One of the annual comforts that gets a Portlander through the winter is to gather in the cozy glowing confines of the Doug Fir for Unmentionable, a show dedicated to locally made, comfortable and/or sexy underthings that remind you that being in bed is pretty much the Best Place to Be till further notice.
It’s one of a handful of shows that’s co-produced each year by the Hawthorne shop formerly known as Mag-Big and currently re-branding as Altar (more on that in a sec), and it features returning favorites like Rachel Rector, Urchin Redesign, and Lille Boutique, and reps plus sizes, too. It’ll also be the first show featuring looks from the newly incarnated Altar house line. It’s loosely meant to be a Valentine’s Day thing, but you can take or leave that aspect of it. This year it’s happening Tuesday, Feb 10.
- Rachel Rector and Nico Mazza
- I’m really not sure what’s happening here, but it sure does make me smile.
But first! There are a sturdy handful of other design-related happenings you should be aware of: The grand re-opening/reveal of the old Mag-Big/new Altar, which promises a darker, bohemian, kind of Stevie Nicks-ish vibe (Fri Jan 16, 3279 SE Hawthorne, 6-10 pm); a trunk show/open house at the studio of Michelle Lesniak, featuring her own designs along fellow Project Runway survivor/all star Gunnar Deatherage (Sat Jan 17, 1123 SE Market, noon-6 pm); The Fashion Noteworthy Book Club of Portland convenes again over the title The End of Fashion by Teri Agins (Tues Jan 20, What’s Upstairs, 736 NW 23rd, 6:30-8:30 pm); a new collab between OMSI and the Paul Mitchell school (?!) called Fashion Meets Film, with a combo of Portland (Wendy Ohlendorf, Stephanie Dong) designers and guests from as close as Seattle and as far as China (Sat Jan 24, OMSI, 1945 SE Water, 5:30-11 pm); a Mabel & Zora fashion show called Shine, to benefit I Have a Dream (Thurs Feb 5, Urban Studio, 935 NW Davis); and Fade to Light is scheduled for Wed Feb 25, so…
That’s a whole lot of stuff for what’s supposed to be the sleepiest time of year! Not to mention that the Portland Art Museum‘s Italian Style opens Feb 7 and will unleash its own flurry of satellite events. Dang.