When V contributor Matthu Placek hosted his 30th birthday at The Box last December, he assembled a who's who of downtown New York performance art to herald the big 3-0. Headlining the night was none other than the mother of current V cover girl Gabourey Sidibe, Alice Tan Ridley, who belted out soul and brought the house down! Perhaps you've caught her singing on your way to work through the subways of New York City? If not, keep your ears open when trekking through Grand Central Station. Hosted by comic genius Amber Martin, who introduced, in full vocal range, such artists as vocalist Scott Matthew, opera singer Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Fischerspooner's Casey Spooner, who performed two never-before-heard songs from his forthcoming solo album. Last but not least, I performed my first jazz number on stage. James Kaliardos

Enjoy this 10 minute montage from the over two-hour performance!

Click here for a slideshow

Film Footage by Russ Turk
Edited by Alessandro Magania
Audio Post by Max Tannone

With Special Thanks to Subvoyant for making this montage come together!

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I arrived in D.C. with Sting and Trudie Styler (straight from the Sundance Film Festival) to work with them as they supported and celebrated the new administration. I met my twin brother Bill on U Street in subzero temperatues to see the old jazz district, where the Obama excitement was mounting. We had woken up at 4 in the morning from the laughter in the street from the early thousands braving the seven degree wind chills to catch Obama's moving speech. There were millions of people, all orderly, polite, excited. Before the speech came it felt like everyone was going to burst. There was so much pride in everyone's faces. We were all in togetherness—all aware that we played a part in making this historic day happen. I didn't know where I'd be able to go, a sea of people was never ending, I just knew I had to be outside. I walked and found my way to the Washington Monument. I couldn't believe I could get there. It was the most symbolic place in D.C. What would Washington think of today and how far we have come? I managed to find my brother Bill at the corner of the monument and we stood in silence with millions as Aretha Franklin sang and President Obama spoke and urged us to be involved and responsible from today onward. And then I saw that Michelle Obama was wearing a coat and dress by my friend, the true fashion genius Isabel Toledo. The getting home was crowded and slow but we were organized and satisfied. Then I got Trudie ready for her three-ball night where Sting was to perform in each. Cold but cool, a day I'll never forget.

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Photography James Kaliardos

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I wanted to ask Donatella Versace if she'd mind me going as her for V's annual blow-out Halloween bash. I went as Karl Lagerfeld last year so I wanted to continue with my iconic designers and who else but Donatella would be next? I didn't want to insult her so I asked fashion editor Brana Wolf in July to ask Donatella if she'd be ok with it. I got a phone call in September from the great glamour goddess herself right before her show, wanting to know if I was still in shape."Great! You are my size, I'll send you two dresses."  Didn't think it would happen when a week before the party a box comes from Italy with two gorgeous sculptural gowns—one black, one nude, all silk, pure Versace! Now I really had to do this! What was a fun thematic idea now became a scary sex changing reality. I had just been in Rome for the film festival pigging out on pasta for 10 days and the chosen dress was Donatella's and a size 4. I started on a liquid diet of water, fresh vegetable juice, and vitamins, which was a shock after a week of Tiramisu! Then the quest for man-size womens shoes. V publisher Jorge Garcia, who was going as a bride, and I went to all these shops specializing in, well that sort of search. Homeboys and their girls helped me select the lucite platform 7-inchers. Then came the waxing appointment for legs, arms, armpits (yikes), chest. Went to Bliss Spa but they wouldn't do everything if you know what I mean...so I went to a "men's spa" that night to finish the job. Strattling a rolling table on all fours, burning wax dripping down my privates—I mean I couldn't have a hairy ass with that transparent beige gown!

Then the wig was better pushed back a bit so I bleached my hair that day, by myself. Hostess Gemma Ward and I met in a room at the Gramercy Park Hotel to get ready. She was painting herself gold and I was painting myself bronze! Coutured, contoured, smoky-eyed, big lashes, borrowed diamonds, I was ready to slip into the dress. I had to squeeze my ribs and waist in about two inches for the dress to invisizip up. I used an old Patricia Field corset with the help of five people. It ain't easy being a blonde but I had the night of my life! I only hope Ms. Versace approved!

Click here for a slideshow of James and Gemma getting ready
Click here for pictures from the party hosted by vmagazine.com

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My favorite show of New York fashion week was by far Isabel Toledo. She is a true genius, an original designer. Each outfit comes from somewhere out of Isabel's boundless inspiration. There was a graphic minimalism mixed with an organic lightness this season, so we kept the face minimal and streamlined with highlights shooting out from inner and outer corner of the eyes (the outer in mat white and the inner in a reflective cream). The skin was done with a few different tones to add color in subtle ways, and as it was the end of fashion week, to help boost the healthiness of the girls without adding blush. Then we added a natural, neutral lip using a pale cream cheek color.

View JD Ferguson's backstage shots from the Anne Klein show > 

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Soft focus was the look at Richard Chai on Sunday. No black liner, no mascara. Soft grey eye socket creases soft brushed in the center of the crease and under eye. Put brush in the center and work it side to side. A glowy opal pink/gold smack center of the lid. No blush, no eyebrow color, just brushed up. Richard said "ethereal, but cool." This was his best show so far. He is a great guy and a precise technician. The only problem with this look was when 10 girls arrived at showtime with Michael Kors sunset eyeshadow and bronzed like St Tropez. Teams from M.A.C rubbed and scrubbed until their fragile porcelain skin came back and we got them ready in minutes.

Kasia Struss (Women) backstage at Richard Chai

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I woke up the morning I was meeting Kate and Laura from Rodarte with this wild, Surrealist dream in my head. I dreamt of this makeup with flying lines and a floating eyeball in the center. Jean Cocteau meets punk and ballet. Being the rebel-loving girls they are, Kate and Laura decided to go with my dream. They had been thinking of a graphic lined look already, so we were in sync. It is rare when the hair and makeup can both be so strong and work so well with a collection. One of us usually has to compromise. Hair sculptor Odile Gilbert made a tight ponytail with long, hand-colored extentions that degraded up to the natural color of each girls hair. The effect was magical and very cool. The hundred-degree room surprisingly didn't melt the makup or the reaction of the crowd. The collection was sweet. This was my favorite.

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Snejana Onopka (DNA) backstage at Rodarte
Photography JD Ferguson 

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Twiggy circa '72. Romantic face with big eyes and healthy tan contour under cheekbones and temples. A brown/taupe eyesocket contour to deepen the eye. Mat beige on the eyelid. Use creamy products to keep the glow. Lightly powder the center T-zone. Deep Neutral Stained lips to keep the look feminine. Good coating of black Mascara top and bottom of curled lashes. That's perfection.

Vanessa (Muse) at Nicole Miller

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The idea of going to the Hamptons freaks me out on a few different levels. Mainly, I have become a city boy, not that I love the rats of NYC, but I’ll deal with them over the hundreds of minute creatures that find me in the country (if you can call the Hamptons the country). I prefer when ninety-nine percent of the ground is asphalt. But I was willing to risk all to celebrate a couple great endeavors: the launch of Visionaire 51 HARMONY, our giant art puzzle issue, produced with the support of Lexus and their newly launched hybrid, at Robert Wilson's Watermill Foundation Gala Benefit.

I've been to the Hamptons, mainly for fashion shoots, when the Hamptons is everything you think it is: bright, white, and cheery. But here I am on the highway, crawling at a snail’s pace on one-lane route 27. I stop at a local seafood joint and meet Visionaire's Jorge Garcia and friends for some lobster rolls and fries. Keep the style going, keep it going. We stuff ourselves on the roadside and reflect about the cuhuhute rasta-haired dishwasher and sweet Dalí–obsessed cashier, who loved our friend Matthu Placek's gravity-defying mustache.

We head to our "hotel". Outside it looks like a Motel 6. Inside the rooms are bigger than an NYC apartment (hey, size sometimes does matter). I crash-nap so I can be "on" tonight. I awake to Cecilia Dean checking in on me, wet in a towel from the pool. "Cec, you gotta get ready!" "I'll be ready in 10," she says—and she means it. And I don't mean gym-ready, she'll be decked-out-in-couture-ready while I'm still figuring out my tie. She is like the bionic dresser. So in ten, Cecilia is astonishingly done and beautiful in her custom-made Rodarte white satin  dress covered with silk-chiffon flowers. I'm wearing a tuxedo jacket with jeans that, for some unknown reason are so TIGHT that even lifting my thigh proves challenging.

I climb into our waiting Lexus vehicles that silently take us to the event. Ahh, the lap of luxury…I do love it so…if only for a fleeting moment. The ride is heaven and cradling and comfortable. Can't Lexus sponsor NYC cabs? Imagine a silent smooth cruise with leg room in NYC driven by someone who knows where they are, where you’re going, who wears deodorant (don't get me started), and who is not yapping on his cell. Someday. So we meet up at a forest entrance with Tom Sachs and Genevieve Hanson and start the theatrical ascent up the torch-lit path. Cecilia's boyfriend, David Selig, brings Mott, his David Bowie-eyed dog. He makes the night, starting by rolling in the pine needles on the ground and then inspecting the curious frog creatures that are acting it up at the entrance.

Start sound. Clicking loud paparazzi-like blasting from loud speakers. Tonight all my senses are open. It is sensory overload, and that is a lot for a New Yorker to say. We’re chatting with Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf underneath a gynormous three-story high mural of Visionaire 51 HARMONY which acts as backdrop to the party. To the right is a plump nude woman painted red smashing glasses of milk. A little further to the right under a tent is Dita Von Teese posed on a swing in the middle of the air, re-enacting her video portrait by Robert Wilson. In front is an artist autistically droning repeated statements about the environment. To the left is another tent where all the art to buy is on view. They have, for example, my favorite Elizabeth Peyton watercolor of Jackie Kennedy and her son and a partially burned Audrey Hepburn portrait. Across the courtyard is forest and I go into the woods to see more video installations by Robert Wilson: frogs, owls, and porcupines…beautiful as it darkens.

It’s live auction time with Simon de Pury! High bidders! Art flying from the teens to over a hundred thousand dollars. Audrey becomes a bidding war. People are fighting over Cecily Brown. People raising their hands as prices sky rocket. The Lexus hybrid goes for $110K! How can you think straight after all that liquor? I guess that's the point. I win my silent bid photograph, which is a present for Jorge. He still doesn't know…I doubt he'll read this, so it will still be a surprise.

We head back, full of booze, food, and sensory stimulation. I missed dessert and feel cheated so we stop at the gas station and load up on Pepperidge Farms, meet at the pool, and skinny dip, just as the mosquitoes move in…

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