F*ck ready to wear, get ready to rumble!

At last! Downtown style darlings House of Diehl have perfected the cocktail for a fashionably good time. The recipe? A little event they pull together every year called STYLE WARS. The Toy Plane scored access to House of Diehl’s STYLE WARS: STYLE BATTLE CHAMPIONSHIP earlier this month at legendary Don Hills in New York City. Hosted by Surface magazine and featuring a panel of stylish VIP judges Jenny Shimizu, Claw Money, Elettra Rossellini Weidemann & Rebecca Weinberg, STYLE WARS has grown into an international fashion party and competition like no other.

So what exactly is Style Battling? Let’s revisit that cocktail recipe analogy again, shall we? Mix 1 part thrift store shopping, 1 part hip hop battle, add a dash of Project Runway style drama, killer DJ's, and more than a few splashes of fresh talent. Then shake well and pour over a crazy hyped audience. That is Style Battling. Like some sort of high art boxing match using live mannequins, designers go head to head in 4 minute rounds of cut and sew -or in this case cut and tape- fury. Making use of everything from vintage clothing and random lamp shades to plain old trash these kids turn crap into incredible- and sometimes incredibly odd- new garments. Newbie designers battle for bragging rights and a chance at global exposure with a tour and spread in Surface Magazine.

House of Diehl creative partners (and the evenings MC’s) Mary Jo Diehl and Roman Milisic opened the show by crafting a spacesuit-slash-cocktail dress out of ‘I HEART MY CLEANERS’ hangers and Scotch Tape. Dope yes, but they weren't the ones competing. So for the next hour or so, crowd and judge watched and cheered for a way too easy newspaper dress, a tragically charming Karate Kid inspired jumpsuit thingy, and a Berlin Wall/Set it Off get up (the latter being the authors personal fave). But in the end there could only be one winner. A cute little duo of stylish vixens with a line called Dominique Auxilly trumped the night by turning paper strips into an animated tennis skirt and a frumpy 80’s wedding dress into a swanky vintage Chanel inspired cocktail frock. Kudos cuties!

Check out House of Diehl to see where the STYLE WARS tour ends up next.

P.S. Check out  HAEtv coverage of StyleWars and live interviews with some of the designers and judges!

TEAR DOWN THE WALLS!

SHOP & CHOP IT UP WITH ARTIST, DESIGNERS & DJs

Wow. Society HAE/Harriets's Alter Ego might just be the hardest working group of women I know. After a series of amazingly successful pop up boutique/pop up art gallery events this summer- and one such event just this past week in Philadelphia-Brooklyn's favorite girls are at it again. This time they're bringing the party and shopping to Harlem. If you've ever been to a HAE Shop-n-Mingle (the brands famous yearly holiday event hosted in Harlem) then you know how Harlem loves Harriet's and should expect a great time! If you’ve never heard of SocietyHAE of Harriet's Alter Ego...GET FROM UNDER THAT ROCK and come out on Saturday!

P.S Harlem Pop is a free event but bring some cash because the artwork, jewelry and clothing on sale is BANANAS!

xoxo

-Kitty

______________________

Come hang out at Harlem PoP this Saturday. We've re-purposed a historic Harlem Brownstone & will be showcasing the work of a stellar group of artists, designers & DJs. Come Shop & Have a good time!

Harlem PoP

A PoP Up Experience Shop In A Historic Harlem Brownstone

Saturday, October 17 - 2pm to 7pm

@Indigo Arms Guest House, 181 Lenox Avenue (@ 119th Street)

Admission is FREE.

RSVP To: http://www.going.com/harlempop

Harlem PoP is part of an ongoing series of "PoP Up Experience Shops" that utilize unconventional spaces to house one-day installations of art, music and fashion by emerging artists of various mediums. All works exhibited are available to purchase.

Harlem PoP is made possible through the support of:

metroPCS, Fusicology, http://Going.com, Steaz, Indigo Arms Guest House, Harriet's Alter Ego, 7one8 Designs, popchips, StepRepeat and NY Kings

Celebrate SocietyHAE.com!

Let me start off by saying I've missed you guy like CRAZY!

We've got so much catching up to do. So instead of a long boring apology for neglecting you... let's get right down to business.

You know we LOVE LOVE LOVE our family over at Harriet's Alter Ego, and we'd do anything for them. On that note, I want to personally invite you, as special guests of TheToyPlane, to join us this Friday, July 31, 2009 9pm at 38 Howard Street in SoHo as Harriet's Alter Ego celebrates the launch of it’s latest venture SocietyHAE.com with the "BETA BANGER'!

Email RSVP@THETOYPLANE.COM to confirm your spot!

________________________

click to see the full size flyer



Team SHAE is SUPER EXCITED about our launch party next Friday. We've been planning out all the details and it's going to be a great event. And thanks to Flip Mino HD SHAE bloggers will be reporting back to our global family with entertaining video recaps of the festivities. Stay Tuned.


THIS WEEK'S SOCIETY HAE GOODIES...

*** SHAE TV. This week we're proud to screen Taste of The Town produced by Team SHAE Music Blogger Tasty Keish.

*** SOCIETY PROFILES. This week we profile Goldi Gold an artist and t-shirt designer out of the ATL and Tye a indie fashion designer from Pittsburgh.

*** EXCLUSIVES. Team SHAE got to hang out backstage at the Rock The Bells Concert in Boston and captured some great shots of the event. Be sure to check out the Wu-Tang t-shirt montage.

*** FEATURES. Check out SHAE member Tanya Fields video post on how folks up in the Bronx are "liberating" the land.

*** EVENTS. This weekend if you're in NJ please go check out the Lincoln Park Music Festival in Newark, it's taking place all weekend long. Next week for folks in Philly check on Spectrum on Wednesday & if you're in NY you know all roads lead to Beta Banger on Friday. SEE THE EVENT PAGE FOR MORE DETAILS.

Disposable Income 1.0

Come, Shop, have a blast & get blasted. (the last part courtesy of TheRumPunchCrew bka MOI)

Shop-n-Mingle 2009 Edition. Hip-Hip-Hooray!

I may be a little bias, but I LOVE THIS EVENT! click the guide for the drop.

www.shopnmingle.com

Baby Let Me Show You What Love Is.

We won't be there but we are definitely in solidarity. Some of the freshest up and coming women artist in New York City (many who also happen to be some of our very favorite people) have put there stamp on this joint.

Now imagine that whispered in your ear.

We H(ART) BLK JKS

If you were lucky enough to be there, kudos to you! If not,here it is. "Mzabalazo" performed live at Harriet's Alter Ego.

Toyi Toyi with us... and be sure to get dem knees up!





What a classic day!
(and lovely guys to boot!)



p.s. LAKESIDE is our official theme song. Find it, love it, buy it.

Who is HEAVy?

Ok so, I admit it. I was way late to class.

A little over 42 hours ago, I was asking that very question.
But I'm a quick learner.
and know I know.

So here's the scenario. It's Saturday afternoon and Harriet's BackYard Couture is heating up nicely. Folks are having a good time, the punch is flowing and all is gravy. But 2 hours and 20 gallons of rum punch later, folks are standing around me scowling & pointing like I'm wearing a scarlet letter...

The blue jugs are EMPTY!

So I gather the troops and we're off in search of the biggest bottle of Captain Morgans we can find. ..Too bad cause the sidewalk show is about to start...oh well!

We are on our way back with bags of ice, gallons of rum, juices, and all kinds of other extras and I hear the two oldest instruments know to man. The voice and the drum....and damn it's LOUD!!

I'm tight. Mad. Upset. Now I'm rushing back to find out what the hell is going on, and where is Ngozi and why is she not stopping this madness! Cause whoever this HEAVy is, they are gonna get our shit shut down! (I'm three blocks away on loud ass, busy ass, Flatbush avenue and I can hear them clear as day)

By block 2 I've stopped cursing and started nodding my head.

By the time I get to the corner it's a wrap.

The musics got me trapped.

Liquor, ice, juice, hamburger buns, change... everything gets dropped ,right there on the sidewalk and it's on... MASH UP THE PLACE!

That's heavy.

Now Meet HEAVy.

BLOG MYSPACE

P.S. Check out these amazing photos of HEAVy @ BackYard Couture by Richard Louissaint

XOXO

Backyard Couture

It's a Tuff Road

Head of the Class

You know what it is...here is the 411. be there or take an L. (That means an F if your slow)

In cahoots with the Minority Report, The fly dames of Harriet's and BK girl band Sweetie are hosting the 3rd edition of "Class Re-Union". Enjoy good music and rock with great people. Sounds Provided By Frei of Soulvibes Digital

PLUS... The Ladies of Harriet's introduce"The Head of The Class" Awards. they will be bestowing 4 people with the ultimate class honors and rewarding them for being so dope.

what's on the lesson plan?
good music. great peoples. new friends

oh oh oh, and we forgot...class photos!!

AWARDS:
Best Dressed
Class Clown
Ms. Congeniality
Class Flirt

So join us this Thurs June 5th at Frank White Lounge(named & themed after the blocks most famous bully...Biggie Smalls!)

FRANK WHITE
936 Atlantic Avenue
(btw. St. James & Washington)

rsvp here>>>

HAE X BLK JKS / South Africa or Bust!

We prayed, we bartered, we paid a few favors (just kidding!)

we made it happen!

The BLK JKS are comming...

FREEDOM DAY @ HARRIET'S - Sunday, April 27 - 5pm

Live Performance, Free Food (MADIBA BKNY) & Drinks Courtesy of the infamous RUM PUNCH CREW!

Freedom Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on April 27. It celebrates freedom and commemorates the first democratic post-apartheid elections held on that day in 1994, when they saw Nelson Mandela elected as President.

"South African mindbenders BLK JKS create a multivalent, 360-degree view of Johannesburg Now: Afro-jazz riffs segue into tribal rhythms, which swagger through street-level sociology before exploding into hardcore bursts of noise, kwaai kwaito beats, and addictive rock hooks. Prepare yourself for a dizzy blend of up close, freaked-out, kind of-not-quite-like-anything- you've -heard-before music." -Time Out New York

yeah...we tried to tell you, early.

xoxo