Pumps & Pleats: Stand out in 'Swank-y' couture

Story and photos by Michèle De Meglio

One of the worst things that could happen to a fashionista is buying a pricey cocktail dress and then spotting the same garment on another gal at a party.

Oh, the horror.

Fortunately, there’s a shop in Sheepshead Bay that’s helping local ladies avoid this nightmare. When Swank boutique fills its inventory with special occasion dresses and ball gowns, only three of the same design ever make it onto the racks. In some cases, just two.

And oh, what dresses they are!

There’s a floor-length silver column with ruching that would fit perfectly at a Hollywood Oscar party.

Or, the short floral number with an intricately beaded neckline.

Don’t forget the chiffon maxi dresses with tribal prints.

Once you select your favorite red carpet gown, of course you’ll need accessories. Fortunately, the shop’s owners are happy to help style shoppers.

Swank’s shiny gold and black clutches would be the perfect combos with any of the red-hot dresses.

The jewelry counter has plenty of Juicy Couture’s popular gold-over-brass designs. Gals who love big, bold pieces would surely drop a few bucks for the oversized heart and toggle chain or chunky bracelet adorned with a Juicy crown.

If big gemstones are your thing, there’s a respectable collection of fine jewelry featuring a massive amethyst ring and a three-stone ring with perfect pink sapphires.

There’s even stylish shoes to complement the most dressy outfit. For a sleek look, try the satin Fornarina pumps with sweet peep-toe cutouts.

For a more dangerous look, there’s patent red sling-backs sure to grab attention. Yowzah!

Swank isn’t all about party wear. The shop also dresses women for the gym, casual weekends and work.

A $285 Diane Von Furstenberg white blouse is a delicate yet modern take on the classic peasant top.

There’s also the real version of a Forever 21 knockoff. Flavio Castellani’s $375 floral blouse boasts the sweetest pink and yellow print, a matching satin belt and delicate ruffles.

Looking for something more casual? There’s always the tried and true $200 Juicy Couture sweats in hot pink, electric blue and neon orange.

Many of the pieces in Swank can be a bit pricey but the shop’s owners say they’ve brought in more moderately-priced garments, like $60 jeans.

There are definitely deals to be found at Swank. In fact, a black Armani jersey dress for $155 is styled with a $49 necklace featuring genuine gemstones. Score!

Swank boutique is located at 1720 Sheepshead Bay Road. For hours, call 718-934-0095.

Michèle De Meglio is a native Brooklynite addicted to all things chic. Check out Pumps & Pleats each week for more adventures as she scours the borough for fab duds and accessories.

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Experience the world through 800+ provocative works

"Night Crossing 2" by Arden Suydam

By Meredith Deliso

One of the most fundamental things that art strives to accomplish is to have you see the world in which you live in a new way.

With that as their jumping point, from July 11 to August 15, Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition (BWAC) presents “Art in Changing Perspectives,” featuring more than 800 new works in every medium, many that interpret and reveal the world in novel and experimental ways.

Wondering how much art can fit into that space? The cavernous 25,000 square foot space on the Red Hook waterfront is large enough to hold the work of the more than 220 artists showing. It’s even big enough so that a third of its space is devoted to “Art to the Edge,” a show within this show that presents “a wonderful diversity of creative ideas,” says show chair Anna Annus Hagen, and “could be a real break through in exhibition presentations.”

Four local artists are featured in “Art to the Edge”: Audrey Anastasi, her husband, Joseph Anastasi (who together own the Sunset Park gallery Tabla Rasa), David DiPasquale, and Aren Suydam.


Known for her bold use of materials, masterful brushwork, and broad range of style and subject, Audrey’s paintings capture the soul and essence of their subjects.

In keeping with the show’s theme, Joseph debuts his dramatic, grand scale presentation of photographic images, which definitely offer an altered perspective. The selection of the two Anastasis represents opposite poles of artistic vision and approach.

“I work in a frenzy doing everything I can plow ahead on intuition. Joseph on the other hand, is cerebral, broadly conscious, and methodical,” says Audrey, who along with her husband, was awarded at the Brooklyn Arts Council’s “Alive with Art” fundraiser last fall or their pioneering work bringing the visual arts to Sunset Park, and for their dedication to supporting fellow artists. “Where our aesthetics merge is that we both have an aversion to art that feels trendy or depends on verbal hype. Although we have completely different manners of working, ultimately, we both believe in creating art that feels authentic. After all, art is almost always a work of fiction, but the best fiction rings true.”

DiPasquale will be exhibiting his seven-painting series, titled “The Octave Cycle” and based on the concept of the celestial octave or the “music of the spheres”: the harmonious relationship between ascending and descending levels or spheres of creation.

“In my works I create delicate, glowing passages that illuminate the paintings from within. I intend these works to be considered as worlds isolated in space and time, each creating a mood conducive to contemplation,” says the artist. “My paintings exist on the cusp of what is seen and what is felt.”

And though you have seen plenty of photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge, Suydam’s perspective is all his own.

“For me the Brooklyn Bridge at night enshrouded in fog, is awe-inspiring doorway to another time and place,” says Suydam, a self-taught photographer. “The soaring dark construction is a like a cathedral or a mighty tower, that soars up to darkened skies to the highest limit. Eerie light from below gives it the possibility of being a crossing to the nether world.”

In addition to art, BWAC’s “Art in Changing Perspectives” exhibit will also feature music, with its UnPlugged in Red Hook acoustic music series, featuring a series of solo piano jazz performances on most Sundays; film screenings on Saturdays, with programs of experimental films, documentaries, animation, and music videos; theater, with a production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” on July 19; and anime, with an Anime Day on August 8, featuring anime cartoons, a Cosplay contest, and a fashion show.

A silent auction will also run throughout the show’s run, working as a benefit to help maintain the gallery space on the pier at 449 Van Brunt St. Opening bids can be as low as $35.

“For less than the price of a parking ticket, you can take home an original artwork and start your own collection,” says Auction Chair Tom Vega.

And maybe you’ll see the world in a new way, too.

“Art in Changing Perspectives” runs July 11 to August 15 at BWAC (499 Van Brunt St.) on weekends from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be an artists’ opening reception on July 11, with music by The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn.

For more information, call 718-596-2506.

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World-weary Nation Beat refuses to be boxed in

Nation Beat

By Meredith Deliso

A couple of years ago, Nation Beat, a Brooklyn-based band inspired by Brazilian music, were invited to play at a world music festival. When the organizers asked them not to play any of their English-language songs, the reason why was: it’s a world music festival.

“Our response was, well isn’t America a part of the world?” remembers Scott Kettner, the percussionist for and founder of the band. “It was a big controversy. They finally folded and let us play what we play.”

The incident has stayed on Kettner’s mind ever since, and, while so resonantly played out on stage at the festival, he encounters every day as a musician, and he’s not comfortable with it.

“We have a beef with that whole world music category,” says Kettner, whose own band blends Brazilian maracatu, forro, coco, and ciranda rhythms with American rock, pop, country, bluegrass, and funk.

For one, he says, “World music is a generic term that is degrading towards the cultures where the music comes from. If you go to Africa, they don’t call their music world music. If you go to Brazil, they don’t call it world music. It’s got a name and a style and a culture that’s attached to it.”

On the other hand, you also have a new generation of musicians adopting different styles of music while remaining true to their roots and finding a common ground.

So on July 11, he’s producing an outdoor music festival at the Bklyn Yard along the Gowanus Canal, inviting local bands that, like his own, fuse international music with American styles and confuses notions of “world music.”

Among those playing at the festival, fittingly called “Is America Part of the World?”, include Nation Beat, as well as Forró In the Dark, who sing in English and Portuguese, Red Baraat Festival, who blend North Indian rhythm Bhangra with brass funk, dhol, percussion, horns and traditional Punjabi songs, and DJ Nickodemus, who spins funk, jazz, hip-hop, house and dub for a urban and regional sound.


As the lineup proves, the concert isn’t so much a question, as a statement to the conventions that define the world music category, and which these, and many other bands nationwide, defy.

“These bands are not ‘traditional’ or ‘authentic’ in the sense of how the industry defines these terms. They cannot be put into a box of just one genre” says Kettner. “In fact, these groups break all of the traditional concepts of genre and have become marginalized by the industry because there doesn’t yet exist a box to fit us into. Each band has embraced its international influence but has not abandoned its American backgrounds.”

“Is America Part of the World?” is July 11 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $18, with free admission for children. Bklyn Yard is located at 388-400 Carroll St.

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mewithoutYou, Hunters find their way

mewithoutYou

By Meredith Deliso

Orchestral indie rock acts. Multi-instrumentalists. Epic storytelling.

With these elements in common, it’s no surprise that mewithoutYou and The Dear Hunter will be sharing the same stage this month at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

On July 7, the bands’ national tour together nears its end, with them both celebrating the release of new albums in recent weeks.

The two-month long tour has also left the bands a bit discombobulated. Both were driving somewhere through Florida during an interview with this paper, finding it a bit hard to see much farther than the palm trees, let alone all the way to Brooklyn.

“There are so many shows between now and then, it’s hard to think about Brooklyn,” said Aaron Weiss, lead singer of the Philadelphia-based band mewithoutYou. “A lot of the shows blend together once you’re inside the club. You can’t tell if you’re in Brooklyn or Albuquerque.”


It’s all crazy may be a good way to describe life on the road, which also provides a nice segue to talk about mewithoutYou’s new album, “it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright.” Their fourth full-length album, out earlier this spring on Tooth & Nail, finds the band drawing inspiration from myths for their own storytelling, pulling from old bedtime stories Weiss’s mom used to tell him.

Hence children’s booky song titles like “The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie” and “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate.” Melodically, the album picks up right where their last effort album, “Brother, Sister,” left off.

“A few songs [on that album] were written toward the end of the process, were more acoustic based and more melodic. They turned out to be our favorites,” says Weiss. “We figured, let’s build upon what we liked the best from everything we’ve done so far and go further in that direction. Then we’ll like all our songs, not just a couple of our songs.”

With orchestral arrangements on their folk record, in the same vein as bands like Annuals and the Decemberists, it’s an impossible sound to create live with just the four of them – Weiss on vocals, his brother Michael on guitar, Greg Jeganian on bass and Rickie Mazzotta on drums.

“You have to make up for it with either playing the keyboard for example instead of a harp, or just the live energy of people playing,” says Weiss. “We hope to carry the show more in the absence of strings and horns.”

The same issue arises for the Providence, RI-based band The Dear Hunter (not to be confused with Atlanta’s Deerhunter) as they travel in support of their latest third full-length, “Act III: Life and Death,” out late last month on Triple Crown Records.

“It just isn’t about recreating the sound for us,” says Casey Crescenzo, the lead singer, as well as pianist and lyricist for the band. “For us it’s about doing the best show that we can with the members that we have,” which also includes his brother Nick on drums, Andy Wildrick and Erick Serna on guitar, and Nate Patterson on bass.

With a mythology of their own, “Act III” marks the third contribution in a six-album rock opera, continuing the narrative of an innominate fictional character with the band’s progressive, alternative rock sound.

“I like to write as many different styles of music as I can – jazz, fusion. Latin. The overflow lends itself to much more strange music,” says Crescenzo, though one thing does remain constant. “It’s always been about remaining genuine and honest with what we’ve been doing.”

When the band comes to Brooklyn, they’re hoping for a similar response to their music from their audience, though with stoic concertgoers, it can be difficult to tell.

“I guess I just have to get used to the fact that people really don’t jump around to the music that we play,” says Crescenzo. “I think everyone is enjoying what we’re doing, but it’s impossible for me to tell.”

Show your love when mewithoutYou and The Dear Hunter play Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 North 6th St.) July 9, also with Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground. The show’s 16+, with tickets $15, and starts at 8:30 p.m. The bands also play The Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancy St.) on July 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are also $15.

For more information, call 718-486-5400.

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The (Long) Weekend: 7.2-7.5

Debating whether or not to skip town for the long weekend? Well, if you haven't made up your mind yet, here's what's going on in Brooklyn which might just sway to you head to your friend's rooftop for the fireworks viewing. And, because it's a long weekend for most of you, we're doing an extended version.

Thursday, July 2

Boats: See Prospect Park after the lights go down in a Twilight Tour, including a boat ride on the lake and possibly a glimpse at the bats that live amongst us. The tour starts at 6:30 at the Audubon Center (located at the Boathouse is located just inside the Lincoln Road/Ocean Ave. entrance), and costs $30 a person (cash only).

Celebrate Brooklyn: If boats and bats aren't your thing, hang out at the Bandshell in Prospect Park instead, where a Latin Music series will get underway as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn! festival. Puerto Rican pop star Obie Bermúdez, headlines this triple bill, which also includes Yerba Buena singer Cucu Diamantes and the activist hip-hop outfit Rebel Diaz. Gates open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. It's free. The Bandshell is located at Prospect Park West and 9th Street.

Friday, July 3

Festival: The Afro-Punk Festival takes over downtown Brooklyn, with music, film and BMX contests happening throughout the weekend. Tonight at 9:30 p.m, BAMcinématek hosts a screening of "Favela Rising," which tells the true story of Anderson Sá who, after his brother was killed by corrupt police officials, formed AfroReggae, a band and social movement dedicated to using music to combat the spread of violence among Rio de Janeiro’s youth. For a comprehensive look at what's happening at BAM (30 Lafayette Ave.) and a nearby skate park specially built for the festival, go here.

Music: Like it loud? Head to the Woodsist/Captured Tracks festival, also produced by Todd P, at 979 Broadway Backyard, where Crystal Stilts headline tonight's show, and Thee Oh See take to the stage tomorrow along with Vivian Girls, among others. Tickets are $15 each day (click here to buy for July 3 or July 4), or $25 for both. The event is rain or shine, and starts 3 p.m. July 3 and 1 p.m. July 4.

Saturday, July 4

Art: Head to the MonsterBASH at Open Source in Park Slope, where there will be an opening reception of Kylin O'Brien's work (giant monster paintings made with the help of neighborhood children), as well as a BBQ, crafts and music. It happens from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the gallery (251 17th street between Fifth and Sixth avenues).

Games: The Gowanus's newest space, Littlefield (622 Degraw St), hosts a scavenger hunt and BBQ in the neighborhood. Sign your team up at hey@littlefieldnyc.com, and get ready for the hunt. It all starts at 2 p.m. In addition to the game, there will also be BBQ, DJs and free booze.

Bocce: More games can be played at Union Hall (702 Union St.), as the Park Slope spot hosts a 4th of July Bocce Smackdown at 1 p.m., with burgers and hot dogs during the single-elimination tournament. After seeing the fireworks, come back for a karaoke jam, with no cover and drink specials, at 11 p.m.

Sunday, July 5

Outdoors: The latest DJ Sunday Best! at the BKLYN Yard (388-400 Carroll St.) features German-based DJ Losoul, in addition to resident DJs Eamon Harkin, Doug Singer and Justin Carter. Eat huaraches, drink sangria, and dance off those July 4th hot dogs and burgers. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $10m, $8 before 4 p.m. or with an rsvp.

Music: Hear the latest from Brooklyn-based classical indie act Fire in July, led by cello songstress Jody Redhage, with a CD release prevew party at Barbes (376 9th St.) in Park Slope, starting at 7 p.m.

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Brooklyn author's 'Heart' is in 'The Narrows'

By Meredith Deliso

As a kid, the first movie Tim McLoughlin ever saw was at the Pavilion 8 (which some of you may remember as the old Sanders). It was 1964, the film was “The Incredible Mr. Limpet,” starring Don Knotts.

“That place was a cathedral,” remembers McLoughlin, a Brooklyn native who grew up in Bensonhurst and now, after stints in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, currently resides in Brooklyn Heights (read an essay of his about the theater here).

Today, when the author goes to the Park Slope theater, his own movie is on the screen: “The Narrows,” based on his 2001 book “Heart of the Old Country,” published by Brooklyn-based publisher Akashic Books.

How “Heart” came to be published itself is the stuff worthy of cinema. A Brooklyn court clerk, McLoughlin knew he had a story in him, and in his late 30s, started writing a coming-of-age story about a 19 year old, Mike, going to school part time and working for Big Lou’s Car Service, on the periphery of organized crime in Bay Ridge.

Hailed for its refreshing voice and unromantic view of Brooklyn’s underclass, the sardonic look at provincialism in the borough went on to be published in five languages, won Italy’s Premio Penne award, and was optioned to be made into the independent film, starring Kevin Zegers, Vincent D’Onofrio, Sophia Bush and Eddie Cahill.

Though he had no part in the screenplay, McLoughlin is good friends with the screenwriter, Tatiana Blackington, whom he met while in a creative writing class at the West Side YMCA.

While the film naturally departs from the book, the biggest change has to be the title.“‘I would obviously have preferred it if they stuck with my title, but I can’t really argue with ‘The Narrows.’ That sounds pretty cool,” says McLoughlin.

Keeping true to form, the film was also shot in and around Bay Ridge (regulars may recognize Kelly’s bar at 94th Street and Fifth Avenue, as well as a social club a couple blocks away).

“It was a low budget, independent feature, yet to me I’m standing there and it’s looking like ‘Spiderman 3,’” says the author on his first foray into cinema. “It was amazing to see those moments when I could suddenly identify a sequence from the book.”

In bringing the characters to life, some of the actors were “spooky good,” says McLoughlin.

“There’s no actor in that film that I don’t think does a good job of portraying the characters,” he says.

The biggest name attached to the film has to be D’Onofrio’s, who plays Mike’s father with a savviness yet also a sadness that impressed McLoughlin.

“He told me later that he based his physical mannerisms and some of his patterns of speech on an old relative of his who was from Bensonhurst,” says the author. “It worked really well.”

The cast also boasts a Brooklynite in Monica Keena, the girlfriend of the Mike character.“Man did she ever nail Gina,” says McLoughlin. “The attitude, the accent, all of it is just right. Monica Keena pulled off pure Brooklyn.”

Next up for the author, who still keeps his day job as a court clerk (he has four years left until his pension and then it’s writing full time) and is also the editor of Akashic’s Brooklyn Noir series, is his second novel, an amateur sleuth story about a bartender on Wall Street who solves a murder. He hopes to have that completed by the end of this year.

When McLoughlin thinks about his journey, from his first published book to now film adaptation, “It amazes me,” he says. “There’s no part of it that hasn’t been fun.”

“The Narrows” is playing now at Park Slope’s Pavilion 8 (188 Prospect Park West). For screening times, call 718-369-0838.

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Take another shot at the prom

New Yorkers are keen on acting on their nostalgia as of late. Or maybe it’s just summer and the promise of proms that it traditionally brings.

In any event, in the wake of the wildly successful “The Prom You Were Promised,” a benefit at The Music Hall of Williamsburg this past May for 826NYC that gave Brooklynites a way better prom than they most likely experienced in high school, comes another night of corsages and prom kings and queens.

At the Gowanus venue The Bell House’s “Pretty in Pink Prom Night,” on July 11, rock out to 80s music and shake your booty, John Hughes style.Chaperoned by comedians Dave Hill (Comedy Central, UCB) and Sara Schaefer (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), the night will also feature music from the band, The Engagements, playing 80s classics.

You can also replace your old prom photo on the mantel with some new ones at the party, which will have an 80s prom backdrop to say cheese in front of.

The night will also crown a prom king and queen with an iPod shuffle (they didn’t have those when you were in high school), set to go with music from John Hughes soundtracks. There will also be free snacks, $3 champagne, and an hour of free specialty cocktails from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. (that was definitely not at our prom).

Tickets are $15 in advance, or $20 at the door. The prom starts at 8 p.m. For more information, go call 718-643-6510. The Bell House is located at 149 7th St.

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