More visitors from Planet Chic

My niece, Tafv Sampson (pronounced Tava), moved from LA to Portland, OR just in time to start high school last year.  Her interests include sewing and photography, and she's already made headway into the highly creative local arts and fashion community.  Here she is posing for photographer Peter V. in clothes by Kathryn Towers, co-owner of Seaplane, a Portland fashion collective that features the work of 40 local designers.  For more pics, including a close-up of Tafv's fantastic, Tribal Tammy Faye eye makeup, visit her mom Nancy's blog. 

When I was in Portland visiting my mother a couple of years ago we went to the Seaplane fashion show in the lobby of the Weiden & Kennedy Building (the ad agency for Nike), and were stunned to find ourselves among a crowd of over 1,000 Pacific Northwest fashion mavens. And they looked better than any crowd I've ever seen at a show in NY or LA--everyone was self-created and eccentric, and the designers in the show had their work cut out for them trying to top their audience.  I visited Seaplane the next time I was in town, and picked up an amazingly clever "collar" by designer Erin MacLeod, made out of a men's silk necktie. I wear it all the time with my pinstriped suit instead of jewelry.