fitforafemme.com

Meet one of Brooklyn’s finest femmes, kittens! Here’s the delightful Bevin Branlandingham of FemmeCast and Queer Fat Femme. She and I ran a little workshop at the Femme2010: No Restrictions conference last Friday morning. We met for the first time in June at her incredible Re/Dress & Size Queen event in Oakland, after becoming fast internet friends through our mutual love of fashion, all things femme, and involvement on our respective committees with the Femme Collective earlier this year.

Also, her tomboy friends have the cutest puppies, don’t you think?

Of course, her outfit rules. This is one LBD that refuses to be outdone, and the little tart hair clip was quite the cherry on top of her ensemble. Here’s her really impressive bio, since it says it way better than I could:

Bevin Branlandingham is the Host and Producer of FemmeCast: The Queer Fat Femme Podcast Guide to Life. She is a flamboyant femmecee, writer, drag king, burlesque and comedy performer. She is Co-Head Madam of the Femme Family, the New York Chapter of the Femme Mafia, on the steering committee for the Fat and Queer conference and the media committee for the Femme Conference. In 2008 Bevin received a Commendation from the Mayor of Jersey City for her work with the LGBT community. Her writing has been published in numerous periodicals and she has performed throughout North America. Her mission is to make the world a safe place for people to love themselves, regardless of their marginalizations. Her website (including blog, calendar of events and workshops) is found at QueerFatFemme.Com.

She also blogs at Butch-Femme.com and The Femme’s Guide to Absolutely Everything and performs throughout North America.

This has to be one of my most favorite collages ever. Adorable puppy? Check. Pretty, multi-talented femmes? Check. Dildo? Check. Fancy hair ornaments? Check. DONE AND DONE.

I need Bevin to chime in on her outfit particulars, but here are mine:

Dress: Calvin Klein
Shoes: MaxStudio
Bag: Betsey Johnson
Earrings: Vintage
Necklace: Culp Baubles
Feathered Hair Clip: Buffalo Exchange

Waiting for Rufus Wainwright. After the closing remarks at the conference, M fetched me from the hotel and we set out for Napa. It couldn’t have been a more perfect evening. The temperature was perfect, the light falling softly at sundown was perfect, dinner was outstanding and Rufus Wainwright was absolutely wonderful, as always. At one point during the show, M whispered to me “How is he even a real person? His albums sound so good, but then you hear him live up there and he’s somehow much, much better than all that!” and I nodded with my tear-streaked face.

He made corny Napa jokes and told a few stories between songs, and he played La Complainte de la butte and Memphis Skyline (two of my favorites). Zebulon undid me completely. His sister brought the petite onstage and they all sang together (well, the petite cooed), and it was really lovely. I cannot wait until he’s back in November with the SF Symphony for Five Shakespeare Sonnets.

I am going to go every single day of the 3-day series, come hell or high water.

I AM SO EXCITED. Why am I so excited? The delightfully lovely new posters / flyers for August’s Femme 2010: No Restrictions in Oakland have arrived and they are made of awesome. Of course they are, because they were designed by the talented Cristy Road. Curious about this magical sounding femme conference? Click on the image below to go straight to the Femme Collective website to learn more. I want to see as many of your amazing faces there as I can. You wouldn’t want to miss my special workshop, would you? That’s right, yours truly is presenting a workshop called TechFemme.

Without further ado, here’s your first look! Soak in the PRETTY.

God, I love these Levi’s. They’re as soft as a baby’s downy little cheek and quite flattering and they are so very comfortable. You’ll hate me less for saying that all matter-of-factly when I tell you that I got them at Costco for approximately $17.  All I need is a freaking pony. OK, and these boots:

Much better. I feel strongly that you’re not taking me seriously as a moody cowgirl. I’ll show you!

I’ve been informed by a dear, chic of mine that I absolutely cannot permit one more ray of sunshine to permeate my wardrobe without first securing a classic blue chambray shirt. The hunt has begun, my friends. Since Laia (also: buy her stuff!) immediately agreed and said she’s in need of one, too, I decided to see what y’all thought.

Clockwise from top left:

Juicy Couture Chambray Shrunken Western Shirt, $138
Rachel Comey “Agronomist” Chambray Dress, $260
Tory Burch Chambray Blouse, $210
J. Crew Japanese Selvedge Chambray Shirt, $78
Lauren by Ralph Lauren Nadelle Chambray Shirt, $48.65

Yeah, I know one of those is a dress and doesn’t count, but I got distracted and I’m a sucker for a playful twist on a keyhole back. For me, the clear winner is J. Crew, which shocks me. It just looks all kinds of soft and dreamy, and the perfect balance of structure and slouchy. Effortless! What’s your favorite – or better yet, have you got any links or pics to share of your own?!

Yes, such a thing exists.
Yes, it is amazeballs.
Yes, we need your submissions ASAP!

This is my first year on the Planning Committee for Femme Collective’s Annual Femme Conference, Femme2010: No Restrictions – it’ll also be my first year attending. (I know, what took me so long?!) I couldn’t be more excited about it and from the look of submissions so far, it’s going to be incredible. From DJ workshops to roundtable discussions on body image, femmes aging gracefully to femmes starting up their own businesses, fashion, parenting, activism, self-defense and more, we’re building a space that embraces, celebrates and empowers femmes from all walks of life. Not only would I like to invite y’all to be there this August, I’d like to challenge you to be a part of the very fabric of this ultrafemme weekend.

If you’re femme and you have skills, big ideas, hot topics, talent or special knowledge, we need you! The deadline for submissions is April 15, so get on it – I know a ton of you out there who are too awesome not to get involved! We’re looking for workshops, panel presentations, performances, research presentations, skill shares, activist & organizational topics, visual art, video or film – and more. DO IT.

I’m pushing for a workshop on femme bloggers and femmes in social media, so I really hope to see some of you there! Here’s the skinny from the website:

Femme2010: No Restrictions
Oakland Marriott City Center
1001 Broadway
Oakland, California 94607
August 20th – 22nd, 2010
www.femmecollective.com

Femme2010: No Restrictions is a multi-threaded conference and forum for those who think about, talk about, and create Femme as a queer gender and identity.

Following our Femme2006 & 2008 conferences in San Francisco & Chicago, where hundreds of femmes and allies gathered for workshops, panels, films, visual art galleries and performances, we again invite community members, artists, academics, homemakers, geeks, techies, activists, femmes of all kinds, and their allies to continue the conversation by participating in Femme 2010 as presenters and participants.

We are invested in having Femme2010 continue to reflect the diversity and complexity of femme gender, identity and contributions. We hope for this conference to be a community building event, as well as an exploration and celebration of what it means to build and live queer femme identities.

Submissions of all kinds are welcome, particularly submissions by femmes. We encourage proposals by and for people of color, working-class people, fat folks, elders, youth and people with disabilities. We encourage submissions that work outside and alongside identity and gender, as well as those reflecting directly upon identity and gender. Femme2010 will continue the community dialogue from Femme2006 & 08. In particular, we hope that the intersections of femme with race, region, class, access, ability, privilege, and marginalization will be talked about, given space, meditated upon, constructed, and deconstructed. Finally, we also encourage submissions based on this year’s theme: No Restrictions.

We began this conference in 2006 out of a desire to see femme explored and discussed from a variety of perspectives. We wanted a conference that held the complexities of Queer Femme as its central focus, while building community. We feel we accomplished that in 2006 & 2008 and in 2010, we want to continue to build femme community and bridges, supporting each other across borders and differences.

We hope to draw participants from across disciplinary, medium, and social boundaries. We encourage submissions from anyone interested, regardless of gender or sexual identity. We do ask that you read our mission statement before submitting.

We are soliciting contributions from anyone interested, including (but not limited to):

> workshops
> panel presentations
> performances
> research presentations
> skill shares
> activist & organizational topics
> visual art
> video or film

Submission deadline is April 15, 2010. Please submit your proposal through the following links, located at www.femmecollective.com:

Program Submission click here

Performance Submission click here

Film Submission click here

**Please note that the more information we have on your submission, the more likely we will be able to accept your submission and include it in the conference schedule.***

To learn more about us, our mission and to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns, please find us at our website: http://www.femmecollective.com

HELLO, KITTENS!

How the hell are you? It’s been a week! A whole week!

Before anything else: Thank you for voting for Fit For A Femme, even if we didn’t win a Lezzy Award this year, we stood up there with the big dogs and it was totally awesomesauce, and I lovelovelove y’all for voting day in and day out with all your might.

So, I got this mini whilst thrifting for, like, $2, NWT. It makes for a great casual, relaxed look, but where the hell does The Gap get off charging $50 for a tiny denim miniskirt? Not that it isn’t great. It is. It’s just that I wouldn’t dream of wearing this without leggings on underneath. It’s SCANDALOUSLY short. And tiny. And not worth that crazy sticker price, which makes finding it for next to nothing that much sweeter. I went BANANAS thrifting last week. It was a month-end clearance sale, and I got 15 super awesome pieces – from a beautiful azure blue sunhat with the most dramatic brim to an armful of calico sundresses for Spring to a soft chestnut brown shrunken velvet blazer (it screams equestrian) – for just under $35 and in less than 1.25 hours. SCORE. Shopping = femme sports.

What else? Oh, you know, not much. I completed my utterly life-changing self-defense training on Sunday, and new bruises are STILL popping up all over my body. Badges of honor, my instructor calls them. I had the privilege of fighting FIVE fights at my graduation ceremony (with M and the petite there to support and cheer me on), instead of the standard three. DO NOT MESS, Y’ALL.

I was just named a member of the Femme Collective, which is gearing up for Femme2010: No Restrictions this August. Femmes, mark your calendars (and reserve your spot on the infamous Skinny + M sofabed now if you’re an out-of-towner)! Speaking of M, she and I are headed across the Bay Bridge next week for a meeting with other legally wed California couples to discuss next steps as powerful advocates for marriage equality, which I’m really excited about. Writing checks and being visible and all that is well and good, but I never feel like I’m doing enough unless I’m doing.

I will be a busy girl. A busy, happy, girly girl!

Also, we just ordered her a pair of these dapper new shoes: