Kansas City News Blog

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The national Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign sauntered -- and stumbled -- across the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus last night. Dozens of professors, students and fraternity members donned high heels to raise money for the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project and the UMKC Violence Prevention and Response Project.

Never thought you'd catch Kansas City Star columnist Lewis Diuguid sporting a pair of black pumps? See pictures after the jump.

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Ari Fish, the mandatory token nut job was "aufed" tonight -- and that was the shocker because she was so wacky that she added character to the show. During a segment when the designers were supposed to be sketching, Ari, who doesn't sketch, meditated and,seriously, did a headstand. Her design was rather frightful - a silvery top made up of hexagons over shorts (Red carpet-wear? Um, no.) Tim Gunn wondered if it might look like a "geodesic diaper" and Michael Kors called it a "disco soccer ball." Lindsay Lohan had an almost visible bubble over head when she saw the outfit, like "Whaaaat is that?"

Spy on Vegas

Larry Johnson

Wearing his nonchalantly contrived top cap to the side, a Kurt Cobain plaid button down, Mr. T necklace, blinged out pink Swatch, Abu Ghraib business casual fatigues and a pair of Kanye West ruby red kicks, Kansas City Chiefs' running back Larry Johnson was sidelined by the fashion police at PURE in Vegas this weekend.

By NADIA PFLAUM

So I was all, "Is that a Keith Haring dress?" And Christine was all, "Yeah, I think it is. I got it at a thrift store, but it's obviously that." Christine's a painting major at the Kansas City Art Institute, which explains (1) her getting the Haring reference and (2) her effing awesome style.

"People at the Art Institute have a lot of style," Christine said. "They're kind of on the cusp of it."

Christine is interning for designer Peggy Noland at the moment, and says that Peggy's doing a baby theme right now. "She's got diapers, and collars with big pillows on 'em, and stuff that says, 'I (heart) Mom.' I'm so into it."

It would be pretty hard not to heart that.

By NADIA PFLAUM

Danielle seemed pretty shocked that I'd want to take her picture for a fashion blog. She shouldn't have been. In the midst of Mike's Tavern, she glowed -- and it wasn't just the rhinestones on her forehead that did it. "I got 'em from my niece, and she got 'em from a Somalian store," Danielle said. "They're bindi dots."

It took a lot of guts to cut all her hair off, Danielle admitted -- she did it only three weeks ago. "I'm trying to do new stuff -- to let my outside reflect my inside." She laughed at herself for sounding all metaphysical, but went on. "You know, like, if bad stuff happens to you, it's like a storm? But it has to rain for something new to grow. So that's me. Growing. I want new things. The person I was is not who I am now, not who I'm gonna be."

So she asked her boyfriend -- "my honey," she calls him -- to shave her head before work one morning. "I said, cut it all off," she said. "I put my back to the mirror and he started cutting it and I was catching it in my hands as it fell. And I cried for a little bit -- you know, it's your hair. At first, I didn't know if I would be okay. But it's okay."

It's more than okay -- bald is beautiful. Danielle called her honey -- the tallest man in the bar, by a lot -- over to say hello. "You'd'a liked the afro, though," she said. "Wouldn't she have?" Naturally, her honey agreed.

By JEN CHEN

I’m an impatient shopper; I hate pawing through jumbled clothes racks at stores. That’s one of the reasons why I like Frankly Basic. Not only does it carry some cool clothes, but everything is nicely arranged. And, there’s a cute canine mascot, too! (and a very nice owner, as pictured above).

By NADIA PFLAUM

Let me just start by saying that I know this photo blows. I know it. But it's the only one that remotely showed off Angie's Betsey Johnson spider necklace that she got on sale at Macy's for $18 instead of $80, which was the whole point of this post. And no, you can't buy one -- they're sold out. Sonofa!

Angie is a hairdresser, which explains her kick-ass asymmetrical haircut. You're going to have to trust me on this one.

"I'm generally up in my True Religions and some type of t-shirt," she says of her everyday look.

"She bought these jeans for me," Tim says, pulling at the fabric. "They were like $30. I never spend that much money on clothes."

Angie cocks an eyebrow. "More like $300."

"She's kind of my sugar mama," Tim says. Some guys have all the luck.

By NADIA PFLAUM

Charlie is a regular at Mike's Tavern and is very particular about the level of his hat. He told me he used to carry a carpenter's level in his pocket to make sure his hat is straight. I thought he was joking until I got this email:

I didn't much care fer either one of those pics ya took of me, Charlie wrote. It's not that there's anything wrong with em per se, it's jus that I didn't like that "jaunty" angle of my lid. I don't do"jaunty" y'dig? I always strive to keep my brim angles level, y'know what I mean. I likes em straight and low.

So he sent me the above picture to replace the offending one. Laura, Mike's "bar maid," as Charlie calls her, is pictured next to him. Being a regular means Charlie doesn't run out of pictures of himself at Mike's Tavern.

He bought that gold medallion around his neck a year ago. "I always wear some kinda necklace," Charlie told me. "I'm afraid sometimes that it looks too garish. Too ostentatious. That's not me." He glanced around. "If my friends saw me getting interviewed about fashion, they'd laugh and laugh."

At least you're not getting caught at a jaunty angle, Charlie.

By JEN CHEN

As I left work the other day, I spotted Allison Morrow across the street from The Pitch's office. She was meeting friends at Nara. Her outfit rocks – I love the combination of her cool boots with an airy cream-colored dress and a dark purple cardigan.

By NADIA PFLAUM

Vanessa and Erika are sisters born 11 years apart, but their fashion sense wasn't separated at birth. If accessorizing was a sport, both these girls would be first-round draft picks.

"We never go shopping together. She dresses younger than me. I'm 34, I can't do all that," Erika says, waving her hands in her sister's direction.

"What, you mean the sparkly pasties and suspenders?" Vanessa jokes. "That's my night look."

Vanessa got her floppy black hat at Forever 21 in Oak Park Mall, and her great shoes at the Wild Pair.

If she had a zillion dollars, Vanessa says she'd travel cross-country, stopping at every thrift store and Urban Outfitters on her path. If you win the lottery, V, I'm coming with you.

In a room full of hipsters, my eye was drawn to Joelle Zbacnik because of her hair -- a Euro-style mullet adorned with a skinny purple headband worn right across her bangs. Her friend gave her the 'do. "It was long and I cut it off. And these are actually extensions," the Zbacnik said, pulling on a braid. "We were gonna go rattail, and then we decided mullet instead."

With her skinny purple headband and her skinny jeans, Zbacnik's look is very hipster trendy. And it's no wonder -- the 23-year-old works at Urban Outfitters in Lawrence. "I have a sweet discount," she said. So that's where she gets most of her clothes, like her cute cupcake top. But every once in a while, she snags a deal somewhere unexpected. Those bright orange tennis shoes lighting up her feet came from Wal-Mart. And they only cost $5.