These days, billboards, magazines and even local newspapers are filled with pictures of curvy models in push-up bras and tiny panties, but a hundred years ago, "undies" were "unmentionables."
One Denver man is taking us back to our underwear roots (though not as far back as the loincloth, thankfully) with the premiere of his Vintage Skivvies Fashion Show, tonight at Boulder's Gallery Sovereign. "I was looking around on eBay, and I stumbled upon some vintage catalogues featuring types of underwear that I'd never seen before," says Eric Baird, founder of Vintage Skivvies and a graphic designer by trade. "I thought they were so cool."
After researching the garment industry, Baird started his own line of classic undergarments, remaking everything from a 1940s one-piece Athletic Union Suit to tie-side boxer shorts. "I wanted to reinvent these underwear into something that the younger generation would embrace," he says. And although Baird's line was designed for men, ladies have also jumped on his bandwagon. "I run into women all the time who say, 'Hey, I'd like to wear that,'" he says.
Located at 1537 Pearl Street in Boulder, Gallery Sovereign will be pulsing with models strutting down the catwalk and local DJs PJ Stroller and Sex Clown providing hot beats. Tickets to the fashion show, which starts at 9, are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Call 303-987-3511 or visit www.vintageskivvies.com for the inside scoop. -- Julie Dunn
Puttin' on a Partridge Party
FRI 4/25
Peace, love, grooviness and maroon velvet will be out in full force tonight and tomorrow night at Polly Esther's Partridge Family Weekend.
"The Partridge Family is a really fun theme," says Kristin Erikson, general manager of the club. "You'll be hearing a lot of "Come On, Get Happy" classic Partridge Family music."
Celebrating the 1970s television show that gave us David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce, the LoDo nightclub even boasts a version of the famed psychedelic tour bus that the wholesome, musical family traveled the country in. Except, of course, that the Polly Esther's bus is hollowed out to hold a bar. "We'll even have trivia contests where people who really know their stuff can win free drinks," says Erikson. All aboard!
Polly Esther's is located at 2301 Blake Street; doors open nightly at 8. Call 303-382-1976 for details. -- Julie Dunn
King of Thrift
SAT 4/26
The bad news is, there will be no velvet Elvis. The good news is, the King will still appear at the Zephyr Lounge Art Exhibit and Opening -- as will a host of other lovelies from artist Myron Melnick's collection of thrift-store paintings. Melnick's father, Berry, has owned the Aurora institution, at 11940 East Colfax Avenue, for 56 years, and now Myron is juking things up while the 86-year-old recovers from a heart attack. The art show starts at 6 tonight, but Matt O'Neill, another art-world luminary, makes his stage debut as a "country crooner" at 8. -- Amy Haimerl
