “It’s really exciting to see the gratification on the girls’ faces when they put on a dress.”

Upon receiving a dress, students are asked only their name and their school affiliation so that volunteers can determine which schools are being reached and what can be done to make the event inclusive to all high schools in the area.

As the event grows, the organizers hope to better involve university students in collections and donations. Currently there is not a drop-off station at UC Santa Cruz, but council member Madrigal hopes to eventually include one in the drive.

Madrigal, who had gone to Whittington with the idea to start the drive several years back, said that he is “just trying to have better, out-of-the-box thinking [and] creative ideas to help people in our community.”

Whittington said that her history as a “Salvation Army baby” and the fact she was unable to attend her own prom are why she hopes to offer local high schoolers the chance to attend prom without the financial burden.

Whittington said: “[We’re] putting the call out to clean out your closets and donate that dress.”

Captain Spanky-pants directs a confused traveler during a QFS skit. Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

The closest thing to a UCSC fashion week is here and as fabulous as ever. The Queer Fashion Show (QFS) is hitting the runway.

Opening on April 30, QFS has been around since the 80’s. Fused with singing, dancing, and spoken word performances, this year’s theme plays with the idea of fairy tales, as suggested in the show’s title, “Once Upon a Queer.”

“There are actually more fashion designers this year than ever before,” said fourth-year Porter student Julie Roth, who is both designing a line based on the play “Medea,” and modeling in a friend’s performance.

The art department does not currently offer fashion design classes, and the only garment construction training is through theater costuming. Designers Emma Trollman and Amy Bobeda gained their sewing experience working with Shakespeare Santa Cruz. The two co-designed a line based on the fantasy of the circus.

“It’s really bright and exciting and ridiculous,” Trollman said. “It’s about how people with really weird abnormalities who had no way of supporting themselves … could still have a job through the circus. Even though they had weird lifestyles and were not accepted by most people, in the circus they were kind of celebrities.”

A bearded lady, conjoined twins, a strong man, and other circus performers will don this wild and colorful line on the runway.

In an effort to get away from mainstream love stories about princesses and fairies, literature major Olivia Warner chose to portray the darker side of traditional fairytales. She is depicting “The Little Mermaid,” putting together a performance loaded with symbolism and references to the dangerous side of being queer.

“The thing about fairy tales is that they’re really violent,” Warner said. “Like, in Grimm’s fairytales people are burning and bleeding, and those are the textual fairy tales, and that kind of stuff has kind of been edited out of them.”

Warner’s presentation is a fairy tale gone wrong. In the end, a mermaid giving up her voice in order to spread her legs for a prince turns out to be a raw deal.

“The tail that I have her wear is a full-length corset,” Warner said. “She has to be carried around, and onstage she’s cut open and out of it … she’ll be wearing blood-streaked tights, and have blood in her mouth.”

The original creation of the QFS was an attempt to open up the stage to people who have felt unwelcome and have something to say. Breezy Colomb, co-director of the show and a fourth-year from Porter College, describes this year as an attempt to be realistic about diversity, showing people of all colors and sizes.

“People were tired of seeing skinny white girls on stage in fashion shows,” Colomb said.

The final dress rehearsal found the Porter Dining Hall hectic, full of performers and designers scrambling to finish garments and work out sound system glitches. In the corner of the room, second-year literature major Aaron Juni fought to buckle his model into a butter yellow corset, part of his science-fiction inspired line.

“I’m bunching the fabric up on this side,” Irene O’Connell, the model said to Juni, as they wrestled with the vinyl, wrenching the belt together.

“Oh fashion,” Juni said with a sigh, giving up and setting his model free. “Gotta love it.”

~~~~~~

Where to buy QFS Tickets: Quarry Plaza 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Porter Dining hall 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m.

Performance Times:
April 30, 8 p.m., $6
May 1, 8 p.m. $6*

*There is a scheduled protest on May 1, so in the event that QFS may have to be cancelled on the night of May 1, there will be a show on Sunday, May 2, at 3 p.m.

Stepping into boutique Shimmy Bang is like stepping into an trendy glamour den, where Chloe sunglasses line the shelves, and fashion icon black and whites decoupage the walls.

Store Owner Taylor Abbate presents an array of designs mainly from London, New York, Los Angeles and Australia.

A UCSC Alumna, Abbate moved to L.A to boost her fashion chops and returned to Santa Cruz to open a shop of her own this past July.

Abbate includes designer pieces as well as her own personal stash of vintage garb. From derby hats to to neon tanks, Shimmy Bang’s wardrobe harkens images of Clarissa Explains It All at the races, with all of the trendy pieces in between.

Abbate’s inspiration? The casual yet edgy vibe of the current youth culture, or what she refers to as “street-style fashion with a rock ‘n’ roll twist”.

With studded vests that echo 80s punk rock bravado to bejeweled flower hair clips, Shimmy Bang’s eclectic style provides both the sweet and the sassy.

To draw inspiration for her clothes, Abbate looks to UK fashion magazines and various fashion blogs to find out what’s hot in the streets, and not necessarily what’s on the runway.

Shimmy Bang’s prices range from $10 for vintage tees, to $220 for premium denim—an appropriate range for fashionable slugs who want to spoil themselves.

And while Abbate’s dream is to dress UK tv personality Alexa Chung, her dream of owning and managing her own boutique has finally become a reality. Lucky for us, Shimmy Bang isn’t going anywhere, and us shopaholics can continue our guilty-pleasure shopping binges at the fashionably chic boutique.

“I want every item to be special,” Abbate said. “Not just an addition to someone’s wardrobe.”

~~~~~

Photos by Alex Zamora.

Mike Kershnar's art is displayed on the walls of The Krate, an apparel, vinyl and art supply store located on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. Photo by Rosario Serna.

Mike Snyder (left) and Brandon Spector (right) opened The Krate with the hope of bringing their passions and lifestyles to their daily work. All art displayed is by Mike Kershnar. Photo by Rosario Serna.

Friday Night, South Pacific Avenue

The crowd amassed in a store on South Pacific Avenue. They were an eclectic bunch: urban art buffs, streetwear enthusiasts and midnight marauders out to revel in the Friday night. Many of them held plastic cups in their hands filled with the kind of beverage known to keep the good times going — drinks were on the house. Artwork of various mediums and sizes decorated the walls and the people orbited around them, studying the color, composition and message of each.

Mike Kershnar stood out in this crowd of 80-some people. And it wasn’t difficult to tell he was the man of the hour. He wore a blue wharfsman beanie, roamed the store with his husky, Lavender, by his side and had a certain live-life attitude about him.

The event on that November Friday night was titled “Signs and Symbols,” a pop-up art gallery being held at The Krate. And Kershnar was the artist responsible. The Krate is a South Pacific Avenue-based boutique founded by high school friends Mike Snyder and Brandon Spector in 2007.

In the past, Kershnar has worked with Obey — the street-art campaign turned print, fine art, and clothing icon — Element Skateboards, and the Beastie Boys.

The scene that night in downtown Santa Cruz is indicative of a new generation. Kershnar, the founding duo of The Krate and aspiring UC Santa Cruz students represent a new breed of entrepreneur. Exactly what kind of entrepreneur they are is difficult to categorize.

They are the start-ups, the underground, the anti-corporate, the rebels, the non-mainstream, the independents, the 20-somethings, the young and the ambitious. Though they may have different names, they all share one thing in common: they are setting a new standard for business models and strategies and are causing old-timers to rethink their traditional ways. They represent the great strides that start-up businesses and brands are making in this day and age, by turning to collaborative trends and taking advantage of new technology and the Internet to turn their lifestyle, passions and interests into a business.

Photo by Rosario Serna.

For the Love of the Game

The Krate founders Snyder and Spector refused to settle for a 9-5 job. Before founding the shop, they conceded they worked “random meaningless jobs” — from landscaping to pizza delivery to construction work.

Then, after preparation, planning, attending business seminars, working side jobs, and meeting with banks and real estate agents who were skeptical of their cause, they finally proved the doubters wrong and opened up a shop in 2007 that brought together apparel, music and art.

However, both Snyder and Spector will tell you that the kind of apparel, music and art they carry is not something that can be classified into one genre or industry. They avoid labels, though some may think the style of their store simply fits into one mold or another.

“It’s not a hip-hop shop,” Spector said. “But we do have elements of hip-hop.”

The moment you step foot in The Krate, you’ll immediately see, hear and feel how the shop is directly influenced by the lifestyles of Snyder and Spector. You’ll see, hear and feel the hip-hop, but you will also see, hear and feel the skateboard, music and art culture that Snyder and Spector grew up in. Their lifestyle inspires the mission statement.

“We’re just bringing the elements together that belong together already,” Snyder said.

One section of the shop is devoted entirely to vinyl records. Another looks like an armory of art supplies catered to the urban guerrilla artist. Walk a couple of steps in the other direction and you’ll find shelves of street-inspired apparel, featuring everything from the basic graphic tee to the raw denim, from the cut-and-sew garments to the fitted caps.

Today’s start-ups turn their passions and interests into profits. As seen in the case of Snyder and Spector, The Krate was a way for the two to turn their lifestyles into a business.

“If you’re not in it strictly for the dough, then you’re given a certain amount of freedom that you wouldn’t otherwise have,” Spector said.

Snyder and Spector put themselves in a unique position. Profits became secondary, a surplus reward to the start-up business. What came first was passion.

And as Spector said, it is this passion that gave them the freedom that a suit-and-tie type of career wouldn’t be able to offer. They loved what they were doing, and they were able to make profits out of it at the same time.

Ray Licardo, a second-year information systems management major at UCSC, sings the same tune as Snyder and Spector. In 2005, he founded his own clothing brand, Western Vibe. The brand was born from a passion for graphic design that he developed his freshman year in high school, when he visited a screen-printing company.

“After seeing the whole process of designing and printing the graphics onto the shirts, I knew I wanted to start designing and printing my own,” he said. “Since then, I got into Photoshop and Illustrator and designed graphics for my high-school music program, many of my high-school organizations, dance teams, my high school’s sports teams, then soon my own line, Western Vibe.”

Licardo hopes to follow in the footsteps of many start-ups like The Krate and turn a personal passion and interest into a profitable business.

“Because I love designing and fashion, I have no problem turning what I love to do and — am very passionate about — into money,” he said. “It’s much more enjoyable doing what you like and it’s way easier to motivate yourself.”

UCSC student Ray Licardo (front right) turned his passion for graphic design into a profitable clothing line, Western Vibe. Daniel Aclan (back left), Garrett Jay (back center), and Katrina Cabuatan (front left). Photo by Rosario Serna.

No Room for Lone Wolves

The success of today’s start-ups can also be attributed to their collaborative trends. They understand teamwork and know that in order to survive, they must lean on each other’s shoulders.

Ever since they opened shop, The Krate has hosted monthly art galleries with artists of local talent to artists of renown. They’ve worked with graffiti artists, graphic artists, and muralists like Saber One, David Choe, Alex Pardee, and recently, Mike Kershnar.

“When we do an art show once a month, it’s good for everybody,” Snyder said. “The artists are inviting friends that may never come to our store. We gain exposure. And we’re exposing their art to the community all month. It’s a trade, you know.”

The “Signs and Symbols” gallery put together by The Krate and Kershnar demonstrates how two parties in the creative industry can work together to compensate for each other’s weaknesses and capitalize on each other’s strengths.

“The Krate did a lot of great publicity for the event such as flyering and printing,” Kershnar said. “They also got the word out to the local media and made YouTube videos of me painting the wall. I created all the art for the event, designed the poster and got it covered by Element and Juxtapoz. Now they are taking care of sales and shipping.”

Gone are the days when exclusive behind-closed-doors and lone-wolf mentality businesses thrived.

As Snyder explained, it is these dynamic and creative partnerships that keep start-ups like The Krate afloat in a very competitive, complex and colossal business atmosphere.

Even the corporate giants are starting to see the opportunities in collaboration. Nike and Apple are one such example.

In 2006 they debuted Nike + iPod, a personal training system that allows you to “hear how you run” and “hear the burn” through four steps: Ready. Set. Go. Sync.

In addition to the business incentive, entrepreneurs and artists also seek to incubate each other’s think tanks and innovation kitchens through their collaborations.

“One of the most rewarding things for me as an artist is to collaborate with the people that have inspired me deeply,” Kershnar said.

He has collaborated with Shepard Fairey, the mastermind behind Obey, and created artwork for Element Skateboards and rock posters for the Beastie Boys.

Licardo, founder of Western Vibe, shares similar thoughts with his clothing brand.

“One can gain a lot of inspiration and networking through collaboration,” he said. “You also get other ideas that can make your design or business more effective and more sellable.”

Get The Word Out!

The Internet allows start-ups to project themselves on a global level. It gives them the visibility that they would not otherwise have.

“No matter how small a business may be, it has the ability to immediately share information with the entire connected world,” said Jon Adams, lead developer at Iluminada Design, a Santa Cruz web design studio. “Young businesses have no more, and, more importantly, no less of an advantage than the most successful and established businesses out there, as far as accessibility is concerned.”

Just last month, The Krate launched TheKrate.com, a revamped website complete with an online store. Already Snyder and Spector are noticing the bigger, wider customer base of e-commerce.

“Some dude in London found we were the only store left on the Internet with a certain hoodie that was huge — 10 Deep made a nice cut-and-sew jacket,” Spector said, talking about their latest sale: a limitedly produced sweater that found its way to a happy customer overseas.

Links to The Krate’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages can also be found on their new website. Let’s not forget about a link to their blog, which features posts on product updates, pictures from last night’s pop-up art gallery, and anything that might happen in “a day in the life” of The Krate.

The social media of the Internet allows start-ups to connect to their customer base on a personal, more intimate level.

Likewise, Licardo uses these tools as avenues to reach out to Western Vibe’s community.

“These social networks help me spread news about updates on Western Vibe,” Licardo said. “I’m always keeping my supporters posted on new designs and apparel that I’m coming out with through my Facebook group, Twitter, Tumblr, BlogSpot and AIM profile.”

Licardo says that starting up a business would have definitely been much more costly, if not impossible, without the Internet.

“Without the Internet, I would only have to rely on posters, fliers, and word of mouth,” he said. “It would be more expensive trying to expose my brand through these means of advertising.”

Later That Friday Night, South Pacific Avenue

As the night wore on, the crowd continued to soak in the revelry of good company, good people and good song.

But somewhere among the orgy of people, and somehow among the noise of constant chatter, Dylan Christopher managed a quick jeer at his childhood friend, Mike Kershnar.

“He was a dirty skate rat like all of us — he had dreads,” Christopher joked.

Kershnar may be the same skate rat he was back in the day, but this time he transformed his personality, lifestyle and passions into profits.

~~~~~

Make sure to check out The Krate’s next art show, “Friends and Family,” Friday Jan. 8 at 5 p.m. Stay connected at thekrate.com, westernvibe.bigcartel.com and mikekershnar.com.

This Goodwill Industries International mannequin models the “layered” look to create a draped silhouette. Photo by Rosario Serna.

A mannequin in the Santa Cruz Goodwill location, dressed by local artists participating in the Smart Moms art show, demonstrates the concept for “reduce, reuse, recycle” with this dress made of recycled CDs. Photo by Rosario Serna.

The clothing culture in Santa Cruz has become infamous for reuse and thrift. Community members and students alike are often innovative and creative with pieces they already have. The hard economic times and rising student fees have inspired some new fashion-savvy trends and ways to do it yourself (DIY). The resources for an environmentally conscious wardrobe makeover are bountiful downtown and right here on campus. 

While “shopping your closet” may be a novel concept for shopaholics, it has been the quintessential article written about the fashion industry for 2009. It’s also the anti-consumerist approach to fashion, combining and reusing thrift and vintage pieces from local destinations to recreate individualized versions of today’s popular trends.

Goodwill: Goodway to Wear

For students whose closets are less-than-overflowing with treasures, Santa Cruz is a great source for vintage apparel, thrift shops and craft supplies. Pacific Avenue is a hub for alternative shop-portunities, where UC Santa Cruz students and the community can find essentials for less.

The Goodwill Industries International store on Union Street and the Salvation Army store on Pacific Avenue are two examples of international thrift stores that have become popular on local levels. Both locations sell a variety of goods, from home furnishings to active wear, offering inexpensive necessities for people on a budget.

Evelyn Matthew, the store manager of Santa Cruz Goodwill, said she sees UCSC students at the store all the time.

“We’re always aware of students because they’re a real market for understanding our message,” Matthew said. “It’s a real treasure hunt.”

Matthew said the chain’s mission statement expresses its commitment to ameliorating the lives of the most needy people in the community.

New shipments arrive every day at the local Goodwill location, and the store offers a 10 percent discount on purchases made by students with a university ID every Saturday.

The Salvation Army also sees many UCSC students in its downtown store, according to Scott Peterson, assistant manager of the branch. The store offers a treasure trove of discounted items and on the last Friday of every month, all merchandise is 50 percent off.

“Mommy and Daddy can’t pay for everything,” Peterson said with a laugh.

Peterson said that the quality of the merchandise available is better now than before these recent hard times. The number one item students look for? “Clothes,” Peterson said.

“This is Santa Cruz, people come from all over to have fun,” Peterson continued. “Santa Cruz is an expensive town and we sell inexpensive stuff. We’re all about helping people.”

Selling the Goods

Many drop off their donations at the Salvation Army’s downtown location after trying their luck at Crossroads Trading Co. across the street. Crossroads is a popular destination for UCSC students to sell their no-longer-wanted clothes and pick up inexpensive new finds — or cash — in return. Crossroads helps shoppers free some much-needed space in student-sized closets while making exchanged clothes available for others who want to wear them.

Michele Costa, store manager at the Pacific Avenue store, said that the store collects all brands ranging from Target attire to designer duds. Every day Crossroads sees a bevy of shoppers browsing the color-coded racks and a steady stream of sellers who can sit and thumb through magazines while they wait to find out the worth of their turned-in goods.

Like many UCSC students, Mia Renauld, a first-year anthropology major, has sold some of her clothes to retailers like Crossroads. 

“It is nice to bring old clothes in, get [a] percent of what they would sell it for in credit, or get even less money [back] in cash,” Renauld said.

Vintage for Less

Crossroads and Goodwill have more modern finds, but Santa Cruz offers many locations for those looking for clothes from a specific decade. While the stores do not buy clothes back from students, Moon Zoom and Retro Paradise on Pacific Avenue retail unique pieces from the ’70s and ’80s that some students are eager to add to their closets.

Leopoleo Santos, owner and buyer for Retro Paradise, said he finds most of the store’s content at flea markets and antique shows.

“We ended up buying more [clothes] last year, and sold less,” Santos said. “We bought more inventory and variety, but we didn’t have a huge sale. They were the same as previous years.”

As is the case at many vintage shops, 95 percent of the pieces lining the Retro Paradise rack are processed and cleaned before they are brought in, “and that costs money,” Santos said.

Minding students’ budgets, Santos tries to keep inexpensive costumes in stock for students and people in the community.

“Students go for party stuff, and theme stuff,” Santos said. “They’re not necessarily looking for vintage pieces. Only tourists go for those ’50s or ’60s garments.”

Terry Rayburn, the owner of Moon Zoom, also offers discounts on the store’s ’70s-era clothing. A room toward the back of the store holds items for 50 percent off, and a rack with items for $5 welcomes people to the store. 

“We have a fair number of people coming in for party clothing and people who like to wear it as everyday wear,” Rayburn said.

In light of the economy, Moon Zoom does not discourage shoppers from its unique and reasonably priced findings.

“We had a lot of people over the spring [season], but we definitely aren’t doing as bad as some other stores,” Rayburn said.

Kurios on Pacific Avenue proves to remain a popular destination for modern trendy clothing, having a wide selection of both frivolous buys and classic wardrobe staples for students.

Amy Price, the store manager, has noticed a shift in what customers are buying recently.

“Usually people [are] going full-force into spring, buying summer dresses and trendier stuff,” Price said. “But we can’t keep our basics in stock. Our prices are pretty reasonable, so most people come to us for basics.”

DIY Crash Course

UCSC students know that the school offers many unique classes to expand their minds. To expand their closets, the theater arts department offers the course “Costume Construction.” The course allows students to turn their sketches into actual wearable items.

Renauld took the course in winter 2009, which was taught by Christine Duncan, a UCSC lecturer focusing on fabric and costume construction development for theater. 

“Christine Duncan makes costumes for most of the school productions,” Renauld said. “It was a great experience to work with people who had never sewn before as well as experienced people.” 

Renauld said she learned to sew from her mother, who in turn learned from her mother. She remembers spending her summers doing projects with her mother, mostly putting together dresses.

“I would wear dresses every day if the climate was up to it,” Renauld said.

The theater arts department initially intended to offer the class more frequently throughout the year, but budget cuts have limited the offering to every other year and forced the class size to huddle at a modest 10 to 15 students because of space constraints and the number of sewing machines available. 

“We’re trying to offer [the course] as a part of the comprehensive theater major curriculum,” Duncan said. “Those interested in costume design can learn to create what they draw.”

Duncan said that the majority of students she sees in her class are theater majors, art majors or students who are just interested in learning how to sew.

Whether students want to spruce up what they already have or buy something new, Duncan finds that she gets the most enjoyment from things she makes herself.

“I like making clothes and I like teaching people how to make clothes,” Duncan said. “It’s becoming a lost art. I like making something and making it fit well.” 

Duncan said that people during the ’30s and ’40s had to make their own clothes, while most modern consumers prefer to just pick up new items at the store.

“There’s a difference in the quality between something you make yourself and the quality of something you buy off the rack,” Duncan said. “The difference is in the fit and the style. It’s a big part of sewing: making it your own.”

Campus Consumers

Old clothes get new beginnings at clothes-swapping events held on campus. Last Tuesday, Students Together Opposing Poverty (STOP) hosted the Conscious Consumers clothes-swap for the second year in a row. STOP is an on-campus club that meets every Tuesday night at Merrill College for weekly teachings on poverty-related issues such as worldwide hunger and the genocide in Darfur. This year the event was held at Merrill’s Baobab Lounge.

The purpose of the annual event is to learn about what it means to be a conscious consumer, said fourth-year Nathan Ellstrand, a history and politics double major.

The event consisted of a lecture from STOP members and UCSC students Cecily Wild and Robyn Perry on conscious consumerism and sustainability during the first hour, and the second hour was the clothing-swap.

“The clothing-swap goes well with [Merrill’s] theme, ‘Cultural Identity and Global Consciousness,’” Ellstrand said. “People typically bring in whatever they have left over or whatever they want to get rid of.”

Students unable to make it to the swap can still make a difference by visiting the Sweat-Free Communities Web site, where they can learn about several progressive clothing companies making a difference for workers’ rights worldwide.

Photos by Alex Zamora.

Picturesque sunsets and warm evenings set the scene in Santa Cruz for spring fashion. UCSC’s fields boast beautiful bouquets of wildflowers and breathtaking views.

Spring fashions are as varied as the blooms that welcome the season. While a coat might seem heavy for spring, a light trench or cotton blazer is an easy way to be practical and look sharp throughout the day. Navys, blacks, whites, and metallics are always classic and are a “go” for any season, but don’t forget to be bold and make it your own. Remember it’s not the chain stores that have all the deals — thrift stores have plenty of options at fantastic prices. Go vintage and take advantage of the clothes and the local surroundings waiting for you whenever you need a new muse.

Spring brings about a reversal in personal style. The color palette changes from the darks of winter attire to the lights of spring frocks and bright colors. Sandals and flats replace winter boots, and sunglasses will be a year-round Californian classic. While some trends persevere through the seasons, some touches are particular to spring. Pastels and floral prints are perfect harbingers to the season. Living in Santa Cruz provides us with a beautiful backdrop to any outfit along with unpredictable weather — which provides countless opportunities to layer up or layer down, sometimes multiple times in the same day.

Panther Beach is perfect for barbecuing or escaping the stresses of school. These UCSC students, dressed in crisp eyelet dresses and button-down shirts, model a few examples of different styles that compliment spring. Brightly colored shorts and skirts are a must — just don’t forget that SPF.

Camille Stevens and Sarah Dooley, local high-school students, browse the racks of dresses at this year’s prom dress giveaway at the “Prom Dress Boutique” downtown. Photo by Isaac Miller.

While prom is now merely a distant memory for most collegiates, high-school students are knee-deep in the action of making plans for the big night. 

However, hunting down a beautiful, affordable dress remains a challenge for many.

In recognition of the need for affordability in a financially depressed economy, City Councilmember Tony Madrigal and Classic Cleaners sponsored their first prom dress giveaway last weekend to help high-school girls tackle the daunting task cost-free. Free dresses were offered to any girl who needed one for her big day, no questions asked.

“Attending your high-school prom is a great American tradition,” Madrigal said. “High-priced proms with all the expenses, including clothing and accessories, can very easily make a prom feel out-of-reach, leaving some students feeling left out.”

Over 2,000 dresses were collected through donations from citizens of Santa Cruz County over recent months. Community members were recruited to bring new and gently used dresses to any Classic Cleaners location, as well as other spots around the county set up for the drive. Armfuls of dresses were dished out at three “prom dress boutiques” on Saturday and Sunday in downtown Santa Cruz, Felton and Watsonville.

Aleen Raybin, a youth advocate at the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center (WAWC), expressed appreciation for the generous donations.

“People in Santa Cruz really responded to the drive,” Raybin said. “The community of Santa Cruz really came through.”

Jenn O’Brien-Rojo, the resource development director at the WAWC elaborated on the success of their outreach.

“When they got there to open there were already 10 to 15 girls lined up,” O’Brien-Rojo said of the Felton location.

Girls arrived consistently throughout business hours, bringing along a valued second opinion in the form of a friend or mother. 

Camille Stevens and her friend Sarah Dooley, two local Santa Cruz high-school students, giggled and chattered about their plans for prom while sorting through the silk and satin hanging on garment stands. 

“I’ve been looking forward to prom for many years,” Stevens said. “We’ve had plans to go together since middle school.”

Racks were hung with a rainbow of gowns in all styles, and tables displaying glittering jewelry were stationed next to shelves of high heels awaiting their new owners. 

Some girls had visions of what style they were looking for before they hit the racks. Stevens had a clear thought of what her prom dress would look like.

“My perfect dress would be something similar to a strapless, 1950s formal cocktail dress,” she said.

Others simply knew they wanted something fabulous.

“I really don’t have criteria, it’s really about what makes me feel good,” Sarah Dooley said.

Shoreline Cosmetology School is offering girls free make-up and hair for their special day, one of many local vendors who are donating time and resources. Classic Cleaners contributed much time and effort into making this event happen as well.

“Classic Cleaners have been amazing with all of this,” Raybin said. “They cleaned every single dress before [the giveaway].”

“Elected officials who have a good idea [still] need a team of community volunteers,” Councilmember Madrigal said. “I feel blessed for all the people who made this possible.” 

The organizers and volunteers of the first-ever prom dress giveaway don’t have a definite count yet of how many dresses were handed out, but they are confident the event was not just a success in numbers.

“This will reach way beyond the girls that showed up,” O’Brien-Rojo said. “It will let people know they live in a community that really cares about them, and cares about something as basic as the prom.”