September 1 Dan Zen Expo Exhibit
Fashion 1
Dedicated to Ava Henry and a successful career!
Here is a look at the progression of Dan Zen's styles leading up to the last ten years. Part 2 will look at fashion creations, videos, accessories and the current state of fashion affairs.
Early Styling ▲ Certainly an influence on Dan Zen's fashion sense was the sixties and seventies. Zen, born in Hawaii, has a fine collection of bright tiki tapa lei shirts! Note the plaid pants - a style that Zen still wears - he does not wear plaid shirts. Then there is the cord extensions his mother added to his pants as he was growing an inch a week. Learning from his mother and the hippie way, Zen mends, extends and modifies his clothes as his main thrust into the world of fashion.
Clothing Modification ▲ Dan Zen does not wear clothing with logos, pictures or your average pattern adornments. For example, these shorts had a stylized number on them. Zen cut out the number and replaced it with an orange circle.
Batcaver (Goth) ▲ Just a little too young for Disco in the mid seventies, the first trend that Dan Zen was aware of was Punk - the Sex Pistols, etc. All of a sudden there were these strange people running the social club. Zen wanted to find out more and he turned to a punk cut. While Zen is a peaceful anarchist, the punk attitude was really not for him and in 1979 / 1980 New Wave hit and carried Zen away! He made tunics from canvas like he imagined characters in the sci-fi books he was reading would wear. He listened to Gary Numan and the B52s. He started going to dance clubs wearing makeup, he died his teased hair a dozen times moving into David Bowie's Low phase like the Man Who Fell to Earth. In university 1982-1986, he was a Batcaver (Goth) with mysterious capes, dresses and robes listening to Bauhaus and quirky electronica - going to all night clubs like Voodoo in Toronto. But the Goth attitude was not really a good fit either.
Garage Punk ▲ At the end of university in 1986, Dan Zen was progressing backwards through the Stooges and Jimi Hendrix. This is when he left his car with fins and set off to Europe. Upon landing and getting settled in the then Soulful London (boring), Zen came across a cool gang of Mods! Zen blended his look choosing a Garage Punk hairdo and found authentic Beatle boots on Carnaby street. Wow - swingin' London! Finally an attitude that Zen could relate to - eccentric, quirky, positive, trippy!
Hipster Time! ▲ Dan Zen came back from London a Hip Cat - a Hipster. This was well before Austin Powers and today's Hipsters. He wrote an article about it to support his recent mobile app called Hipster. He also created a site in 2000 called Hipcats. Read about it here: HIPSTER PERSPECTIVE
Mod ▲ Coming back from nine months in England, Dan Zen started a mod band called The Chessmen as outlined in the Music Exhibit. He cut his long bowl hair cut into a short mod cut with bangs. He wore a lot of op art and stripes, double breasted jackets, Harris Tweed and Oleg Cassini ties. Zen and friends Gaven and Tomas painted an eye on old glasses - silly but fun. You can also see Zen dancing while wearing a Kula Pu Idol medallion (more to come in this exhibit). While he liked the energy of the mods, the mod attitude did not quite suit - a little too much, let's go on a scooter run and get wasted drunk!
Psychedelic ▲ While Garage, Mod and Hipster were nice... they were not quite as deep as Dan Zen wanted. Zen found depth in psychedelia - explorations, philosophy, patterns and nature. Zen still considers himself psychedelic to this day and his favourite wardrobe would be Guru Robes, beads, cravats, flares and sandals. During the 90's, Zen was becoming a Patent Agent (they hang around Lawyers) so his hair was shortened to a French 70's movie star length. Note the particularly fine SanFransisco Guru robe at top left. The shirt Zen is wearing is pure fuchsia - he has an exceptionally long scarf above bright blue see-through plastic disc beads. Pictured above are Thee Gnostics - with heavy influences in Space Rock. Zen sang and played the Moog - blending his early sci-fi influences with psychedelia in a fairly spectacular manner stylistically. THEE GNOSTICS
Gnostics Review ▲ Thee Gnostics at the House of Everlasting Joy 14 Year Reunion - I just have to get my cravat...
Penultimate ▲ That generally describes the style of Dan Zen as he has grown up through the years until the last ten years which we will show in Fashion 2. He is quite the collector of clothes. The chevron robe seen at left was worn to an art party at Medolark - but also recently to a Funk band at This Ain't Hollywood. He wore it with an electric teal fun fur shawl. The shawl / cape, was just a piece of fabric. This is how Zen accessorizes. Unusual clothing and home made accessories. Also seen above is a Hawaiian shirt with clogs (Zen was born in Hawaii to Californian / Dutch parents - see the Biography Tour). Next is a batik shirt with lovely white painter pants inherited from his second father - authentic seventies flairs. A cravat for Robbie Burns night, beads out camping and his favourite nehru collar Indian jacket with blue shades beneath a Mitzu Ikamora.
Shirts ▲ Dan Zen has many Hawaiian shirts and some others with fancy patterns. Here is an older view of his collection. Many are vintage bought in Hawaii where he travels to visit family every five years. Zen definitely finds himself attracted to tiki, beaches, hula and jungles! HAWAIIAN SHIRTS
Custom Shirt ▲ Dan Zen has cut the neck and arms off an old turtle neck. He did this with a half dozen shirts to give a deconstructed look - no cuffs and a scissor cut rough finish. This became one of Zen's favourite shirts over the last ten years. He wears them inside out. Seen here with Alberto faux suede pants from his Taylor in Westdale and medium sized yellow Lennon glasses which are now sadly broken despite Zen getting silver solder to fix them.
Open Houses ▲ A couple open houses - a simple mod look with green hound's tooth pants and when Zen wears a suit it is almost exclusively with a turtle neck - no better color than a tanlike cream - this turtle neck is about thirty years old.
Events ▲ Conferences are so much fun to dress up for! Zen sports a sear's sucker suit with lavender shirt and beafeater tie - the deconstructed Mateo Mass, grey turtle neck and beret, a pinstripe felt three button with swinging lanyard and a nehru collar jacket with his name spelled out in keys from a keyboard so people see his name as he shakes hands. This hangs above restored golf pants with a rare interlocking squares pattern.
Suits ▲ Ahhh... a white scale-dimpled Versace! Worn here performing a magic trick on stage with green cravat used in the trick. And then of course the tuxedo with white bow tie for the oxygen bar. Tune in next week for part 2 of Fashion as we take a look at some constructed fashion and accessories and conclude with Zen's current state of fashion affairs!
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