October 10, 2005
Beauty Summons Its Nemeses From The Seething Hive Of Envy [Updated]
The Psychedelic Leprechaun, dress by Catherine King, 2003-2005, detail of six-layered flounce. (Do you see those thin satin lines, reader? She laid each one down herself.)
by Jerome du Bois
Well, that didn't take long.
Some pseudonymous, cowardly, presumable fashon designer, who hides behind the moniker outofthered, tries to trash Catherine King and her latest dress on Angela Johnson's labelhorde discussion board, with pathetic results. Go read, and come back for further comments.
I was going to try to get that photograph off the forum website, but why? Leave it. Hell, enlarge it. I'm proud of it, and her. Go on, everybody, look at it; take as many minutes as you want, and later, when Catherine posts more about it, with photographic details, go find outofthered and see what he or she has been doing lately, creatively. Go now and compare it with anything Angela Johnson or labelhorde or anyone in the Valley has presented in the recent past.
In fact, here is the challenge to Angela Johnson and outofthered and every so-called fashion designer in the Valley who has access to this blog: send us the image of the dress that can stand up to, or beside, The Psychedelic Leprechaun.
You first, outofthered.
We're waiting, lightweights.
UPDATE (10/11): And now on that discussion board you can see the truth of my title. Apparently, outofthered is a photoshopper, not a fashion designer, otherwise he would have posted a photo of his own work instead of two photos of Catherine and her work. No chops at all; instead the lowest form of criticism, right out of third grade, which is about his intellectual and reading level. (By the way, if I'm wrong about his gender, so what?)
Again, as with the local art yokels, outofthered and Angela Johnson make the mistake of thinking we envy them, and want to join them. Why would we do that? We have made clear that it's The House Of Not For Sale. And it's Outsider Haute Couture. We don't want any part of the local fashion scene. We just outshine it, and will keep doing so.
Surprisingly to me, Susan DiStaulo, Johnson's partner, gets it:
i really liked that catherine king dress! i tought it was quite creative and interesting. as someone who does so much handwork ( so much so that my hands are in bandages now) i appreciated all the energy and handwork in that garment. looked like a labour of intense dedication and love of art.
Exactly.