Stranger Than Fiction
“I like to look ugly and act pretty,” says Amy Sedaris, who plays Jerri Blank, a 47-year-old “loser” high-school freshman on Comedy Central’s Strangers With Candy. As it turns out, Jerri’s “ugly” look, enhanced by acid-washed jeans and leather vests, has a surprising number of fashionable fans. “Jerri is very East Village. She makes me look at my fifth-grade wardrobe in a very different light,” says Jaime Perlman, a designer at Harper’s Bazaar. Jerri’s hair is done by hairstylist Perfidia, who manned the salon at Patricia Field for thirteen years. And while his former boss creates trends as the stylist for HBO’s Sex and the City, Perfidia grants Sedaris’s ugly wishes: On the recent season premiere of Strangers, Jerri showed off the ultimate hair don’t – a braided rat tail.
WILLIAM VAN METER
Change of Heart
Just as busloads of tourists descend on the city, crafty fashion folk are reconstructing a street-vendor staple so locals can stand out from the sun-visor set. Taking their cue from Miguel Adrover, designers Sally and Jennifer Wang, Susan Cianciolo, and Sasha Charnin are taking their own scissors to i love new york T-shirts. The Wangs dye the tees candy colors and fashion cap sleeves or halters ($50-$65; available at Searle); Cianciolo applies screen prints, patches, and a tangle of thread ($99; available at Seven, 180 Orchard Street; 646-654-0156); and Charnin blasts hers with rhinestones after tearing holes in them ($295; available at Kirna Zabête). Now we’d like to see someone make those Statue of Liberty foam hats look cool.
KRISTINA RICHARDS
Foot Soldiers
Women who want more mileage from their Manolos aren’t hanging up their pricey pumps at the first sign of bunions. Instead, they’re sneaking out of the office for a laser treatment that supposedly fattens up the ball of the foot for more cushioning. Dr. Suzanne Levine (212-535-0229), whose regulars include Anna Wintour, Katie Couric, and a flock of foot models, won’t divulge who gets the $400 procedure, in which the surface of the skin is frozen while heat destroys tissue below; the body’s natural defense is to produce collagen. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” says anti-high-heels podiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Adler, who guesses that Levine’s inspiration was collagen used on the face. “But,” he points out, “you don’t walk on your face.”
K.R.
Lashing Out
J. Sisters, the salon most famous for removing hair, is getting into the business of putting it back on. At the recent American Fashion Awards, Naomi Campbell was overheard raving about her eyelash extensions to Liz Hurley, and Fatima Wadhy of J. Sisters counts Princess Firyal of Jordan as another client. Unlike faux lashes that are glued onto the eyelid, these individual extensions adhere to the roots of your natural lashes. The look can last anywhere from ten days to a month, but Wadhy warns: “No mascara.” You don’t want to look like a graduate of the Tammy Faye Bakker School of Cosmetology.
ROXANNE JAMES